Vegan Stuffed Acorn Squash

Thanksgiving is coming up in just about a month. For some this means a turkey dinner with all the fixings: mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, cranberry sauce....the list goes on and on. I grew up with this type of Thanksgiving dinner, but this year I'm away from a lot of my extended family this holiday season. While my cousin and her husband generously opened up their home to me down here, I don't think the three of us could eat an entire turkey dinner.

I wanted to try to make something on a smaller scale that still incorporates those classic Thanksgiving foods but was much less overwhelming to make. Since my favorite is stuffing, I created this vegan cornbread, apple and sausage stuffing to go in a beautifully tender squash. This cornbread adds a sweetness to the mixture, but you could certainly use plain old bread if that's all you have on hand.

Overall, this recipe take a little bit of labor, but it's definitely worth it for the end product. Give it a whirl and let me know how it goes! Enjoy!

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hours

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 acorn squash, halved and seeded

• 2 C cups vegan cornbread, cubed

• 1 C vegan sausage crumbles

• 1 tbsp oil

• ⅔ C chopped celery

• ½ onion, chopped

• 1 medium apple, diced

• 1 tbsp chopped fresh sage

• 1 tbsp fresh thyme

• 1 C low sodium chicken broth

• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread cornbread pieces evenly on a baking sheet. Toast for 10 - 12 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

2. Reduce oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8x12 or 9x13 baking dish and set aside.

3. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Cook the vegan sausage until browned. Stir in chopped celery and onions. Stir and cook until the vegetables begin to soften, about 4-5 minutes. Add a splash of the chicken broth to deglaze the pan, stir, and remove from heat.

4. In a large bowl, combine the remaining chicken broth and slightly cooled sausage mixture, diced apples, herbs and spices until just combined.

5. Fold in the toasted cornbread.

6. Arrange squash halves in a baking dish and brush with oil. Spoon filling evenly into squash halves. If you have extra stuffing, just toss it in the baking dish around the squash.

7. Bake for 60-80 minutes, until squash is tender. If the stuffing starts to brown too quickly, cover with foil and finish baking.

8. Enjoy!