Now that it’s September, let’s get the fall recipes rolling with this Roasted Acorn Squash with Sage Brown Butter, shall we?! For this recipe, acorn squash is roasted until tender, then sprinkled with brown sugar to bring out the sweetness of the squash. Then it’s drizzled with nutty browned butter, crispy butter fried sage, and topped with crunchy toasted pine nuts. Whether it’s Thanksgiving or any ole’ weeknight, this glammed up acorn squash is sure to be a crowd pleaser!

Browned butter might sound a little intimidating, but I promise it’s actually really easy! All you have to do is melt it over medium heat until the milk solids turn brown, which gives the butter an amazing nutty, toasty flavor. You can see the progression from cubes of butter all the way to brown butter below. The whole process takes less than 10 minutes, but it is mostly hands on time to ensure the butter browns evenly and doesn’t burn.

For this particular recipe, we are adding in fresh sage leaves once the butter begins to make a sizzling sound. At that point, the milk solids will begin to separate from the liquid, and shortly after that the butter will start to foam. The sage stays along for the whole ride, helping to infuse flavor into the butter and essentially frying it so it can be easily crumbled on top of the roasted squash for amazing flavor.

Here are my tips to help you achieve perfectly browned butter too:

1. Use a light colored pan or skillet. You need to be able to see the progression of the butter browning so you can take it off the heat before it burns, which is really difficult to do against a black non-stick skillet. Non-coated stainless steel works perfectly here. A skillet or pan will work just fine, so use what you have. Stay away from enamel coated cast iron since you need to be able to move the skillet or pan around easily.
2. Use unsalted butter. Salted butter tends to foam more than unsalted butter, making it more difficult to see the browning progression.
3. Swirl, swirl, and swirl some more. Some people will tell you to stir and scrape the butter constantly to keep the milk solids moving, but I actually prefer the swirl. It accomplishes two things for you: 1) it moves the foam around so you can see the browning butter solids under the foam; and 2) it keeps those milk solids moving so you can get maximum browning before anything starts burning. Once your butter looks like the 4th picture above, it’s really important to swirl continuously and not step away.

Here’s what you’ll need to make this Roasted Acorn Squash with Sage Brown Butter at home:

• Acorn squash – Like I mentioned above, opt for acorn squash that’s firm with dark green skin since ones with orange spots are less ripe.
• Butter – Unsalted butter works best for browning it.
• Sage – While you could use other herbs, none will bring quite the same flavor to the table. I also love when the sage fries up in the brown butter so it can be crumbled over top of the squash.
• Pine nuts – Another fall favorite, toasted pine nuts add some crunch to an otherwise soft and almost creamy dish. You could use other toasted nuts if you prefer, or skip them altogether.
• Brown sugar – Play up the sweetness of the squash a bit with some light brown sugar that melts deliciously into the fresh-from-the-oven squash. You don’t have to use brown sugar, but I think you’re missing out if you skip it.
• Olive oil – Just a bit to help the squash roast and brown nicely.

Recipe