Easy Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce with fresh butternut squash, pear, onion, garlic, nutmeg, and sage. Delicious with pasta, Italian sausage, and lasagna!
I don't know about you, but butternut squash used to be a mystery to me. Admittedly, I was a little intimidated by it. I had no idea how to cut it or how to cook it.
I started my journey with butternut squash by adding it to something familiar, roasted root vegetables (yum!). Then I moved on to making a Carrot Butternut Squash Soup (even more yum!).
And after loving every bite of cherry tomato sauce over the summer, I felt the need to step it up for the fall. Let me just say, this butternut squash sauce over pasta is it! It's so good!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Easy Recipe Just like my Carrot Butternut Squash Soup, this sauce is made easy by roasting and blending. There's no need to sauté onion and butternut squash first. And for easy cleanup, line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Simple Ingredients Butternut squash, pear (yes, pear!), onion, garlic, broth, and spices.
- Kid Tested This is a non-dairy, creamy pasta sauce, so it's safe for kids with dairy allergies. Plus, kids love pasta dishes. 🙌
- Parent Approved What's not to love about a delicious, creamy pasta sauce with the best fall flavors, made without heavy cream or tons of butter? 🙌
- Meal Prep This pasta sauce can be made a few days ahead of time and stored refrigerated in an airtight container. To rewarm it while you cook pasta, add the sauce to a medium saucepan on medium heat. To thin it out, stir in no more than a quarter cup of reserved pasta water or broth at a time.
Ingredient Notes
Here are a few notes on the key ingredients needed to make this butternut squash pasta sauce recipe.
- Butternut Squash Cut your own butternut squash into chunks or purchase pre-packaged, freshly cut butternut squash. Both can be found in the produce section of the grocery store during the fall and winter months. Butternut squash is rich in fiber, antioxidants, and minerals, including potassium.
- Pear Remove the stem and seeds, but don't peel it. Barlett pear adds a little bit of natural sweetness to this sauce, which helps balance out the garlic and onion. Pear is an excellent source of fiber.
- Garlic Use fresh garlic cloves, but don't roast them. When I made this recipe using roasted garlic, the garlic flavor was overpowering. Of course, if you love the flavor of roasted garlic, go ahead and roast it with the other ingredients. 🙂
- Fresh Sage Leaves You know I wouldn't recommend using fresh herbs if I didn't think it was necessary. There's just something about the flavor of fresh sage that is unmatched when serving butternut squash.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here's a summary of how to make this butternut squash pasta sauce recipe. For the complete recipe, including the full list of ingredients and specific instructions, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Spread chunks of butternut squash, onion, pear, and sage leaves out in a single layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and a pinch of salt.
- Roast veggies, sage, and pear in the oven.
- Place the roasted veggies and pear and the remaining ingredients into a high-speed blender or food processor that can handle hot liquids.
- Use a high-speed blender that can handle hot liquids or powerful immersion blender and blend until smooth. Serve and enjoy!
Dietitian Tip
Using veggies and fruit to make sauces is a great way to use up leftover produce and an easy way to help your family meet the daily recommendation.
Helpful Tips
- This recipe makes two cups of butternut squash pasta sauce.
- If you like the flavor of roasted garlic (I don't, lol), go ahead and put the garlic cloves with the peel removed in with the butternut squash and pear as they roast.
- I don't recommend adding tomato. I've tried blending in roasted tomato, and the flavor of the tomato took over.
- If you use pre-packaged already cubed butternut squash, it will reduce the total time by about 5-8 minutes.
- Taste the sauce after blending it. If you think it needs extra flavor, add more seasonings.
- To easily remove the skins of garlic cloves, carefully use the flat side of a knife to press on the clove. The skin should peel right off.
- Can use vegetable broth or pasta water in place of chicken broth. If you don't use a broth or stock, you may want to add a little more salt and spices.
- Allow leftover sauce to cool completely before storing in the fridge or freezer.
- If your blender is not designed to handle hot liquids. allow the ingredients to cool before blending. For instance, my NutriBullet Pro says not to use it to blend hot liquids, so I use my Vitamix for this recipe.
How to Serve this Pasta Sauce
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add your favorite pasta (get creative with the pasta shape) and cook to al dente, according to the package directions.
Drain the pasta, return it to the pot or a large serving bowl, stir the butternut squash sauce in with the cooked pasta and top with parmesan cheese and small pieces of fresh sage.
And if you think of it, reserve about a quarter cup of the pasta cooking water just in case you want to thin out the sauce even more.
*Stir in cooked Italian sausage for more protein and extra flavor.
Questions You May Have
Using a vegetable peeler is no doubt the easiest way to peel a whole squash.
I can't believe how much time I wasted over the years trying to peel butternut squash using a knife. A vegetable peeler makes it so much easier.
Yep! Once the sauce has cooled completely, place it in a freezer bag. Remove as much of the air from the bag as possible before sealing the bag. Freeze the leftover sauce for up to 3 months.
More Easy Recipes
📖 Recipe
Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce
Equipment
- 1 High-speed blender The blender needs to be able to handle hot liquids. I use a Vitamix blender for a creamy consistency. Can use a high-powered immersion blender instead.
- 1 Sharp knife I use a chef's knife.
Ingredients
- 2½ cups Butternut squash peeled and cut into chunks.
- ½ Barlett pear Washed. Seeds and stem removed. Leave the skin on.
- 1 small yellow onion sliced or cut into quarters.
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ¼ cup broth low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin
- ½ teaspoon salt I use sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 5 sage leaves fresh
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425° Fahrenheit.½ Barlett pear
- Place cubes of butternut squash, pear, onion, sage leaves, and garlic on a large sheet pan. Drizzle olive oil, then toss to coat. Add pepper and a tiny pinch of salt.2½ cups Butternut squash, 1 small yellow onion, 1 tablespoon olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt, 5 sage leaves
- Roast on the top rack of the oven for 25 minutes at 425 degrees on convection bake or for 30 minutes in a conventional oven.
- Remove from oven. Place roasted vegetables and pear, broth, the rest of the salt, minced garlic, and spices in your Vitamix or in a large pot (if using an immersion blender). Blend on high for thirty seconds to one minute, or until desired consistency is reached (it shouldn't have any chunks in it).¼ cup broth, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, 1 clove garlic
- Add one-quarter cup or additional broth to thin out the sauce to your desired consistency.
- Toss with your favorite pasta, cooked to al dente.
- Optional: top pieces of fresh sage, freshly grated parmesan cheese, and or pumpkin seeds.
Notes
- If you like the flavor of roasted garlic (I don't, lol), go ahead and put the garlic cloves with the peel removed in with the butternut squash and pear as they roast.
- If you use pre-packaged already cubed butternut squash, it will reduce the total time by about 5-8 minutes.
- Chicken broth and stock have varying amounts of salt in them. If you are using a very low sodium broth or stock, you may want to add an additional one-quarter teaspoon of salt. Just remember to taste it first because there's a good chance, you'll like it just the way it is 😉
- I've tried adding roasted tomato to this sauce and felt that the tomato flavor overpowered the butternut squash.
- Taste the sauce after blending it. If you think it needs more flavor, add more seasonings.
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