Our air fried Honey Butter Acorn Squash is made in less than 25 minutes in 4 easy steps! It's glazed with a cinnamon honey butter sauce, topped with crunchy walnuts, then air fried until sweet, savory and perfectly warm and tender.
It's made with only 5 ingredients, but you can skip the honey butter glaze, roast it and enjoy it as mashed acorn squash or turn it into a homemade puree for use in other recipes, like muffins, breads, and fall pasta sauces or soups.
This roasted acorn squash also makes a delicious and crowd-pleasing side dish for Thanksgiving dinner. The air fryer makes the lengthy process of oven roasting winter squashes and pumpkins less time consuming, especially during all that holiday cooking!
Table Of Contents
Ingredients
You need:
- Whole acorn squash
- Butter
- Honey: substitute with maple syrup.
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Walnuts: you can use pecans too!
Variations
- Use different nuts, like pecans, almonds, pistachios or Brazillan nuts, or leave it nut-free.
- Add dried fruits with the walnuts, like dried cranberries, raisins, or cherries.
- You can also stuff it with fillings, like slow cooker apple pie filling, crockpot apple baked oatmeal or a sweet oatmeal filling like I do in these baked stuffed pears.
- Make quinoa stuffed acorn squash.
- Skip the sauce entirely, air fry it and turn it into homemade acorn squash puree.
How to Prepare Acorn Squash For Cooking
To prepare an acorn squash for this recipe, wash and dry it completely. Using a sharp knife, carefully cut the squash in half, from stem to bottom. Remove the seeds and stringy pulp with a spoon, and it's ready for cooking!
Can I Eat the Skin?
The skin of an acorn squash is completely edible. Just make sure to roast it until it's tender, otherwise it will be too tough to eat. You can also turn the skin into a healthy snack like I do with these air fried pumpkin skin chips.
Instructions
Making acorn squash in the air fryer takes no more than 30 minutes from start to finish.
- Preheat the air fryer to 400°F (204°C) and line the air fryer basket or tray with parchment paper. Place the acorn squash halves on the parchment paper skin side down.
- In a small bowl, mix the melted butter, honey, cinnamon and nutmeg. Brush the flesh with the honey butter. Fill each cavity with half of the chopped walnuts. Drizzle the remaining honey butter over each squash, filling the cavities with a generous amount. Gently mix the walnuts into the honey butter to coat them. *You can skip the honey butter dressing and air fry the squash plain to use as a puree or cut into chunks for other recipes.
- Put into the preheated air fryer and cook for 23 minutes, or until the flesh pierces easily with a fork. Depending on the size of your squash, this will take between 20 and 25 minutes. So start checking the squash at the 20 minute mark.
- Remove from the air fryer and serve warm, sprinkled with additional cinnamon and brown sugar if desired.
Kristina's Tips for Air Frying Acorn Squash
- Large acorn squash may need to cook for a little longer and smaller may need a little less time. Poke the squash with a fork at the 20 minute mark. If it easily pierces the thickest part of the squash, it's done. If not, cook for longer.
- Acorn squash can also be roasted whole, without cutting beforehand. Follow this recipe for air frying a whole pumpkin if you'd like to try this. The seeds and pulp can be removed after it's air fried. The skin should easily peel off and the seeds can be kept for making roasted seeds. Every part of the squash can be eaten, except the stem.
How To Serve
In addition to enjoying as a simple vegetarian lunch and Thanksgiving and fall dinner side dish, it goes well with many fall-inspired main meats. With its mild sweetness, it pairs well with slow cooker pork chops and apples, pecan-crusted chicken tenders, and air fryer frozen salmon.
How To Store
Cover tightly with plastic wrap or place in an airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to 5 days. Warm in the oven or microwave.
Enjoy!
Recipe
Air Fried Honey Butter Acorn Squash
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 acorn squash cut in half and deseeded
- 2 tablespoon melted butter
- 2 tablespoon honey
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ cup walnuts crushed or chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 400°F (204°C). Line the air fryer basket or tray with parchment paper. Place the acorn squash halves on the parchment paper skin side down.
- In a small bowl, mix the melted butter, honey, cinnamon and nutmeg. Brush the flesh with the honey butter. Fill each cavity with half of the chopped walnuts. Drizzle the remaining honey butter over each squash, filling the cavities with a generous amount. Gently mix the walnuts into the honey butter to coat them.
- Place in the preheated air fryer and cook for 23 minutes, or until the flesh pierces easily with a fork.
- Serve warm, sprinkled with brown sugar and extra cinnamon if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Susan says
Absolutely love this except for the parchment paper catching fire. Turns out, the air fryer that I have wipes out so easily it wasn't an issue. Will definitely make again.
Melinda says
Brilliant! The quintessential fall recipe and I love the honey butter with walnuts too.
nancy says
i love this AR squash! beats roasting the oven and it is so creamy!
Jeri says
This air fryer squash was so easy to make in the air fryer, way faster than the oven! Great flavor too!