This fall favorite Cranberry Wild Rice Stuffed Squash is festive and flavorful. It is delicious served as a main course or side dish.
Happy Monday! Hope you all had a great weekend. It was lovely here in the prairie with bright sunny skies and cool crisp weather. Definitely a great weekend to be out and about. The fall colors are at its peak right now and so we took a drive out to the apple orchard (post to follow). There was so much to see, do, and taste. It is the season for apples and winter squashes.
Winter Squashes
Winter squashes come in all shapes and sizes with a hard outer rind and a sweet yellow to orange colored flesh. Their hard protective skins are difficult to pierce but it gives them a long shelf life. They are not only delicious but also an excellent source of vitamin A (in the form of beta carotene) and a good source of vitamin C, potassium, dietary fiber and manganese.
Although squashes are available almost year round, they are at their best from October to November when they come into season. Some varieties that are easily available include butternut, acorn, carnival, sweet dumpling, turban, delicata, hubbard, spaghetti, and the beloved pumpkin. Oh yes…we can’t get enough of the pumpkin! Do check out my pumpkin posts Spiced Pumpkin Bread and Pumpkin Cranberry Scones. There will be more recipes to come. Do stay tuned…..
Carnival Squash
Carnival squash is the variegated version of the acorn squash. In terms of texture and flavor, it is very similar to that of the acorn squash. It is particularly beautiful stuffed.
Wild Rice Blends
I love wild rice blends. This particular blend comes with long grain brown rice and Minnesota wild rice. There are many other blends available out there and you can use your favorite blend for this recipe.
Similar Tools Used in Making This Cranberry Wild Rice Stuffed Squash
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• Cook Pro 561 4-Piece All-in-1 Lasagna and Roasting Pan
• Winco UT-9 Coiled Spring Heavyweight Stainless Steel Utility Tong, 9-Inch
INGREDIENTS
- 2 carnival squash or acorn squash, about 1½ lbs each
- Freshly ground salt and pepper
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp olive oil and some for squash
- 1 small onion (diced)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- ½ stick celery (diced)
- 1 small carrot (peeled and finely diced)
- 1 cup wild rice blend (rinsed and drained) (180g)
- 1 cup cranberry juice (I used pomegranate juice) (240ml)
- 2 cups water (480ml)
- 1 tablespoon agave nectar (or honey)
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup pecans (chopped)
- 2 green onions (finely sliced)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350˚F (180°C).
- Halve squash lengthwise and remove seeds with a spoon. Set squash in a baking dish cut side up. Season with freshly ground salt and pepper. Sprinkle with cinnamon and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for about 1 hour 15 minutes until tender.
- While squashes are roasting, heat olive oil an a medium sized saucepan. Fry onions, garlic, celery, and carrots until soft, about 2 minutes. Stir in wild rice blend. Add cranberry juice and water. Bring to a boil, season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat and allow it to simmer for about 45 minutes until rice is tender and all liquid is absorbed. Turn off heat.
- Stir in agave nectar, dried cranberries, chopped pecans, and sliced green onions.
- When squash is done, remove from oven. Dividing evenly, mound cranberry wild rice stuffing into squash cavity.
- Serve immediately.
NUTRITION
Serving Suggestion
This Cranberry Wild Rice Stuffed Squash makes a delicious vegetarian lunch or it can be served as a side dish with roasted meats and sausages.
NOTE: This post was updated on December 3rd, 2014 with new pictures.
Enjoy…..and have a wonderful day! 😎
Lovely post Biren. I’ve never seen acorn squash before. Love the combination of the two colors and healthy meal too:)
What a wonderful way to ring in the Fall, Biren. This looks like a lovely dish and I love your presentation. Delicious!
Looks really delicious! Have never tried cranberry and wild rice before, and wonderful serve in a squash! Interesting dish!
Great pic…nice recipe..looks so delicious..
Brown rice mixed cranberries… wow, interesting and great autumn treat!
Perfect for fall! We went straight from Summer to Fall this weekend so this will come in handy!
