Butternut Squash Stew
Butternut Squash Stew is a smoky, spicy vegetarian stew that’s packed with veggies. It’s a hearty, satisfying meatless meal!
This has been one crazy, hectic week at school, and I wasn’t even sure I was going to get this post done. Normally I like to post on Wednesdays, but last night I needed a break and took it. 🙂
I’m waiting for the day to come when I’ll be ahead of the game and have blog posts and photos lined up ahead of time, but with my school schedule, I’m one post at time. I guess I’m lucky I have time to do it at all!
It’s often hard to decide what recipes to post because I receive inspiration from so many places and I always have a multitude of ideas. Every now and then a dish will come along that’s so special that I’m compelled to post it right away.
This Butternut Squash Stew was one of those dishes.
I was tasked to make a stew similar to this in cooking school. We ate it for lunch, and I had two bowls. Two!
It’s not like I’m that hungry at school because we’re always eating or tasting, but I loved this so much, refilling my bowl was necessary.
I’m crazy about butternut squash, which may come as no surprise. I have many recipes here that I love, including my butternut squash soup, butternut squash fajitas and butternut squash mac and cheese.
This Butternut Squash Stew is a unique way to enjoy one of my favorite winter squash varieties, and I can’t get enough.
This Butternut Squash Stew recipe is comfort food perfection. There’s a bounty of butternut squash along with fire roasted tomatoes, red bell pepper, swiss chard, corn and kidney beans.
This stew is one hearty meatless meal!
My favorite part about this stew is its smoky, spicy flavors. They’re the perfect complement to the sweetness of the butternut squash!
I love garnishing my stew with a dollop of cool, creamy Greek yogurt, which also adds a nice protein boost. You can also make this meal vegan by using a plant based yogurt.
This Butternut Squash Stew is completely customizable with whatever you have on hand. It would be amazing with sweet potato or kabocha squash, black beans — you name it. It’s also freezer friendly and perfect for meal prep.
This stew is a tried and true favorite of mine, and I hope you try it too!
More hearty meatless meals you’ll love:
Sweet potato black bean enchiladas
Veggie burger by Chocolate Covered Katie
Butternut Squash Stew
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 cups butternut squash cut into 1/2" cubes
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 28 ounces fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 15 ounces kidney beans rinsed and drained
- 1 cup frozen roasted corn thawed
- 1 bunch swiss chard tough stems removed and sliced into ribbons
- 1 lime juiced, plus lime wedges for serving
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Garnish with Greek yogurt and chopped cilantro or scallions optional
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 6 minutes.
- Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and paprika and saute for 1 minute, then add the butternut squash and red bell pepper and saute for 1 minute more.
- Add the diced tomatoes and vegetable stock and stir until combined. Bring to a boil over medium heat then lower the heat to medium low and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Add the kidney beans and corn and cook for 15 minutes longer or until the squash is tender. Once tender, stir in the swiss chard and cook just until wilted, about 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in the lime juice, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve the stew with the optional garnishes and enjoy!
Notes
- This stew is thick, so add another cup of vegetable stock if you'd like it on the thinner side.
- Make this stew vegan by omitting the Greek yogurt.
- Stew is freezer friendly and is perfect for meal prep!
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
15 Comments on “Butternut Squash Stew”
Thank you so much for this post. Every autumn, we get so, so much Swiss Chard from our CSA and we never use it up before it goes bad. It can be so bitter when eaten on its own, so we’re always looking for good ways to incorporate it into a dish. The roasted corn in your soup sounds incredible!
I’m glad you found this post useful, Jamie! Have you ever tried cutting the chard and freezing it like spinach? I’m really trying to freeze more before things go bad. Have a great weekend, Jamie!
This stew looks awesome Marcie, it would be hard for me to only have one bowl of this too 🙂 I love how it’s packed with so many wonderful fall veggies – especially the butternut squash. A big bowl or two sounds perfect to warm up to on any autumn night 🙂
Thanks, Kelly! I’m so bummed that it’s gone now — I’m not tired of it yet. Have a great weekend!
Marcie I am loving this stew!! Butternut squash is my favorite this time of the year (I think I’ve bought it every week at the grocery store lately). And I really like the addition of the swiss chard. A perfect comforting fall soup : ) Have a great weekend friend!
Thanks, Ashley! I ate it every day for 4 days and I’m bummed that it’s gone.
I’m sorry you have a cold, Consuelo. I’m coming down with one, too, and there’s none of this stew left.
I really like all the ingredients of this soup and I always like to have soup available one fall starts. I must try this one.
I love having soup made weekly as I love eating a bowl a day once fall starts especially! I looked forward to eating this every day and was sorry when it was gone. I hope you give it a try!
Mmmm, this bowl of soup looks so warm and inviting!! Love it girl!
Thanks, Jocelyn! 🙂
Love your recipes! I have some dietary restrictions, I can’t eat any type of pepper. Not red, green or yellow. What can I use to replace them.? I also have to limit or exclude garlic. Is there a replacement? Thank you.
Hi Susa! You can certainly replace the peppers with any type of vegetable. Zucchini or summer squash, green beans or any of your favorites will do! I’m on a low FODMAP diet right now and can’t have garlic, so I simply omit it or use garlic infused olive oil instead. I hope this helps!
Thank you, that helps very much. And I just bought zucchini and yellow squash yesterday. I also picked up some fava beans by mistake. I thought they were Lima beans. I’ll be looking forward to trying them after watching your video. Thanks.
You’re very welcome! I hope you enjoy the fava beans…they’re one of my favorite spring ingredients. 🙂