This Browned Butter Butternut Squash Pasta is the perfect impressive, but easy, dish. Pasta coated in a delicious butternut squash sauce, this dish will knock your socks off.
Ah, fall is almost here, but from the change in the weather to the posts on Instagram, it feels as if it has arrived. Hints of it can be found in our home, especially in the kitchen.
I’ve been cooking and baking with my fall favorites, including butternut squash. I’ve always appreciated butternut squash for its beauty and its flavor. It’s graced several of my table settings and decorated a few of our homes.
I love anything versatile, so it should come as no surprise that a vegetable I can use to decorate my table one day, will become dinner the next. Flowers can’t do that.
Browned Butter Butternut Squash Pasta
This Browned Butter Butternut Squash Pasta, or butternut squash spaghetti for short, is so easy to make but looks so impressive!
The brown butter adds rich fall flavor. You’re going to want to make this butternut squash pasta sauce all fall! The browned butter pairs beautifully with the creamy butternut squash and crisp flavorful sage that it’ll leave your kitchen so aromatic.
What is Brown Butter?
Brown Butter is also known as beurre noisette – a warm sauce used in French cooking for vegetables, pasta, fish, and chicken. While it sounds and tastes “fancy,” it is super simple to make! It is the result of cooking butter down until the milk solids turn brown and the water evaporates, resulting in a nutty aroma and flavor. If you need help, I break down how to brown butter perfectly here.
Browned Butter Butternut Squash Pasta Ingredients
- Butter – Salted or unsalted, your preference.
- Fresh Sage Leaves – These add color and so much flavor.
- Chopped Walnuts – You can substitute with your favorite nuts or eliminate if you prefer a nut-free dish.
- Garlic – I used minced garlic for an easy shortcut.
- Butternut Squash
- Freshly Grated Parmesan or Pecorino
- Pepper – Fresh cracked pepper is best.
- Pasta – While a wider pasta like pappardelle gives more surface area for the butternut squash sauce to coat, you can use spaghetti, fettuccine, or whatever you have on hand. You can use a box/bag of pasta, or as I often do, make homemade pasta! Learn How to Make Homemade Pasta here.
How To Make Pasta with the Best Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce — Step by Step Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the butternut squash. Cook for 15 minutes, remove. Add pasta noodles to boiling water.
- Meanwhile, brown butter over medium heat in a saucepan until amber in color and it has a nutty scent. Add sage leaves, walnuts, and garlic. Remove from heat after 30 seconds.
- Remove sage leaves and place on paper towels to dry.
- In a food processor, puree squash. Add to butter the puree mixture and stir well. Add fresh cracked pepper.
- Toss the butternut squash sauce with the pasta, and top with fresh parmesan and sage leaves.
Is This Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce Healthy?
Yes – the pureed squash is such a great way to have extra vegetables snuck into a dish!
Tips Making This Butternut Squash Pasta
- Step it up a notch by making your own pasta to be coated in this amazing butternut squash pasta sauce. Here’s how I make homemade pasta in minutes!
- This pasta recipe can easily be turned into a casserole – add everything into an oven safe dish, top with more cheese, and bake until the cheese on top has melted!
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Can You Freeze Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce?
Yes – let the butternut squash pasta sauce cool to room temperature and then store it in an airtight container. Be sure to leave some space in the container when you freeze it as it’ll expand.
What Wine Pairs Well With Browned Butter Butternut Squash Pasta?
A full-bodied white wine Chardonnay, a creamy textured Viognier, an earthy flavored Chianti, or a sweet Cotes du Rhône would pair well with this butternut squash spaghetti!
More Pasta Recipes You May Like
- Pasta Con Broccoli
- Bow Tie Pasta Salad
- Creamy Chicken Pasta with Cajun Sauce
- Cherry Tomato Pasta
- Seafood Pasta Salad
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Browned Butter Butternut Squash Pasta
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- fresh sage leaves
- 1/4 cup walnuts chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 butternut squash large, cubed
- 1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan or pecorino
- black pepper to taste
- 1 pound pasta
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the butternut squash. Cook for 15 minutes, remove, and put it in a food processor. Add pasta noodles to boiling water.
- Meanwhile, brown butter over medium heat in a saucepan until amber in color and it has a nutty scent. Add sage leaves, walnuts, and garlic. Remove from heat after 30 seconds.
- Remove sage leaves and place on paper towels to dry.
- In a food processor, puree squash. Add to butter the puree mixture and stir well. Add fresh cracked pepper.
- Toss the butternut squash sauce with the pasta, and top with fresh parmesan and sage leaves.
Julie's Tips
Estimated nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is not guaranteed.
I really enjoyed learning how to use brown butter in recipes. Thank you
Do you think this would taste good with chicken added for some protein? If so, when/how wold you add it? Thanks!
Of course! I would bake the chicken and toss it in at the end.
YUM!