Butternut squash sliced into thin, half moon pieces, drizzled with olive oil and roasted with fresh sprigs of rosemary until nearly tender, then topped with a fresh and fragrant parsley walnut pesto. Simple, healthy, delicious – a perfect side dish to include on your holiday table! | Gluten Free + Vegan + Whole30

Originally shared this recipe on November 13, 2017 – updated October 18, 2022 with improved photos, recipe, tips and ingredient explanations.

If you’re looking for a simple, yet stunning dish to serve at your holiday table this year then look no further than these roasted butternut squash slices!

They’re covered in a simple winter pesto made with parsley and walnuts.

For extra crunch the roasted squash is also sprinkled with little bits of walnuts. I don’t know about you, but I’m all about all about that crunch factor.

This dish is impressive enough to serve for holidays and special occasions but not too difficult that you can’t make it for a slightly fancy weeknight meal.

What’s new?

Don’t worry! If you’ve made this recipe before I haven’t changed much.

• I now recommend you roast the squash in a square or rectangular roasting pan instead of a round pie dish. I found it much easier to arrange the squash slices this way as you don’t need to get fussy getting them to spiral.
• The squash rounds become squash half moons as it makes it easier to arrange into a single layer.
• I’ve also cleaned up the recipe card just a bit – changed the wording here and there, I added weight measurements for those who prefer using kitchen scales.
• Also new pictures to demonstrate the process!

Roasted Butternut Squash Slices – Prep & Steps

Altogether this is a fairly simple recipe made with simple ingredients.

Though the total roasting time runs about an hour, the hands on prep is about 15-20 minutes. Slicing up the squash will take the most amount of prep time and effort but with a sharp chef’s knife it’s an easy enough task. If needed, you may even be able to find pre-sliced squash at your grocery store.

Roasted Butternut Squash Slices – Prep & Steps

Altogether this is a fairly simple recipe made with simple ingredients.

Though the total roasting time runs about an hour, the hands on prep is about 15-20 minutes. Slicing up the squash will take the most effort but with a sharp chef’s knife it’s an easy enough task. If needed, you may even be able to find pre-sliced squash at your grocery store.

Parsley Pesto

The pesto whizzes together in minutes. The hardest part there will be trying not to eat too much before it’s time to spread it over the squash.

How’s this pesto different from your typical basil pesto?

• Parsley replaces the basil – this creates a more earthy/grassy flavor that’s still bright and peppery.
  • Don’t bother removing the stems! They’re soft and sweet enough to blend up easily into the pesto.
• Walnuts replace pine nuts – the slight bitterness of the walnuts work well with the natural sweetness of the squash.
• Nutritional yeast replaces parmesan cheese – it’s a dairy free/vegan friendly way to impart a cheesy flavor. Nutritional yeast also often comes fortified with essential nutrients so it’s a great ways to boost the potential health benefits of your food!
  • Feel free to use regular parmesan (parmigiano reggiano) if you don’t need this recipe to be vegan.

Final Roast

Finally, spread about half of the pesto and chopped walnuts over the partially roasted squash slices then return to the oven for an additional 15-20 minutes. Roast until the squash is fork tender. Depending on how thick you cut your squash slices you may need a little more or less time.

More Roasted Veggies

Honey Roast Parsnips (Maple Syrup Option)

Crispy Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

Crispy Roasted Tenderstem Broccoli (Broccolini)

Easy Roasted Root Vegetables

Final Tips for these butternut squash slices

• Want to make this to serve at your holiday table? Cut down on your prep time by cutting up the squash a day or two ahead of time and making the parsley pesto up to a week in advance.
• Swap the rosemary for other earthy herbs like sage leaves or fresh thyme.
• You can use avocado oil in place of the olive oil for roasting if you like.
• You’ll end up with leftover pesto so serve that on the side.
• No butternut squash? Feel free to use another winter squash in its place like acorn squash or kabocha squash.
  • You can even use sweet potato slices instead, but then you’ll roast for 30 minutes max. So roast for 15 minutes, then add the pesto + walnuts, then roast a final 15 minutes.

Yield: 6-8 servings

Roasted Butternut Squash with Walnuts & Parsley Pesto

4.8 Stars (21 Reviews)

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

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Butternut squash sliced into thin, half moon pieces, drizzled with olive oil and roasted with fresh fresh sprigs of rosemary until nearly tender then topped with a fresh and fragrant parsley walnut pesto.

Ingredients

Roasted Squash

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• 1 medium/large butternut squash,
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (30 ml)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped (60 g)

Parsley Pesto

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• 1 cup loosely packed fresh, flat leaf parsley, stalks + stems
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1/3 cup olive oil (80 ml)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice (15 ml)
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced

Need help converting to weights? Check out my cups to grams Conversion Guide.

Instructions

Squash

1. Preheat oven to 400°F/ 200°C. Grease a 2 quart roasting dish/pie plate and set aside
2. Place your squash on its side on a large cutting board. Use a good, sharp knife to cut off both ends with the hard stems. Then cut the squash in half widthwise, then cut each half in half again lengthwise so that you end up with 4 pieces. Slice the squash quarters into thin slices (about 1/8 inch slices) then transfer to the prepared roasting pan.
3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil. Toss the squash slices in the roasting dish then arrange in a single layer with the flat sides down at an angle so they're laid out like fallen dominos.
4. Tuck a few sprigs of fresh rosemary around the edges. Place in the middle of the oven and roast butternut squash slices for 30-35 minutes. Prepare the pesto while the squash roasts.
5. Take the squash out of the oven and sprinkle with chopped walnuts and spread about half the pesto over the top.
6. Return to the oven and roast for another 15-20 minutes or until the squash is fork tender. If you cut your squash into thicker pieces you'll need to leave it in the oven for longer. 
7. Serve hot with the remaining pesto on the side and enjoy. 

Pesto

1. Add all of the pesto ingredients except for the olive oil to a blender or food processor. Blend or pulse until the ingredients are all finely chopped and well combined. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
2. Pour the olive oil into the blender and continue blending until you've reached your desired pesto consistency. For a thinner pesto sauce add more olive oil or water 1 tablespoon at a time. Taste and season with black pepper and more salt as needed. Set aside.

Notes

You can use parmesan cheese/vegan parmesan cheese in place of the nutritional yeast.

Keep leftover squash stored in an airtight container in the fridge up to 4 days and pesto up to 2 weeks.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

g
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 255Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 21gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 357mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 3gSugar: 1gProtein: 4g

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.

© A Saucy Kitchen, Sarah Nevins

Course: Sides Cuisine: American

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