Buttercup Squash Stuffed with Ground Beef for Two

This is a cold weather favorite.  Tastes & smells great and using the oven warms the kitchen nicely. It makes plenty for dinner and usually enough (for me) for lunch another day. I love leftovers!

Buttercup Squash Stuffed with Ground Beef for Two

Ingredients

1 buttercup squash (or your favorite squash) – washed & dried

1 – 1 ½ lbs. ground beef

Diced onion, sweet pepper & mushrooms (1/4 – ½ cup total)

Salt, pepper & garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Line a cookie sheet with foil.  Spray the foil with nonstick olive oil.

Cut squash in half – right in the middle – cutting the top from the bottom. Scoop out seeds.

Place 2 squash halves on lined cookie sheet, cut side up.  Drizzle each squash half with olive oil.

Bake squash 20 minutes.

While squash is baking, mix ground beef with diced veggies and mushrooms. 

Divide ground beef mixture into 2 parts. (You probably noticed one squash half is deeper than the other.  So you will divide the ground beef accordingly – not exactly half and half.)  Form each part into a ball with a flat bottom.

Remove squash from oven.  Place the ground beef in each of the squash halves, flattening it a bit on the top.  Season to taste with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Squash baked for 20 minutes, and now I’ve placed the raw ground beef mixture in the squash halves. Ready to go back into the oven.

From here I can only give you an approximate baking time – about 30-45 minutes. You’ll know the squash is done when you can easily poke it with a fork.  Use your fork also to check to see if the ground beef is done.

The finished product! Yum.

I’ve also done this same recipe in my crockpot. 

When cooking it in the crockpot, don’t bake the squash ahead of time.  Place raw ground beef in raw squash halves.  Place stuffed squash halves in crockpot, which has been sprayed with olive oil. Cook on low 6-7 hours.

In the crockpot and ready to go.
After 6-7 hours on low in the crockpot. You’ll notice neither the squash or beef are browned like the oven baked version.

When it comes to serving?  You can serve the stuffed squash as is (pictured up above) or plate the ground beef and squash separately (pictured below).

Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping!

Brenda

Disclaimer:                                 

These recipes and tips are not guaranteed to work or be safe for everyone. Allergies are extremely complicated and vary for each individual. It is still your responsibility to read labels to ensure your safety. I cannot be held liable for any ill effects from using my tips to avoid your allergies. (Sorry guys, I don’t foresee any problems, but Momma’s gotta cover her backside, ya know?) Just read your labels! Do your research!