Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce

This butternut squash pasta sauce is such an easy way to change up some of your favorite meals! It’s packed full of roasted veggies and it’s so creamy. I love a traditional pasta but I also love to try something different every once in a while and this butternut squash sauce was a big hit with the whole family. (I think since it’s orange, my kids thought it was cheese sauce hah!)

It does take a little bit of time to roast in the oven but that’s just 45 minutes that I can be doing something else! I like to make this sauce while my kids nap and then all I have to do for dinner is boil some noodles and dish up some fruit for them (For some reason my kids can’t go a single meal without a side of fruit…anyone else’s kids like that?) 

Isn’t that color gorgeous?! So I added my parmesan cheese after my sauce cooled this time so that’s why it didn’t melt in and you can see it in the photo. It melted when it hit the hot pasta though. 🙂

I like to serve this butternut squash pasta sauce with some extra parmesan cheese on top and a little fresh chopped parsley. (Unless it’s for my kids…then double the parm cheese and nix the green stuff!)

Print Recipe

4.84 from 6 votes

Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce

Servings: 5 cups

Ingredients

• 2 lbs butternut squash (1 large or 2 small)
• 1 small yellow onion
• 3 large garlic cloves
• 3-4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp salt (divided)
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/3 cup heavy cream (you can use milk if you'd like)
• 2.5 cups water
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Instructions

• Heat your oven to 375 degrees.
• Peel your butternut squash and then scoop the seeds out with a spoon. Cut the squash into cubes no larger than an inch. 
• Quarter your onion and leave the garlic whole. Add everything to a sheet pan (I line mine with parchment paper for easy clean-up) and drizzle with the olive oil, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper. Toss everything to combine. 
• Roast in the oven for 45 minutes. 
• Add your roasted vegetables, the cream, 1 tsp salt, and the parmesan cheese to the blender and blend on high for a few pulses. 
• Add your water 1/2 cup at a time, blending in-between each addition, until your sauce reaches your desired thickness. 

Notes

NOTES:

If you bought a huge squash and are having trouble slicing into it, poke it all around with a fork and microwave it for about 5 minutes. It will be a little bit softer and easier to cut. 

 

BE CAREFUL WITH THE BLENDER! Steam from the hot veggies can cause your blender lid to pop off. To avoid this just open the little vent on the top of your blender lid and cover loosely with a towel to prevent splatters. 

 

Because there are so many different variables in this recipe (size of the squash, size of the onion, whether you used cream or milk...) add your water in little by little. If you dump it all in at once, it may be more than you needed and ruin your sauce.