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Turkey-Stuffed Butternut Squash (Paleo, Whole30, AIP)

Stuffed butternut squash with turkey, zucchini, spinach, and mushrooms. This hearty and delicious meal is whole30, paleo and AIP.

Turkey-Stuffed Butternut Squash with zucchini, mushrooms, and spinach. This healthy meal is paleo, AIP, and delicious!

After last week’s cookie fest, I figured I had better give you all a savory meal recipe lest our blood sugar spiral out of control and we form an addiction to almond flour and pure maple syrup.

Not that you shouldn’t make and enjoy the Chocolate-Dipped Molasses Cookies, Vegan Snickerdoodles, and Paleo Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies I posted last week (wink, wink, nudge, nudge), but I always encourage consuming treats sparingly, especially if they’re healthier. 

We tend to overdo it on a good thing and before we know it, we’ve consumed 12 of something “healthy” which equates to more fat and sugar than we really need in one sitting, you know what I’m saying? 

On to the main topic of conversation here: these turkey-stuffed butternut squasheseses. SO GOOD!

Turkey-Stuffed Butternut Squash with zucchini, mushrooms, and spinach. This healthy meal is paleo, AIP, and delicious!

Preparing this recipe is an actual joke.

It’s just so simple!

We cook up some veggies, toss in some ground turkey (my favorite brand of ground turkey is Diestel Family Turkey Ranch, which you can get from Whole Foods, a natural food store, or online), and badda bing, badda boom, we have ourselves some epic stuffing for filling any and all of our favorite winter squash.

Simply roast a butternut squash or three in the oven, stuff them with this tasty filling, and you have yourself a complete meal that has a pretty epic macro profile, with a great amount of protein, fiber, and carbohydrates.

Whether or not you’re a biohacker and you pay attention to your macronutrients, this is a fabulously nutritious recipe.

It covers all the clean eating, easy to prepare, super palatable bases.

Feel free to double or triple the stuffing mixture if you’re serving more people.

Turkey-Stuffed Butternut Squash with zucchini, mushrooms, and spinach. This healthy meal is paleo, AIP, and delicious!

Make these stuffed squatternut boshes because they’re everything!

If you love butternut squash, also check out my Ground Turkey Butternut Squash Skillet with Rainbow Chard and my Butternut Squash Ginger Chicken Stir Fry.

If you make this stuffed butternut squash recipe, feel free to snap a photo and tag me on Instagram at @The.Roasted.Root!

Turkey-Stuffed Butternut Squash with zucchini, mushrooms, and spinach. This healthy meal is paleo, AIP, and delicious!

Turkey-Stuffed Butternut Squash

Roasted butternut squash stuffed with ground turkey and vegetables makes for a hearty, lower carb dinner recipe perfect for lovers of whole foods!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
2 Servings

Ingredients

  • 1 to 2 butternut squash, roasted, see note
  • 2 tablespoons avocado oil or coconut oil
  • 1/2 small yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 1/2 apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
  • 2 cups mushrooms, chopped
  • 1/2 pound ground turkey
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 medium zucchini squash, chopped
  • 4 cup baby spinach
  • 1.5 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, optional
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, to taste

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Chop the tip and tail off the butternut squash and scoop out the seeds and innards. Drizzle the flesh with avocado oil (or oil of choice) and sprinkle with sea salt. Place butternut squash cut-side down on a large baking sheet. Roast for 45 to 60 minutes (depending on the size of the butternut squash), until flesh is soft when poked with a fork.
  • While the squash is roasting, prepare the turkey filling. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high and add the onion and apple. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to turn translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and continue cooking another 3 minutes.
  • Move the vegetables to one side of the skillet and add the ground turkey in the open space. Allow it to brown 1-2 minutes on one side, then flip and brown for 1-2 minutes on the other side. Stir the ground turkey in with the vegetables.
  • Add the remaining ingredients and stir to incorporate. Cover and cook 5 minutes, or until the turkey is cooked through and the zucchini has softened.
  • Stuff the butternut squash halves with desired amount of turkey filling. Sprinkle with sea salt to taste and enjoy!

Notes

This recipe makes enough filling to generously fill 2 large butternut squash (4 halves), or 4 small butternut squash (8 halves). You can choose the amount of butternut squash you roast based on the amount of people you’re serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Stuffed Butternut Squash - Calories: 494kcal - Carbohydrates: 64g - Protein: 33g - Fat: 17g - Fiber: 20g - Sugar: 28g
Course: Main Dishes
Cuisine: American
Keyword: butternut squash recipes, dinner recipes, healthy recipes, stuffed butternut squash recipe, turkey-stuffed butternut squash
Servings: 2 Servings
Calories: 494kcal
Author: Julia
Ground Turkey Stuffed Butternut Squash with onion, spinach, zucchini and more! A nutritious dinner recipe that is paleo and whole30.

 

Recipe Rating




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Kathie Justice

Saturday 27th of January 2024

This was good. I didn't have an apple, so I added a little handful of Craisins and a bit of feta when I filled my squash. And I skipped the mushrooms as my husband has IBS issues with mushrooms. I think I will add kalamara olives in place of mushrooms next time. Silly question: After roasting the squash, do I scoop the squash flesh out to make a "boat", add the squash to the veggie/ turkey mix in the skillet and then stuff the boat? That part of the directions wasn't quite clear to me. Otherwise, I really enjoyed this. Something different and easy to make. 🙂

Julia

Tuesday 30th of January 2024

Hi Katie! Thanks so much for sharing this! I love the idea of adding olives in place of the mushrooms. I typically scoop out a little of the butternut squash flesh and just eat it :) You can definitely mix it in with the turkey mixture if you're alright with some creamy texture! xoxo

Brooke

Friday 12th of January 2024

This was delicious! I eliminated the mushrooms and substituted red onion for the yellow, and put it in the oven after stuffing it and with some shredded Mexican cheese on top for 5 minutes until the cheese melted. So good!

Julia

Saturday 13th of January 2024

Ooh, all of that sounds great! Thanks for sharing, Brooke! xo

Amy

Wednesday 1st of November 2023

This looks amazing I do however have a question in the recipe there is garlic and zucchini but in the directions it doesn't say when to add them.

Julia

Wednesday 1st of November 2023

Hi Amy! The garlic and zucchini are added in step 4 with the remaining ingredients (spinach, oregano, ground ginger, and sea salt). Let me know if you have any other questions! I hope you enjoy the recipe! xo

Rebecca

Thursday 17th of December 2020

so good! I added some red pepper flakes and a few other vegetables - carrots or peppers - but its a new one in rotation - thank you!

Julia

Thursday 17th of December 2020

Yuuuum! So happy you like it, Rebecca! xoxo

tbt

Friday 9th of August 2019

Yum! Great flavor combination

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