Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta

By Maria Lichty

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Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta with crispy sage leaves-a comforting pasta recipe for fall! 

Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta Recipe on twopeasandthierpod.com

Butternut squash always makes me think of the song, ‘Build Me Up Buttercup.’ I always start singing the classic song, but change the lyrics to “build me up butterNUT.” I recently made Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta and this time we turned on the song and had a dance party in our kitchen. Don’t worry, I waited until I was done cutting the butternut squash to bust out my best dance moves. Knives and the funky chicken don’t mix:)

Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta Recipe on twopeasandthierpod.com #recipe #pasta

We eat a lot of butternut squash during the fall months. I can never get enough. We love butternut squash tostadas, salad, soup, and mac and cheese. Our Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese is one of our favorite recipes so I thought it was time to create another butternut squash pasta dish.

Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta Recipe from twopeasandtheirpod.com #recipe

This time I made a simple butternut squash pasta sauce to go with DeLallo’s Organic Whole Wheat Linguine.

Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta Recipe from twopeasandtheirpod.com #recipe #pasta

The sauce is rich and creamy…without any butter or cream! Who would have thought a big orange squash could create such a decadent sauce? Even the vegetable haters will love this sauce! This is a great recipe to get your kids to eat their veggies too! Caleb loves this pasta!

Creamy Butternut Squash Whole Wheat Pasta Recipe from twopeasandtheirpod.com

After I toss the whole wheat pasta with the creamy sauce, I garnish the dish with crispy fried sage leaves. Don’t skip the sage. It brings out the best in the sauce. Butternut and sage are awesome together! The sauce is healthy so you can splurge a little on the garnish:)

Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta makes a great weeknight meal. You can have a healthy and comforting meal on the table in no time! And it’s so good, I am sure you will be singing “Build Me Up ButterNUT” too!

Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta Recipe from twopeasandtheirpod.com A comforting and healthy pasta recipe!

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Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta

Whole wheat pasta with creamy butternut squash sauce and crispy sage leaves. A healthy and comforting meal!
4.59 from 113 votes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 medium butternut squash peeled and diced
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 8 sage leaves
  • 12 ounces DeLallo whole wheat linguine or other pasta
  • 1 1/2 cups water or vegetable broth
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/4 cup diced yellow onion
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • 1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and add the butternut squash. Cook until soft, about 12-15 minutes.
  • 2. While the squash is cooking, fry the sage leaves. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat until surface is shimmering slightly. Add a few leaves at a time and cook until crisp, but still bright green, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a paper towel to drain. Season with salt. Set aside.
  • 3. Using a large slotted spoon, carefully remove the squash from the water and place in a large bowl. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to package instructions.
  • 4. Place the cooked butternut squash in a large food processor or blender. Puree the squash until smooth. Add water or broth and puree until the sauce reaches your desired consistency. You may need a little more or a little less water depending on the size of your squash.
  • In a large deep skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until soft, 3-5 minutes. Add pureed butternut squash. Stir in the Parmesan cheese. Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Add the pasta and stir until pasta is well coated. Chop two of the sage leaves and stir them into the pasta. Serve the pasta with remaining fried sage leaves and additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Have you tried this recipe?

Leave a comment below and share a photo on Instagram. Tag @twopeasandpod and hashtag it with #twopeasandtheirpod

 Disclosure-this post is in partnership with DeLallo, but our opinions are our own. 

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Maria

I'm Maria and my husband is Josh. We share a love of cooking, baking, and entertaining. We enjoy creating recipes that are simple, fresh, and family friendly. We love sitting around the table with good food, good conversation, and good friends and family! Our kitchen is always open!
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  1. Ooh this looks gorgeous! I love butternut squash and sage together. And thanks btw, I’ll have that song in my head all day now!! 😛

  2. Maria,
    This looks so lovely–what a great Fall bowl! I am lazy, so I admit I’ll probably just roast the butternut squash instead of all that peeling and dicing and boiling–though I suppose I’m doing the boiling for the noodles anyway! Still, such an easy thing to roast a butternut squash that I usually have a couple of packages in the freezer–so this could be even easier than I thought on a weeknight.
    Thanks!

  3. this looks so delicious ! I am a sucker for the sage and butternut squash combination. i love how this dish does not use cream!

  4. Well now I’m definitely going to be singing that song whenever I cut up a butternut…which is about daily. 🙂 Love this pasta sauce!

  5. Ha, love the butternut song! I love all the delicious dishes that can be made with butternut squash.

  6. Stunning photos! Looks delicious. I’m glad someone else has kitchen dance parties, as well 🙂

  7. This is amazing, Maria! I’ve been on a huge butternut squash kick lately….thanks for keeping the kick going strong 🙂

  8. What a great pasta! 🙂 I have been enjoying something similar of late and I can’t get enough of that crispy fried sage! So good!

