Thanksgiving Crockpot Butternut Squash Side-Dish

Last season I made an insanely yummy-for-the-tummy One Pot Meal Recipe featuring Pork and Butternut Squash in my crockpot that is so easy to make anyone can do it (see video below). Butternut squash is a perfect paleo or vegetarian solution for your Thanksgiving guests – you don’t have to cook it with pork as you can cook it by itself – and I wanted to show you a hands-free side dish to make your Thanksgiving day cooking less stressful.

Below is a quick Thanksgiving crockpot butternut squash side-dish recipe for cooking butternut squash in your crockpot. The reason I like it; cooking this way means you do not have to wrestle with the squash to try to cut it before it’s cooked. Once it’s cooked in the crockpot, the squash cuts like butter and tastes delicious (see video as a reference on how you pull the butternut squash out and cut it open).

Crockpot Butternut Squash Cooking Recipe –

1. Harvest squash or pumpkin.
2. Cut slits in skin with knife.
3. Place in a crockpot on low for 6 hours with a little water in the bottom.
4. Remove from crockpot when tender (see below).
5. Cut in half and remove seeds and outer peel.
6. Mash well. Mix in salt and pepper then drizzle with olive oil or butter and serve.

How to Grow a Butternut Squash

This season I grew Honeynut butternut squash in my VegTrug elevated garden bed unit. This helps my osteoarthritis by offering much less strain and it is very easy and convenient to take care of my garden when it is lifted up above the ground. I was lucky to grow the miniature Honeynut Squash from PanAm Seed and Wave Petunia as it is so delicious and adorably cute.

Growing any size butternut squash is super easy. Here’s what you do – if you have an in-ground garden, amend your soil with Kellogg Garden Organics All Natural Garden Soil. I planted my squash in containers and used the Kellogg Garden Organic Select Garden Soil Formulated With BiocharMax soil in my elevated beds. I mix in one part rotted manure with the bagged soil. Then I fertilizer following the package directions on the Kellogg Garden Organics Organic Plus Tomato, Vegetable & Herb Fertilizer. One advantage to the Organic Plus fertilizer is that it contains kelp meal which is a great source of micro- and macro-nutrients which will help give your plants a boost.

Special thanks to Kellogg Garden Organics, VegTrug, and Wave Petunia for sponsoring this Thanksgiving crockpot butternut squash side-dish recipe. Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends and family – Happy Holiday Cooking!