Stewed Honey Nut Squash Recipe

By Chris De La Rosa
Culinary Specialist

Yea, honey nut squash is new to me too. I had never seen nor heard of it until I was at a local market and the name caught my attention. And even when I posted a clip of me cooking this on Instagram, I had a ton of people correcting me: “it’s butternut squash”.

so I knew it was kinda unique to many.  Like any spinach (greens) type leafy vegetable, I’m also a HUGE fan of all squash and pumpkin, so they came home with me.

You’ll Need…

3 small honey nut squash (peel | cubed)
1/2 medium onion (diced)
2 cloves garlic (diced)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon Caribbean green seasoning
3/4 cup prepared salted cod
1/4 teaspoon salt

Note: I did this recipe with salted cod, but if you wanted to leave that ingredient out and have this fully vegan or vegetarian, you can certainly do so. Additionally, if doing this recipe gluten-free, please go through the entire list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten-free dietary needs.

Peel (the skin will be tough), core and dice the squash, then place it in a bowl covered with cool water. This will prevent it from going discolored.

Place a heavy pot (one with a lid) on a medium flame and heat the olive oil, then turn down the heat and add the diced onion and garlic, along with the black pepper. Cook on low for 2-3 minutes. Then add the prepared salted cod to the pot and stir well. Followed by the Caribbean Green Seasoning and stir.. heat still on low.

It’s now time to crank-up the heat to med-high and start adding the cubed squash pieces to the pot, making sure to stir well to combine all the flavors we started with.

Heat at medium now, add the brown sugar and cover the pot.

After about 3-5 mins (watch the video below) you’ll notice that the Honey Nut Squash got a lot of its own natural liquid… add the salt, turn the heat down to low and cover the pot. Cook for about 20 – 24 mins, stirring occasionally.

It should be fully cooked at this point and falling apart. Here’s where you can personalize things a bit. Check for salt and adjust. I used a little salt as I know the remaining salt in the salted cod would help season things nicely. I then turned the heat up to med/high to burn off the liquid (I like a dry squash when cooked.. you may like it  a bit runny) and I used the back of my spoon to crush any solid pieces. It took another 5-7 minutes to get to the consistency and texture I like.

If salted cod is not your thing, you can add some seasoned shrimp in the final 5 minutes of cooking; you can thank me later. I usually eat this as a typical vegetable side or, on days when I want to be taken back to the islands, I eat it with some hot roti.

This recipe is courtesy of Gourmand Award winning cookbook author and founder of CaribbeanPot.com, Chris De La Rosa. With over 450 printable recipes with step by step cooking instructions and demo videos, PLUS over 1 million social/fan connections globally every month, CaribbeanPot.com is the world’s #1 resource of Caribbean Culinary Culture. Connect with Chis on Instagram: www.instagram.com/caribbeanpot/.