  9. This looks so creamy and comforting and I love your “Build Me Up ButterNut” song, & dance party-so fun!

  10. I have a serious obsession with squash. And carbs. Especially with the colder weather upon us. This looks like one big cozy bowl of comfort that needs to get in my belly! Yummy!

  11. We usually make our songs about tacos (“tacos” can be substituted for “baby” in virtually any song), but “Build Me Up (Butternut)” has an undeniable ring to it.

  12. Oooh this looks delicious! I LOVE butternut squash, and it goes so well with sage. What a perfect fall dinner, pinning this!!

  13. I love butternut squash too! I’ve never made it with pasta, usually I eat it alone, but this recipe looks too fantastic to pass up!

  14. This looks so good that I want to make it immediately! Such a creamy texture – and the crispy sage on top. Thanks for sharing this recipe with us!

  15. I had some butturnut squash soup left, that became very thick so I tried to transform it into pasta sauce, resalt was amazing.

  16. Just made this pasta – absolutely delicious! I crave bite after bite! I used one box of frozen squash to save time and added all of the sage into the pasta. Even my little one will love this for dinner tonight. YUM!

  17. I love butternut squash pasta its the best in the winter time! There is just something that screams fall about it! Pinning this!

  18. this looks deceitfully delicious!! thanks for sharing!! i was wondering, however, if i omit the parmesan (hubs has to go dairy free), will it change the flavor much? also, do you have any suggestions for substitutes? thanks in advance!

    1. You can leave out the cheese. Add a little more salt since the parmesan adds saltiness to the dish!

  19. This was so yummy! I made it with pinwheel pasta to make it fun for my 19 month old and she loved it! Thanks so much.

  20. I just finished making this dish and I must say it was a hit with my husband. I did not have any fresh sage leaves to fry, so I had to skip this step…:( I am sure it would have been even better with it though…This is probably one if the healthiest pasta dishes I have ever made and I will definitely be making it again!

  21. Oh my gosh, I made this tonight and LOVED it! I really don’t care for tomato-based sauces and this is perfect for me. Very tasty, I’m in tummy heaven right now… 😀

  22. This recipe looks fantastic! I can’t believe how creamy the sauce looks without having any actual cream in it. I can’t wait to make it!

    Your dance party also sounds super fun! Did you know a buttercup squash is a real thing too? It tastes like a cross between a butternut squash and a sweet potato. It’s super tasty and definitely worth a try. I love ’em! 🙂

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  25. I made this last night and it turned out fantastic. The sage really adds a little something extra. Thanks for sharing!

  26. I have a couple of cups of left over butternut squash sitting in the fridge just begging to be turned into this beautiful sauce! Thanks for alway giving such great “eye candy” along with tasty recipes!

  27. i love this dish! BUT, i do not boil the butternut squash, i saute in a little bit of olive oil & butter with the garlic before i add the liquid ingredients and then puree…your recipe is probably fewer calories but i like the sauteed flavor.

  28. I was so excited to try this as I love butternut squash.. It lacked flavor.. I wound up adding more chicken stock, some 1/2 and 1/2 and more seasonings and put it in my vitamix. I think it tasted better as a soup then a pasta sauce.

  29. This looks incredible…anything with butternut squash and pasta and I’m there. I will definitely try this for a family gathering next week. Thx for a different idea using 2 of my favorites foods.

  30. I roasted the squash seeds, heavily salted, at 425 for about 20 mins. Then garnished the pasta with them. The salty crunch took a great dish up a notch.

  31. I just made this…well sorta. I boiled the squash and then blended it with butter and heavy cream. (I’m on LCHF program). Did the garlic and shallot in olive oil, salt, pepper, and cinnamon (I couldn’t find nutmeg). Added puree, then added Parmesan and some other random cheese. Put it over Brussels sprouts and the tiniest bit of brown rice. It’s soooooo good! I really wish I were eating pasta because I’m sure it’s even better. Thanks for this awesome recipe!!

  32. I love this pasta! I had pinned it awhile ago, but I just made it today. I used a veggie pasta, and I added asparagus. Delicious! The fried sage is a standout! Thanks for posting!

  33. Would you mind posting the nutrition information with the creamy butternut squash pasta recipe? I would like to be able to calculate my points for Weight Watchers. Thank you.

  34. This looks absolutely delicious! We love innovative and yummy recipes. You should try it with our LunaOlivo Sage and Onion Olive Oil. It is the perfect herbaceous infused olive oil that will add an extra oomph to any dish. Check us out at http://www.lunaolivo.com/shop2/! We would love to share our products with anyone who has such great taste in recipes as this perfectly Fall Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta!

