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Butternut Squash Casserole

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Butternut Squash Casserole is a delicious, hearty way to serve butternut squash with a holiday meal. It's a wonderful combination of savory and sweet thanks to a buttery topping made with crunchy gingersnap crumbs and crisp, crushed vanilla wafers.

If you enjoy the classic flavor of butternut squash, make my recipe for Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese, a reader favorite!

I first published this recipe in 2020 and have since adjusted it to include a descriptive title and more detailed instructions.

Baked cookie crumb casserole with a large serving spoon.
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🥘 Ingredients to Have on Hand

Diced butternut squash spread out in a glass baking dish on a placemat.
  • Butternut Squash: The star ingredient! My recipe for Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese includes several options for prepping the squash.
  • Fresh Ginger: This is a surprise ingredient that helps to boost the warmth and adds a hint of spiciness to butternut squash casserole.
  • Cinnamon, Ground Cloves, Nutmeg: This is the classic spice trio of fall cooking and baking.
  • Gingersnap Cookies: The crunchy cookies are a wonderful topping, in place of pecans which are frequently used as a butternut squash casserole topping.
  • Vanilla Wafers: These combine with the gingersnaps crumbs and butter for a classic comfort food topping!

Pro Tip: There are plenty of easy options for preparing butternut squash for this casserole. You can often find the squash peeled, diced and packaged in the produce section of the grocery store. But it's also usually available frozen in the frozen foods section.

📖 Preparing Butternut Squash Casserole

Baked butternut squash, mashed lightly.

Bake the Butternut Squash Until Softened. (Scroll up and refer to the link for Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese for complete butternut squash baking options.) Use a potato masher or a fork to mash the baked squash to create a semi-smooth consistency. A few lumps are fine.

Unbaked butternut squash mixture in a casserole dish.

Combine the Casserole Ingredients. Place the cooked butternut squash in a large bowl and add the milk, softened butter, eggs, fresh ginger and vanilla. Mix well. Combine the dry ingredients and add to the same bowl. Stir well and pour into a 2-quart baking dish. Cover and bake for 45 minutes.

Gingersnaps and vanilla wafers placed next to crushed cookies and on a dish.

Prepare the Topping While the Casserole Bakes: Place the vanilla wafers and gingersnap cookies in a zip-lock plastic bag and crush the cookies using a rolling pin until the cookies are crushed and the texture of crumbs.

Gingersnaps and vanilla wafers crushed and on a dish.

Blend Topping Ingredients: Add ¼ cup brown sugar and 2 tablespoons melted butter to the cookie crumbs in the bag use your fingers to massage the ingredients and combine them.

Remove the casserole from the oven and spread the cookie crumb topping over the hot butternut squash casserole. Return the baking dish to the oven. Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes additional or until hot and bubbly.

💭 Recipe FAQs

Can I make Butternut Squash Casserole ahead of time?

Yes. Assemble the casserole as directed in the recipe, and prepare the topping (store the topping separately in a small, covered dish and refrigerate), cover the casserole dish and refrigerate a day in advance. Remove the dish from the refrigerator before baking and let the dish sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Then bake as directed, note the cooking time may need to be increased since the ingredients were chilled. Add the topping ingredients and finish baking as directed in the recipe.

Will chopped pecans work in place of the crushed cookies?

Sure. Swap the gingersnap cookies and vanilla wafers for ⅔ cup of chopped pecans. The topping will be much firmer and crunchy but the pecan flavor is delicious with butternut squash.

🍽 What to Serve with Butternut Squash Casserole

A scoop of casserole with chicken, cranberries and a sprig of rosemary.

This is one of my family's favorite holiday casseroles and I make it every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas. It goes great alongside turkey and cranberry sauce, prime rib or ham cooked with pineapple in the slow cooker.

It also goes well alongside Blue Cheese and Rosemary Scalloped Potatoes or with leftovers like Turkey Pot Pie.

The flavors are also a delicious complement to Elegant Green Bean Casserole which uses fresh green beans.

⭐ Inspiration & More Holiday Recipes

The recipe for Butternut Squash Casserole was inspired by one I found in Taste of Home magazine about 20 years ago. I adapted it by adding fresh ginger and gingersnaps. Here are more of my favorite recipes for Thanksgiving.

