Air fryer butternut squash is a healthy side dish perfect for the holidays or for your family year round. Tender and flavorful cubes of YUM.
Air fryer butternut squash cubes are great! Roasted and seasoned to perfection every bite comes out perfectly tender. One of many easy air fryer recipes we have here on The Typical Mom blog. (originally published 3/21, affiliate links present)
Roast Butternut Squash Cubes
You may have tried to bake these in your oven before. Let me tell you that air fryer vegetable recipes are out of this world. Not only is it quick to make but the texture is amazing overall.
Whether you’re looking for a vegetarian dish or easy side dishes for the holidays, even my kiddos love this one.
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- My Favorite Air Fryer is a Cosori or for a dual machine, the Foodi.
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- It has temp. and times for making the best frozen foods for air fryer too.
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Butternut Squash Air Fryer
It is really quite simple to prepare this one. Ok, it is a bit more labor intensive than our sliced mushrooms, zucchini and yellow squash mixture we call air fryer vegetables. BUT we will help you understand how it’s done.
This orange vegetable looks kinda’ similar to a pumpkin when you slice it open. Of course with those we don’t throw out the middle goodness, instead we make air fryer pumpkin seeds.
I mean I guess you could do the same with these but there aren’t enough really to bother if you ask me. Just use a spoon and scoop out the yuck and throw it away, then you’re ready to slice it up.
How to cube butternut squash
Get a cutting board and a sharp knife out so you’re ready for these steps:
- Lay the gourd on it’s side and cut the bulb off. Meaning that round end that’s kinda weird. Once you do it will be straight on the thin end like you see here above.
Do I need to peel butternut squash before roasting?
- Yes. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin on the outside so it’s nice and smooth, you don’t want to eat that.
- If it is tough to do this you can microwave it for 30 seconds and then try again.
- Then slice it in half lengthwise, like you see above.
- Scoop out the seeds and a bit of the strings inside the middle, discard.
- Put the flat end down on your cutting board and cut it into 1-1.5″ strips.
Then put a few of those strips together and dice into cubes. Keeping them squares about the same width and length are good.
Cubed Butternut Squash
Now you will season these babies however you like. Olive oil is needed to keep each piece moist and have your seasonings stick too. I’d add at least salt and pepper. Toss all of that together so each piece is nicely coated.
I always like to preheat my air fryer for 5 minutes at the recommended temperature. This will ensure your food is cooking at the same temp. throughout the duration of the time.
If you forget don’t freak out, it will still be fine but you might need to add a few more minutes. Cook time will vary slightly for this anyway because if you cube them larger than this it will take longer. Just remove once fork tender.
Air Fryer Squash
Once your squash pieces are nice and tender taste them and add additional seasonings before serving right out of your air fryer basket. If you wanted a bit of sweetness, sprinkle with brown sugar!
Before you jump to the recipe and instructions below this is what you’ll need to get started making air fryer roasted squash.
- Butternut squash
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Parsley
Garlic salt and/or powder might be a nice addition too if you love those flavors on your summer squash recipes in general.
Below we have exact measurements needed and instructions. Here are brief step by steps though so you can see;
How to cook butternut squash in air fryer
Time needed: 15 minutes
Air Fryer Butternut Squash Recipe
- Prepare
Slice top round bulb off of squash. Peel the outside skin using a vegetable peeler. Cut squash lengthwise, scoop out middle and discard insides.
Cube squash into equal size pieces so they cook evenly. Preheat air fryer to 350 degrees F for 5 minutes.
Put cubes in a bowl and drizzle on olive oil, toss to coat. Sprinkle with any seasonings you’d like. - Cook
Pour into air fryer basket and cook for approximately 15 minutes shaking the basket halfway through. When tossing you can spray with olive oil spray at that time if they look a bit dry.
Test after 15 minutes by poking with a fork to see if they are tender. Enjoy air fried squash. - Option
If you then want to make this into a homemade butternut squash soup, you can! Follow our recipe here, blend and enjoy.
Gluten free, healthy and cheap too it is one of those foods you can enjoy year round.
What flavors go well with butternut squash?
Think of how you like your sweet potato in air fryer or what you sprinkle on sweet potato cubes oven roasted style. I kinda’ go with that along with a savory touch. You could add oregano, sage, basil, cumin, the list goes on and on. Chili powder will add just a tad of heat if you want.
Serve this with some sliced air fryer frozen chicken breast for a really good for you meal.
Want to try another air fryer vegetable recipe? Our air fryer spaghetti squash and air fryer acorn squash is like nothing else you’ve made. Guarantee you’ll never bake it in the oven again.
Want to see a few of my favorite things that I am totally obsessed with?? Take a peek and see how many you might already have…twinsies!
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Air Fryer Butternut Squash
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash skin removed, cut into equal size cubes
- parsley optional to garnish
- olive oil spray
- salt and pepper to taste, optional
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Slice bulb off top of squash. Peel the outside skin. Cut squash lengthwise, scoop out middle and remove skin. Cube squash into equal size pieces so they cook evenly.
- Preheat air fryer to 350 degrees F for 5 minutes.
- Put cubes in a bowl and drizzle on olive oil, toss to coat. Sprinkle with any seasonings you'd like now.
- Pour into air fryer basket and cook for approximately 15 minutes tossing halfway through. When tossing you can spray with olive oil spray at that time if they look a bit dry.
- Test after 15 minutes by poking with a fork to see if they are tender. Enjoy.
carla
Thursday 25th of March 2021
Help! I'm wanting to purchase an air fryer, but am overwhelmed with the choices. Do I purchase just an air fryer or do I get a Ninja foodie? I already own an Instant Pot. Please share with me the pros/cons of each!
The Typical Mom
Saturday 27th of March 2021
If you already have a pressure cooker you might just want a Cosori, I have the 5 qt and it is fine for the 4 of us.