Butternut Squash & Pineapple Casserole Recipe

I made this casserole for Thanksgiving and it was delicious. My extended family are duds when it comes to trying new stuff, so I've got plenty of leftovers and have been enjoying 'em for the past few days. It seems to be getting better each day. Yum!

This recipe is a combination of a couple different ones I found online and a few tweaks to make it more WLS-friendly. I used these recipes to start with:  Some of this one and some of this one. 


Butternut Squash & Pineapple Casserole

• 1 large butternut squash - cubed (about 3-4 cups)
• 1 large can juice-packed pineapple tidbits - reserve juice
• 1 large can pears - sweetened with Splenda - reserve juice
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup Splenda
• 1/2 cup Splenda Brown Sugar
• salt

Topping
this is the part that's not very WLS-friendly, so you can skip it if you want, or use crackers instead of vanilla wafers for a less-sweet topping

• 14-oz box vanilla wafers - crushed
• 1/2 cup Splenda Brown Sugar
• 1 stick butter - melted

Heat oven to 350-degrees and place whole squash on baking dish on lower rack. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until squash is partially cooked -- when you insert a fork the flesh should still be firm. Remove squash and allow to cool. Once squash is cool, peel the skin and cut the flesh into 1-inch cubes. I had 3 large squash on-hand, so I prepared them all at once and put the extra in the freezer for future squash recipes.

Mix topping and set aside. Place cubed squash in baking dish and add all remaining ingredients. Mix to incorporate cinnamon and sugars. Use a portion of the reserved juice from pineapple and pear to moisten the casserole to your preference. Bake in 350-degree oven for 30 minutes. At this point I realized I used too much juice so I just poured some of it out - so check yours at this point too. Add the topping and return to oven until vanilla wafers are crispy and golden brown.

This recipe would also be excellent if you mashed the squash, pineapple and pear together into a smooth mixture instead of leaving them in chunks. And it is great as leftovers and makes a delicious side dish to a slice of leftover holiday ham.

Other Squash Recipes


Butternut Squash Soup
Autumn Roasted Vegetables
Sausage and Wild Rice Stuffed Squash