If you make Butternut Squash Casserole I'd love to hear how it turned out. Please leave a 🌟 star rating and a comment below. I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

Recipe

A scoop of casserole with chicken, cranberries and a sprig of rosemary.

Butternut Squash Casserole

Butternut Squash Casserole is a delicious, hearty way to serve butternut squash with a holiday meal. It's a wonderful combination of savory and sweet thanks to a buttery topping made with crunchy gingersnaps and crisp vanilla wafers.
5 from 56 votes
Print Rate Pin Recipe
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings: 10
Calories: 292kcal
Author: Melinda O'Malley Keckler

Ingredients 

  • 3 lbs butternut squash - if you buy pre-sliced or cubed squash from the grocery store it makes prep a cinch
  • ¾ cup milk
  • 6 tablespoons butter - softened
  • 3 eggs - beaten
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon fresh ginger - grated
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ⅛ teaspoon cloves
  • ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg

Cookie Crumb Topping

  • ⅓ cup vanilla wafer crumbs - about 9 wafers crushed
  • ⅓ cup gingersnap cookie crumbs - about 6-7 cookies, crushed
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoon butter - melted

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°

Prepare Butternut Squash

  • Cook butternut squash in the microwave, for about 20-30 minutes on high until very tender. If using squash that's already sliced and cubed from the grocery store, cooking time is about 15 minutes in the microwave.
    Place cooked squash in a large bowl and mash with a potato masher until smooth.

Combine the Ingredients

  • In a 4-cup glass measuring cup, add milk, softened butter, eggs, fresh ginger and vanilla and mix well. Add to the butternut squash in the large bowl. Stir to blend.
  • Combine the sugar, flour and spice ingredients and add to the same bowl. Stir to blend.
  • Place the squash mixture in a greased 2-quart baking dish. At this point, you can cover the dish and refrigerate a day or two before you plan to serve it and until you are ready to bake the casserole, it's a nice time-saver on Thanksgiving day.
  • Cover and bake 45 minutes.

Prepare Topping

  • While the casserole bakes, place the vanilla wafers and gingersnap cookies in a zip-lock plastic bag and roll with a rolling pin until crushed and the texture of crumbs, you'll need ⅔ cup of cookie crumbs. Add ¼ cup brown sugar and 2 tablespoons melted butter to the cookie crumbs and combine.
  • Remove the casserole from the oven. Crumble the cookie crumb topping ingredients over the hot squash and return the baking dish to the oven. Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes additional or until hot and bubbly.
  • Serves 6-8 as a side dish

Notes

Vanilla wafers are commonly found in any grocery store and although many of us will make homemade gingersnaps, I don't recommend using a homemade cookie as the topping for this recipe. A store-bought gingersnap will be much more crunchy than what we make at home. Serve alongside Elegant Green Bean Casserole and Sweet Corn Pasta Salad for a winning side dish menu!
Calories: 292kcalCarbohydrates: 45gProtein: 4gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 75mgSodium: 69mgPotassium: 542mgFiber: 3gSugar: 26gVitamin A: 14846IUVitamin C: 29mgCalcium: 103mgIron: 2mg

Please note, the nutrition details are estimated using a food database, so they’re just a rough estimate not an exact science.

Did you try this recipe? Leave a comment below or @crinkledcookbook on Instagram, snap a photo and tag it #crinkledcookbook

More Classic & Delicious Thanksgiving Recipes

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Comments

    5 from 56 votes (53 ratings without comment)

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  1. Debra says

    5 stars
    What a fun idea...love the added sweetness from the cookies on top. This is going to be a great addition to our feast tomorrow...and it was so easy to make!

    Reply

  2. Rachael says

    5 stars
    Yum! Amazing thanksgiving or fall side I’m adding into my rotation.

    Reply

  3. nancy says

    5 stars
    wow i'm drooling looking at this Cookie Crumb Casserole recipe. I can't wait to make this on the weekend! my kid will love it

    Reply

  4. Melissa Jensen says

    Dang-a-lang! Sounds delish!

    Reply

    • melindakkeckler says

      Hi Melissa! Aww, cute. Dang-a-lang!! I can't decide whether I like it best as a side or a dessert. It's truly so good both ways. 🙂 Thanks!

      Reply