Roasted Butternut Squash with Bacon & Leeks

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Butternut squash and leeks, oven roasted in a honey-bacon glaze and finished with blue cheese crumbles and crispy bacon - the savory sweet-and-salty flavors of this surprising combo will blow you away! Serve as a main dish or hearty side.

Overhead shot of a plate of prepared butternut squash with leeks, bacon, and blue cheese. Slices of sourdough bread to the side of the plate, and a serving spoon in the mix.

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What's the Story on this Recipe?
What Goes into this Recipe
How to Make this Squash Recipe
Substitutions
FAQ
More Winter Squash Recipes
Ways to Serve this Butternut & Bacon Recipe
Roasted Butternut Squash with Bacon & Leeks

What's the Story on this Recipe?

Some years ago, while on our annual Valentine's weekend in Hood River (Oregon), Mr. B and I took a hike in the Columbia Gorge, and afterwards popped into Solstice Wood Fire Pizza down by the waterfront for some lunch.

Maybe it was the sunshine, or maybe the hiker's high (which I doubt, mostly because we went on the easiest hike ever); but whatever it was, we were absolutely swept away by Soltice's BLBB Pizza. It was easily one of the best wood-fired pizzas either one of us had ever bitten into.

The BLBB comes topped with a savory, fall-inspired mix of butternut squash, leeks, bacon, and bleu cheese. The the rich, savory-sweet-and-salty flavors of this surprising combination absolutely blew us away! I just wanted to wrap myself up in a piece of that pie and never come out.

In an effort to capture all that savory goodness and keep the memory alive, we created this roasted butternut squash recipe using the same basic ingredients and flavors as the Solstice pizza, but with a little more flexibility in the delivery system.

Speaking of flexibility, this roasted butternut squash recipe is so versatile! In addition to being a delicious, hearty main side dish all by itself, it can be used to create many unique dishes, with rice, pasta, tacos, eggs, etc. Even pizza.

What Goes into this Recipe

The basic ingredients for this roasted butternut recipe are clean and simple.

Recipe ingredients, prepped and labeled: butternut squash, leeks, blue cheese, bacon, etc.

★ Butternut squash: Butternut squash tastes a little like nutty sweet potatoes, with overtones of butterscotch.

If you don't want the hassle of cubing the butternut, you can often find cubed butternut squash in Costco's refrigerated fresh vegetable section.

★ Bacon: Use good-quality, thick cut bacon for best results.

★ Leeks: Leeks add sweet, mild, oniony flavor to the mix.

★ Blue Cheese: Use a good-quality bleu cheese.

How to Make this Squash Recipe

Basic, unprepped ingredients for this recipe: Butternut squash, bacon, blue cheese, and leeks. Other ingredients in small bowls.

Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C). Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

How to Cube a Butternut Squash

To prepare the butternut squash, first (A) cut off the top and bottom, and then (B) cut it in half horizontally where the narrower top meets the wider bottom. Use a vegetable peeler to peel the squash top and bottom (C). Cut the bottom of the squash in half and scoop out the seeds (D).

Collage illustrating how to cut a butternut squash.

Once the squash is cut and cleaned, cube it into ¾- to 1-inch cubes. Set aside.

HINT: Click thru for additional help and tips about choosing, cutting, and cubing butternut squash.

Bowl of cubed butternut squash, with peel, seeds, etc. strewn around it.

To prepare the leeks, begin by cutting off the roots and the darkest part of the green tops. This will leave you with a white stalk and light green leaves; like a giant green onion.

Cut each leek in half lengthwise. At this point, fan the leaves and rinse the leeks well, as they tend to trap a lot of sand and debris.

Cut the cleaned leeks into ¾-inch pieces, and set aside.

In a large cast iron skillet, cook bacon pieces over medium heat until crispy.

Uncured bacon doesn't render the same way cured bacon does. If you use uncured bacon, put a tablespoon or two of neutral oil (i.e., canola, light olive oil) in the skillet before adding the bacon pieces.

When the bacon pieces are crisp, remove the skillet from heat, and remove the bacon to a small dish. Set aside.

To the drippings remaining in the skillet, add the butter, honey, and hot sauce, and whisk to combine, stirring constantly until the butter melts completely.

Add the cubed butternut and cut leeks to the pan and toss to coat them thoroughly with the honey-bacon mixture. Season with salt, pepper, and paprika and toss again.

Butternut and leeks tossed with bacon-honey sauce in skillet.

Pour the butternut and leeks onto the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Sheet pan with uncooked vegetables, on parchement.

Roast in preheated oven until the vegetables are tender and edges of butternut start to darken; about 30 minutes. Use a flat spatula to turn the mixture halfway through.

