This Vegan Stuffed Acorn Aquash is filled with a gluten-free wild rice stuffing with carrots, red pepper, celery, and onions. It makes an excellent vegan main dish for your Thanksgiving dinner.
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Thanksgiving will be here before we know it. I’ve worked in the kitchen, testing recipes and developing delicious options to satisfy every guest.
This vegan stuffed acorn squash has a touch of sweetness, and the wild rice stuffing is savory. It is the perfect combination and makes a beautiful presentation, too!
The wild rice filling is made with carrots, celery, onions, red peppers, walnuts, and thyme, making this an authentic gluten-free version of a traditional Thanksgiving stuffing.
It’s an easy recipe, but it takes time to roast the acorn squash and cook the wild rice. You’ll need to set aside a good hour to pull this together from start to finish. But hey, that’s nothing compared to the time it takes to roast a whole turkey!
💗 Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Vegan Thanksgiving Main Course
- Satisfying and Filling
- Naturally Gluten-Free
- Full of Autumn Flavors
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Whole Food Plant-Based No Oil
- Stuffing has texture and crunch
- It’s simple to make!
- It takes about 60 minutes from start to finish.
- Make it in advance.
🥣 Ingredients and Notes
Acorn Squash: When buying in the grocery store, look for ones without blemishes and don’t have any soft spots.
Wild Rice: You could opt for brown rice if you don’t have wild rice, but I highly recommend using wild rice for this recipe. It has an excellent texture and holds firm, a nice contrast to the soft baked squash.
Vegetables: You’ll need red onion, red bell pepper, carrot, and celery that is finely diced.
Herbs and Spices: The flavor of the stuffing really comes from the herbs and spices. Feel free to experiment with other flavors as you wish. I used garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper. But other herbs to try include sage and rosemary.
Parsley (optional) for garnish.
📖 Variations and Substitutions
Use Quinoa: If you’re not a fan of wild rice you can substitute quinoa in its place. It will still be gluten-free.
More Vegetables: Feel free to get creative with the vegetable combination you use in this dish. Use what you have on hand. I love the flavor of the carrots, celery, and red onion in this dish. It reminds me of an authentic Thanksgiving stuffing, but any combination of vegetables would work.
Different Types of Squash: This stuffing pairs well with other types of winter squash. Consider using butternut squash, delicata, or spaghetti squash.
👩🏻🍳 How to Make Vegan Stuffed Acorn Squash
- Preheat the oven to 400° F.
- Slice the acorn squash in half. Remove the seeds with a spoon.
- Brush a light amount of olive oil on the flesh of the squash, or leave oil off if you’re oil-free. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top.
- Place the squash halves cut-side down on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
- Bake in the oven at 400° F for 40 minutes or until fork tender. Allow the squash to cool before flipping them over. They will be very hot and steamy.
- While the acorn squash is roasting, begin the wild rice stuffing. Bring 1 cup of vegetable broth and ½ cup of wild rice to a boil. Add one bay leaf. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes.
- While rice is simmering, chop the red onion, carrot, celery, and red pepper. Mince the garlic.
- Sauté red onions in ¼ cup of vegetable broth for 3 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and simmer for an additional 2 minutes. Add carrots, celery, red pepper, thyme, and a dash of salt and pepper. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes or until vegetables soften.
- When rice is done, remove it from heat and allow it to sit covered in the pan for an additional 10 minutes to absorb all liquid. Remove the bay leaf and add rice to the vegetable mixture. Stir in chopped walnuts.
- To assemble the vegan stuffed acorn squash, scoop the wild rice stuffing and place it into the center of the roasted acorn squash. Top with parsley to garnish, and serve!
📝 Expert Tips
- Double this recipe to serve 8.
- Use a good knife to cut the acorn squash in half.
- Save the squash seeds to roast for later.
- Scoop out some squash flesh to fit more stuffing inside each half.
❓ Recipe FAQS
Yes, you can roast squash a day in advance to save time in the kitchen. You must reheat the squash in the oven before stuffing it with the wild rice stuffing.
No, you do not need to peel acorn squash before roasting. However, the peel is not edible but easily removed after it’s roasted.
🍽 How to Serve Vegan Stuffed Acorn Squash
- Top the rice with dried cranberries and diced apples for some tart and sweet flavor.
- Sprinkle the tops with cinnamon and ginger to give it a warm autumn flavor.
- If serving for Thanksgiving or a holiday meal, serve it alongside my almond milk, mashed potatoes, and vegan gravy!
- Add this recipe to your vegan prep meals rotation!
🫙 How to Store and Keep
Refrigerate: Store leftover vegan stuffed acorn squash in an airtight container. Keep the squash and the stuffing in two separate containers. They will keep them in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Freeze: Transfer to a freezer-safe airtight container. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Reheat: Warm the squash in the oven and the rice in the microwave. Add a few tablespoons of water to the rice cover and heat for a minute or two. The water will help bring back the moisture to the rice filling.
😋 More Vegan Autumn Recipes!
⚖️ Serving Size
You can double this recipe for a larger crowd of eight. As written, this recipe serves four.
Please comment below if you found this article helpful or have any additional questions. You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for more family-friendly vegan recipes!
Recipe
Vegan Stuffed Acorn Squash
Ingredients
- 2 acorn squash
- ½ cup wild rice
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup red onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 carrot chopped
- 2 stalks of celery
- ½ cup red pepper
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- ¼ cup walnuts chopped
- 2 tablespoon fresh parsley (optiona) to garnish
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Slice the acorn squash in half. Remove seeds with a spoon. Brush with 1 tablespoon of olive oil on the flesh of the squash or leave oil off if you're oil free. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top. Place flesh side down on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Place in a preheated oven at 400 F for 40 minutes.
- While the acorn squash is roasting you can begin the wild rice stuffing. Bring 1 cup of vegetable broth and ½ cup of wild rice to a boil. Add bay leaf. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes.
- While rice is simmering chop the red onion, carrot, celery, and red pepper. Mince the garlic. Sauté red onions in ¼ cup of vegetable broth for 3 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and simmer for an additional 2 minutes. Add carrots, celery, red pepper, thyme, and a dash of salt and pepper. Simmer foran additional 5 minutes or until vegetables soften.
- When rice is done allow to sit in covered pan for an additional 10 minutes to allow all liquid to be absorbed. Remove bay leaf and add rice to vegetable mixture. Add chopped walnuts. Stir to combine.
- Scoop about ½ a cup of wild rice stuffing and place into the center of the roasted acorn squash. Top with parsley to garnish, and serve! This can be served warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- Double this recipe to serve 8.
- Use a good knife to cut the acorn squash in half.
- Save the squash seeds to roast for later.
- Scoop out some of the squash flesh to fit more stuffing inside each half.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Reheat the rice in the microwave with a few tablespoons of water.
- Reheat the acorn squash in the oven at 350 F, for 10 minutes.
Frances
Great recipe, easy to put together especially with some left over rice. Had some forbidden rice already cooked, and used that, and all the veggies. Very pretty too. Thank you
Emily
Acorn squash is one of my faves! Love this stuffed version!
Krissy Allori
These are so good and they are pretty to boot. I’m going to add them to my Thanksgiving menu.
Sally @ Savory With Soul
What a lovely, colorful dish for fall! Perfect for those days when we’re not having meat (or I may pair it with a pot roast). Thanks for sharing it!
Annissa
What a wonderful combination of fall flavors! This would make a perfect side for Thanksgiving. Your step-by-step directions make it so easy to follow your recipe.
Michelle
Absolutely fantastic recipe that’s perfect for Fall. Filling and flavorful