This easy stuffed acorn squash with ground beef and rice is made in an Instant Pot and on the stove, in less than an hour. Batch cook rice, squash, beef, & vegetables for so you can reuse leftover ingredients in different dishes.
[This stuffed acorn squash recipe was originally posted in November 2018. It has been updated with new photos, cooking instructions, expert tips, FAQ, related recipes, video and ways to repurpose/use up ingredients]
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Table of contents
How will this stuffed squash make your life easier?
This delicious stuffed acorn squash recipe has minimal ingredients, limited chopping, and is so easy. No need to spend 30 minutes chopping vegetables and ingredients. Buy pre-chopped vegetables to save more time.
All you have to do is cook the acorn squash in your Instant Pot and then quickly cook the beef and rice mixture.
You can use all the ingredients in different dishes like asparagus soup, grilled lamb steak with asparagus, Thai beef, or swap out the squash for sweet potatoes in this creamy sweet potato soup.
What makes this squash dish so good?
- Acorn squash
- Onion
- Green bell pepper
- Ground beef
- Italian seasoning
- Brown rice
- Asparagus
- Parmesan cheese
How do I make this stuffed squash?
Start making your stuffed acorn squash by cooking the squash. Slice squash in half along the center, and then scoop out seeds.
Place trivet in Instant Pot, then fill with 1 cup of water. Place squash cut side down on-top of the trivet. Secure lid on Instant Pot, set vent to sealing. Set Instant Pot to MANUAL, and set timer to 7 minutes.
Release pressure immediately when timer goes off. Carefully remove lid and remove each half of squash with tongs. Set aside.
Cut onion and asparagus.
Make beef stuffing. Add remaining tablespoon of olive oil to hot skillet. Add cut onion, sliced asparagus, salt and Italian seasoning to skillet. Cook until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add ground beef, cook until beef is no longer pink, about 5-10 minutes. Breaking up beef so it's in smaller chunks.
Add pre-cooked rice, and cook until rice is warmed, about 3 minutes.
Place squash half on plate, cut side up, fill with beef mixture. Top your stuffed acorn squash with freshly grated parmesan cheese if desired. Enjoy.
Substitutions/Tips
- Place both parts of the squash in Instant Pot to have squash for other recipes.
- Remove asparagus from pan before adding beef if you don't want to use it all in this stuffed squash dish. That way you can us it in soup or another dish.
- To save time, cook beef mixture while squash is in Instant Pot. They will take about the same amount of time.
- Use any similarly sized squash. Acorn is often the most available, but this stuffed acorn squash recipe will be great with any winter squash like spaghetti squash or delicata squash.
- You can substitute the ground beef in this stuffed acorn squash with ground pork, ground chicken, ground turkey, sausage or TVP for a vegetarian option.
- Other great add-ins: other vegetables, finishing salt, chopped nuts, etc.
FAQ
Acorn squash is great with vegetables, ground beef, pork, turkey, chicken, or sausage. Savory spices like Italian seasoning, Herbs de Provence, are good here too. Pair ingredients to make this stuffed acorn squash recipe.
Peel the skin before freezing. And then freeze the squash separately from the ground beef & vegetables. Place the squash in a freezer bag, and press air out of it, do the same with the beef mixture.
When you're ready to eat your stuffed acorn squash, add the squash and beef mixture to a microwave safe plate and microwave until hot. The texture of the squash & of the filling will be better this way.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut squash then drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Lay cut sides down in a baking dish. Bake for about 50-60 minutes, or until squash is tender.
How to repurpose this squash?
- Slice the remaining squash, serve squash and stuffing mixture over a bed of lettuce. It'd be great with an apple cider vinaigrette (olive oil & apple cider vinegar to keep it really simple)
- Want to reuse the stuffing part differently? Don't add the rice to the whole pan of beef mixture, just to the part that you'll eat in the stuffed acorn squash. Add leftover beef to spaghetti sauce to it and serve over pasta.
What can I make with leftover ingredients?
- Acorn squash: swap for butternut squash in this Harvest Bowl
- Rice: Easy Beef & Broccoli, Coconut Green Lentil Curry, Pantry Rice and Bean Soup, or Creamy Mushroom Chicken with Rice.
- Ground beef: Thai Beef with Fried Garlic and Spinach
Did you make this stuffed acorn squash? Leave me a comment & rating to share how it turned out!
Stuffed Acorn Squash
Equipment
- cutting board
- knife
- Instant Pot
- tongs
- Sautee pan
- rubber spatula
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
Ingredients
- ½ acorn squash or similar
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil separated
- 1 cup water
- ⅛ whole onion
- 8 stalks asparagus about
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ pound ground beef
- ½ cup brown rice I used precooked frozen
- parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Start by cooking the squash. Slice squash in half along the center. Scoop out seeds. Place trivet in Instant Pot, then fill with 1 cup of water. Place ½ squash in cut side down. For ready to eat leftover squash, I recommend cooking bout slices. Secure lid, set vent to sealing. Set Instant Pot to MANUAL, and set timer to 7 minutes. Release pressure immediately when timer goes off. Carefully remove lid and remove each half of squash with tongs. Set aside.
- Cut ⅛ onion and about 8 stalks of asparagus.
- Make beef stuffing. Add remaining tablespoon of olive oil to hot skillet. Add cut onion, sliced asparagus, salt and ½ T Italian seasoning to skillet. Cook until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add ground beef, cook until beef is no longer pink, about 5-10 minutes. Add pre-cooked rice, and cook until rice is warmed, about 3 minutes.
- Place squash half on plate, cut side up, fill with beef mixture. Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese if desired. Enjoy.
Video
Notes
- Place both parts of the squash in Instant Pot to have squash for other recipes.
- Remove asparagus from pan before adding beef if you don't want to use it all in this stuffed squash dish. That way you can us it in soup or another dish.
- To save time, cook beef mixture while squash is in Instant Pot. They will take about the same amount of time.
- Use any similarly sized squash. Acorn is often the most available, but it'll be great with any winter squash.
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Tricia says
How much water should you add to a baking dish to cook the squash without an Instant Pot?
Rebecca says
Hi Tricia, thanks for asking. You probably don't need to add any water to the pan when baking it, it'll get soft with time. If you aren't baking your squash with toppings (like in this recipe), you can place the cut sides down to brown on the edges and steam a bit inside. If you're adding other ingredients, I recommend cooking with cut sides up. Hope that helps!
Raia Todd says
What a delicious way to serve squash! I love the addition of asparagus, too.
Rebecca says
awesome! and asparagus is great in mostly everything!
Charla says
I made this on the weekend for some guests and they loved it. Thank you!
Rebecca says
that's great to hear! it's an easy crowd pleasing dish
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry says
Stuffed squash is one of my favourite meals! This looks so good, ground beef and rice is such a tasty feeling.
Rebecca says
same! thanks!
Catherine says
Stuffed squash is such a hearty and comforting fall dish. I absolutely love it. This looks wonderful!
Rebecca says
right? it's so good & pretty easy