Shett pan with cooked vegetables on parchment.

Remove the butternut mixture to a serving dish. Sprinkle with the cooked bacon pieces and crumbled bleu cheese.

Season to taste with additional salt, pepper, and/or paprika, and garnish with thin slices of fresh leeks.

Substitutions

Butternut squash: You can sub in any orange or yellow winter squash for the butternut.
Leeks: Mild sweet onions or shallots may be substituted.
Blue Cheese: Feta and goat cheese both make good substitutes in this recipe.

FAQ

How do you know if butternut squash is ripe?

You can tell if your butternut squash is ripe by the color and texture of the outer rind. Avoid choosing squashes with green spots: they are not ripe. The squash skin should be hard, with a matte texture and even color.

For additional tips on choosing and cutting squashes, visit our post on How to Cube Butternut Squash.

Plate of prepared butternut squash with leeks, bacon, and blue cheese.

More Winter Squash Recipes

Not only are winter squashes a sweet, rich addition to your menu, but they are loaded with nutrients, fiber, and healthy omega-3 fat, too! Here are just a few ways to get more of them onto your plate.

Ways to Serve this Butternut & Bacon Recipe

In addition to being a delicious, hearty main side dish all by itself, there are many other ways to enjoy this versatile butternut recipe. Here are just a few:

Serve it over rice.
Toss it with pasta.
Fold it into a tortilla.
Use it as an omelet filling.
Top it with a poached egg.
Use it as a pizza topping!

Collage: one large image of a plate of butternut squash, bacon, blue cheese, and leeks, plus smaller images, each showing a different serving option: butternut over rice, in a tortilla, in an omelet, topped with a poached egg, and over pasta.

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5 from 7 votes

Butternut squash and leeks, oven roasted in a honey-bacon glaze and finished with blue cheese crumbles and crispy bacon. Serve as a main dish or hearty side.

_{Inspired by the BLBB pizza at Soltice Wood Fire Pizza, Hood River, Oregon.}

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Course: Main Dish, Side Dish

Cuisine: American, Seasonal

Diet: Gluten Free

Prep Time:15

Cook Time:25

Total Time:40

Servings: servings

Calories: 330kcal

Author: Renee

Equipment

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

1 medium butternut squash 2-3 pounds
2 large leeks 3 medium; 4 small
¼ pound thick-cut bacon 3-4 strips; cut into ½-inch batons
1½ tablespoons honey or maple syrup
1 tablespoon butter
1-2 teaspoons hot sauce
2 ounces crumbled feta blue cheese, or goat cheese
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon sweet paprika
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C).
Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

Cube the Butternut Squash

To prepare the butternut squash, first (A) cut off the top and bottom, and then (B) cut it in half horizontally where the narrower top meets the wider bottom. Use a vegetable peeler to peel the squash top and bottom (C). Cut the bottom of the squash in half and scoop out the seeds (D).
Once the squash is cut and cleaned, cube it into ¾- to 1-inch cubes. Set aside.

Prep the Leeks

To prepare the leeks, begin by cutting off the roots and the darkest part of the green tops.
Cut each leek in half lengthwise.
At this point, fan the leaves and rinse the leeks well, as they tend to trap a lot of sand and debris.
Cut the cleaned leeks into ¾-inch pieces. Set aside.

Roast the Vegetables

In a large cast iron skillet, cook bacon pieces over medium heat until crispy.
When the bacon pieces are crisp, remove the skillet from heat, and remove the bacon to a small dish. Set aside.
To the drippings remaining in the skillet, add butter, honey, and hot sauce, and toss to combine.
Add the cubed butternut and cut leeks to the pan and toss to coat them thoroughly with the honey-bacon mixture.
Season with salt, pepper, and paprika and toss once again.
Pour the butternut and leeks onto the parchment-lined baking sheet.
Roast the vegetables in a preheated oven until they are tender; 30-40 minutes.
Use a flat spatula to turn the mixture halfway through.
Remove the butternut mixture to a serving dish. Sprinkle with the cooked bacon pieces and crumbled bleu cheese.
Season to taste with additional salt, pepper, and/or paprika, and garnish with thin slices of fresh leeks.

Notes

This roast butternut squash recipe is so versatile! In addition to being a delicious, hearty side dish, here are a few other ways to enjoy it:

Serve it over rice.
Toss it with pasta.
Fold it into a tortilla.
Use it as an omelet filling.
Top it with a poached egg.
Use it as a pizza topping!

Uncured Bacon: Uncured bacon doesn't render the same way cured bacon does. If you use uncured bacon, put a tablespoon or two of neutral oil (i.e., canola, light olive oil) in the skillet before adding the bacon pieces.