  35. Thank you for this. I tried this last night, supper yummy.

    Wondering if you have tried substituting pumpkin for the Butternut squash, since pumpkins will be selling for really cheap come Saturday 🙂

  36. Thanks for posting such a great & easy meal. My 2.5 year who normally questions and mostly refuses everything tucked into this straight away!

  37. I made this and did a yummy garnish of chopped crispy bacon, the sautéed onions and the chopped fried sage. I of course put a big spoonful of it on top of my bowl of pasta with tons of parm. The bacon put it over the top!

  38. Made this and my whole family loved it! Love how creamy of a sauce the butternut alone makes! I’m thinking of adding in some chicken apple sausage next time I make it 🙂 thanks for the recipe!

  39. This recipe is great. The only thing that I would advise is to remove the skin off of the squash before the puree. The shell stays hard  and it becomes difficult to enjoy the pasta. 

    1. 3 stars
      Maybe I should have added more salt, came out quite bland. Easy recipe though and the kids ate it so I can’t complain.

  40. Both my kids gobbled this up which is basically a miracle! Used acorn squash because I think it’s more flavorful than butternut, roasted in the oven and then scooped out into the sauce.

  41. 4 stars
    So I made this with some changes. I baked the squash and used a lot more and then pureed the baked Pope. Also I didn’t have fresh Sage so I just put in some dried rubbed sage. And I didn’t have any parmesan so I mixed in about 250 grams of pizza mozzarella. Also I used rotini pasta. Despite all these changes it tasted amazing.

  42. 5 stars
    I made this last night. It was wonderful! My wife wiped the plate with her fingers and licked up every last bit!

    I added some ginger, cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, coriander, cardamom, and about 2-3 x as much garlic as called for. 

    Will definitely make again soon, but might buy the pre-peeled and diced squash next time!

  43. 5 stars
    I have made this many times, it is a slightly sweet taste, but not overpowering. The squash goes very well with cheddar. It’s very good!

  44. 5 stars
    Recently I’ve moved into making everything I eat and that has given me the opportunity to try new things. I’ve always seen butternut squash but didn’t think too much about it. Well it was on sale and I recently discovered I love acorn squash so what can it hurt. I found this recipe and set off. I was thinking it’s unlikely this will be 100% but that’s the nature of substituting vegetables for dairy. Man was I wrong. This is delicious. I’d recommend chopping the onions a little larger so you have some crunch. It’s also kiiinda missing something. Oh yeah, that’s garlic bread. Disregard the cravings of a crazy dieting woman. 10/10 would recommend. 

  45. How many servings is this? About to make this recipe this weekend for thanksgiving and I’m serving 7 people.

    1. You can stir in dried sage when you add the nutmeg, salt, and pepper. I would start with a 1/4 teaspoon and taste. If the flavor isn’t strong enough, add another 1/4 teaspoon.

  46. Looking to do this for tea at somepoint and wondering if I could add some diced pancetta to it or would it just compromise the flavour.?

  47. 5 stars
    Loved the ease of this recipe, I bought cubed squash but still – so easy! And it was delicious – I ended up adding some shrimp – made a nice protein addition

    1. Just made this for myself. I didn’t have any fresh sage either but added dried once the onion and garlic had softened. Used nutmeg as per the recipe but also added smoked paprika which I think goes so well with butternut squash! I also used red onion as I was out of regular ones – but I think I prefer it this way as it adds a bit more colour. So delicious, simple and easy. Will definitely be cooking again! Thank you for inspiring me!

  48. Made this for dinner tonight. Wasn’t sure my family would like it. When you makes something for the first time like this, you’re unsure what the consistency of the sauce should be. Once you get that right, this fish is delicious. My family really liked it. My son had seconds. We’re trying to eat less meat. I’ll make this again.

  49. 5 stars
    I made this with a few changes. I had some guanciale (Italian cured pork jowl) diced up and sauteed it with shallots instead of onion. It added a little more depth to the sauce. I love it!

  50. 5 stars
    So yummy! I ended up adding 1 tsp salt. I love that it’s healthier than most pasta recipes. My 14 month old approved, too! Definitely will be making again.

  51. I have lots of squash left and the family was getting tired of my usual recipes. Tried this and it was delicious. The sage really makes it so if you find it bland add more sage. Great recipe. Also I added chicken.

  52. 5 stars
    This pasta recipe is a total flavor bomb! I used dried thyme and a sage salt that I had on hand, and a small spot of an artisan cheese I got from the grocery for under $2, which was plenty for this genius recipe. I love how the squash becomes this creamy, flavorful sauce with just a few enhancements, and not tons of stuff added. Thank you SO much!!!

  53. 5 stars
    I didn’t have the sage leaves but I wanted to make it anyway with half a butternut squash I had. Absolutely loved it, a very nice change from tomato based pasta sauces.