Lots of yummy love,
Alex aka Ma What’s For Dinner
http://www.mawhats4dinner.com
I absolutely love this Biren! Great idea of using the POM juice. They are sitting in my fridge untouched haha. I don’t know what to do with them yet. Cranberry wild rice sounds so yummy!
I only have a bottle left. T do like them and it is great to cook with as well. Wild rice and cranberries is one of my favorite combinations.
Hey Biren! This wild rice stuffed squash sounds so wonderful. You always make healthful eating look so inviting;)
Awww…Stella, you are always so nice 🙂 I love to use wild rice in my stuffing.
Biren, this looks delicious! I’ve never heard of carnival squash and will be looking for it. Love your presentation of the squash dish with the fall leaves. Good job!
Thanks Pam! Carnival squash is just the variegated version of the acorn. I like it because it looks so pretty.
The acorn squash is so pretty! Don’t think I’ve seen it here before. Gorgeous dish.
delicious rice..!
Loved loved and loved the use of the squash and the fall leaves for presentation. And the dish sound so wonderful and warm.
Love this stuffing with cranberries and pecans! Great use of pomegranate juice too!
These are gorgeous Biren! I really like the flavors in your filling – I made a couscous and cranberry one – but this sounds much more delicious!
Dear BIREN –
I love the stuffing…I LOVE acorn squash and can just imagine how splendid it would be with flavors from the cranberries and wild rice.
WOW!
Ciao, Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
Biren: You’re so fortunate to experience Fall/Autumn with the cooler weather and true change of season with the beautiful colors. {sigh} A beautiful dish presented in the squash…so festive! This would be great with pork chops 🙂
Biran, this is delicious looking..flavorful wildrice in a squash…mmmm yummy thanks for sharing this recipe 🙂
How lucky you are to have so many varieties of squash to choose from and to have such beautiful autumnal weather and colours around you. I’ve only seen maybe 5 or 6 varieties, including the pumpkin!
Lovely photos as always and such a delicious way to prepare squash – I love roasted squash. Roasting really intensifies their wonderful flavour. Your presentation is beautiful as well…
This is a beautiful time of the year and perhaps my favorite season 🙂 Squashes are delicious and so good for us. I love it!
Looks sooo good and beautiful!
Lovely presentation! Looks delicious.
Love the autumn display.
perfect fall dish, i love your stuffing with pecans and cranberries..
sweetlife
Biren, i love that picture of the carnival squash against the different beautiful fall leaf colours.not to mention, the squash has quite an interesting colour itself.
this is a very inviting dish. i would love this as i’ve never tried cranberry wild rice before, and i LOVE squash. great creative and smart use of ingredients. this would make such a perfect meal by itself or a lovely side – love the versatility.
Biren, I love this rice dish! I would never have thought of using cranberries to make rice dish! Brilliant!
This is such a beautiful dish! To me it’s the absolute perfect fall meal!
This is an interesting recipe! Thanks for sharing :)!
I love stuffed veggies and this one sounds great! I love it has cranberries in it. and I will search for this kind of rice here.
Beautiful presentation with those autumn leaves 🙂 …and I bet the deliciousness of the entire dish. Yum!
wow this looks amazing and the presentation is out of this world proud of u
I love squah and pumpkins. They are very healthy vegetables and delicious, too. Love how you stuffed them. Beautiful presentation.
Once winter squash come into season, they are basically all I ever want to eat. Thanks for sharing this recipe! It’s been bookmarked!
This looks fabulous! I actually have one of those same squashes on the kitchen counter. Thanks for the recipe.
How delicious are these stuffed squash! Definitely a recipe i need to try..
Thanks Thalia! I hope you enjoy it. 🙂
i love the sound of this filling! I saw the conversation on facebook concerning he photo and just had to take a closer look. Looks delicious for sure!
Thanks Simone! The filling is a favorite of mine. I make a similar pilaf without the squash.
Love the addition of fruit for an extra punch of flavor! I just posted me own spin on stuffed acorn squash on behindtheplates with wild Rice, chicken sausage and spinach! It’s absolutely delicious but I’ll have to try yours too!