Roasted Butternut Squash Burgers

These Roasted Butternut Squash Burgers are about as whole food plant based as you can get. They are just seasoned butternut squash slices and you can freeze the extras or cut them up and use them in salads.

Just so you know, this post is sponsored by Sabra.

Ingredients for butternut squash veggie burgers

You’ll make your squash “patties” first, and then fill them into buns!

For your burger patty

• Butternut squash
• Olive oil
• Pepper, to taste
• Smoked salt, to taste
• Fresh rosemary or sage, to taste

For serving

• Buns
• Sabra Spread, garlic herb flavor

How to make roasted butternut squash burgers

Once all the ingredients are ready, all that it takes is some baking to get your squash burgers ready for serving!

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Place parchment paper on a large baking sheet.
2. Carefully cut off the neck of the squash, then remove the end with the stalk, and peel. You will reserve the bottom of the squash for other uses.
3. Slice the squash into rounds. Slice them about ¼ inch thick. You can make them thicker, but you may need to cook them longer.
4. Brush both sides of each squash round with oil and place on the baking sheet. Sprinkle the pepper, salt, and herbs on one side. Bake for 15 minutes.
5. Remove the tray from the oven and flip the squash pieces. Now sprinkle the pepper, salt, and herbs on one this side. Cook for 5 minutes longer, or until the middle of each piece is the same color in the middle as the edges. If they are underdone they will be darker orange in the middle.
6. Lightly toast your bun, slather on some Sabra spread, and add some fresh kale for a little crunch. Enjoy!

Do you have to peel a butternut squash before roasting?

You can peel it although you don’t have to if you’re slow-roasting the squash. The skin is edible anyway, so you can leave it there and it will turn softer as it bakes.

But with other cooking methods, you might want to peel off the skin. It’s challenging to do that, so I would microwave it first for 2-3 minutes. That makes the tough skin softer and therefore easier to remove.

How do you pick a good butternut squash?

Try to select a squash that has a longer neck, so you can get more slices out of the solid part of the butternut squash.

Go ahead and remove the seeds from the bottom, peel, and cube it. Then it’s ready to go in a vegan butternut squash okra gumbo, butternut squash and kale lo mein, or butternut squash frijoles.

Can I use plain salt instead of smoked salt in this recipe?

Yes, you can, but it won’t have the smokiness of smoked salt, which is one of the secrets why these squash burgers taste closer to typical flame-grilled patties. You can try adding some liquid smoke instead.

Are there other herbs and spices I can use instead of rosemary?

You can use sage, which has a pine-like flavor similar to rosemary. Thyme and marjoram work, too, although thyme is much milder.

More recipes to try

There’s more to do with butternut squash, like this slow cooker butternut squash macaroni from my book, Vegan Slow Cooking for Two.

Also you can prep some butternut squash white bean spread for a Halloween party or a picnic day maybe. And speaking of picnic, you can bring in some citrus rosemary cookies!