Vegan & Gluten Free Stuffed Acorn Squash with Creamy Spinach and Mushrooms
When fall finally rolls around, that means its squash season. Which is quite exciting to me, even if you want to call me an old lady for getting excited about squashes!
But hear me out, squashes are easy to make, very filling, cheap, and delightfully autumnal! Not to mention, I’ve come to discover that they are perfectly acceptable vegan additions to the holiday menus because they are - like I said - delightfully autumnal. And since we are forfeiting traditional stuffing, this is a completely gluten free recipe too!
Trust me, I know how hard it can be to find gluten free and vegan options at events, and especially at Thanksgiving events. So having an option almost everyone can enjoy, whether dairy free, gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, or plant based, makes you an A+ host (or a really, really, awesome and thoughtful guest).
So whether you are plant based or one of your guests will be (or just because you picked up some acorn squashes and have absolutely no idea what to do with them), here is the perfect gluten free and vegan Thanksgiving recipe of your autumn dreams: stuffed acorn squashes with creamy spinach and oyster mushrooms.
There are so many stuffed squash recipes out there, but I seriously believe everyone will be drooling over these vegan versions. Not to mention they are fairly cheap and easy to make, while still being super filling.
And perhaps one of my favorite aspects? Stuffed squashes are seriously so beautiful to serve! You know the creative in me loves making delicious and lovely recipes, so if you’re looking for beautiful recipes to impress everyone at Friendsgiving this year, I’m your gal.
Picking Your Acorn Squashes
I consider one serving to be half an acorn squash, so even if you just pick up 2 squashes for this recipe, you’ll have 4 servings. Of course, you can double the recipe for even more.
Regardless, I recommend getting your acorn squashes on the small side. And when you do pick them, try to match the sizes as close as you can so they will cook evenly and use about the same amount of filling. If you do want to use larger squashes, you will probably just have to cook them for a bit longer and continue to check them until they are soft.
Making the Cashew Cream
The cashew cream for this recipe is homemade, but don’t worry, it’s super simple and easy to make. Realistically you only need soaked cashews and water, but I also like to add some salt, garlic, and perhaps a few other seasonings.
If you forget to soak the cashews ahead of time, or just don’t have the time to soak them for hours, a simple trick is to use boiling water to soak them - then you only have to let them soak for around 20 minutes.
Ingredients
2 small/medium acorn squashes
1 bunch of spinach, washed and dried (or at least mostly dry)
1 bunch of oyster mushrooms
¼ cup Vegetable broth
Salt
Garlic powder
Dried basil
Vegan mozzarella (optional)
Olive oil
Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Cut your acorn squashes in half lengthwise and use a spoon to clean out all the seeds.
Drizzle the insides with olive oil and a bit of salt and bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of your squashes.
While the squashes are baking, cut up the oyster mushrooms and cook them in a skillet on medium heat with a bit of olive oil, salt, garlic powder, and dried basil to taste.
Once the mushrooms are cooked, add in the cashew cream and reduce the heat to low/medium.
Add in about ¼ cup of vegetable broth and stir to combine. You can add more or less vegetable broth depending on how thick you want the mixture. Keep mixing until the cashew cream is thoroughly combined and heated up.
Remove from heat and fold a couple handfuls of spinach. I didn’t end up using the entire bunch of spinach, but it depends on the size of your squashes, the size of your bunch of spinach, and how much spinach you want. I used about ¾ of the bunch or about 1 ½ cups.
Once the squashes are done, you can remove them from the oven and spoon your creamy spinach and mushroom mixture into the squashes, filling them.
Cut some pieces of your vegan Mozzarella and top your stuffed squashes.
Bake for an additional 5 minutes.
When you need to reheat later, bake at 400 degrees and check after 10 minutes. It may take 10-15 minutes depending on how big your squashes are.