Make this Butternut Squash Gnocchi and Sausage for an easy and delicious fall dinner! It is the perfect combination of fall flavors for a cozy weeknight meal.
Quick
Easy cleanup
You’ll Learn: How to build deeper flavor with simple layering
Worth It: It’s a satisfying, protein-forward option that actually keeps you full
Bonus: One-pan approach for easy cleanup
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy weeknight eating – This butternut squash gnocchi is so easy to make and it is a complete meal! It’s packed with protein, veggies and carbs for a filling and delicious dinner.
- Perfect fall flavors – Nothing says fall like butternut squash, sage, and brown butter! These flavors make the best fall comfort food.
- One pan meal – Everything goes into one pan to keep this dish easy and quick to clean up.
Serving suggestions
The best thing about this butternut squash gnocchi recipe is that its an entire meal on its own. If you would like to make a more elaborate meal or host a fall dinner party, make this fall harvest salad to go with your pasta. For a side of bread, you could make this overnight bread recipe.
For dessert, make some sweet potato cheesecake or spice cake. If you need a cocktail to go with your meal, try this apple cider sangria!
Ingredients
- Ground pork sausage – I used mild Italian but you could use spicy, or another flavor if you would like.
- Butternut squash – I prefer to use frozen to keep it super easy rather than peeling and dicing my own
- Salted butter – make sure to use salted butter for the best results on your brown butter. If you use unsalted butter, add a teaspoon salt
- Kosher salt, crushed red pepper, and cinnamon – this simple spice blend provides a ton of flavor and a little bit of spice for your gnocchi
- Potato gnocchi – gnocchi is my favorite pasta for this recipe because it is so creamy and creates the perfect texture
- Fresh sage leaves – a bit of fresh sage is the perfect garnish for this dish
Ingredient Substitutions
Instead of pork sausage, you could use chicken sausage or even ground turkey or ground beef. If you use unseasoned meat, be sure to add some seasoning to bring out some extra flavor.
I love butternut squash for this dish, but you could also make it with pumpkin instead. If you are using fresh butternut squash, cut it into squash halves and diced into equal pieces, about half-inch pieces. Then roast on a baking sheet with parchment paper in the oven until the flesh is tender. For a smoother sauce, blend in a food processor with chicken stock for a butternut squash puree and add that to the pan.
If you don’t have gnocchi, you could also use a ravioli or tortellini instead. You can use a classic pasta noodle as well, but the texture won’t be quite as creamy. For a gluten-free dinner, be sure to use a gluten free pasta. You can also make a vegan version by omitting the sausage, and using vegan butter and vegan parmesan.
For a bit of extra aromatics, you could saute garlic and shallot in a bit of olive oil before cooking the sausage.
How to make
Step 1: Brown the Sausage and butter
Heat large skillet over medium heat and add ground sausage to the pan. Brown and break into crumbles (Image 1). Once fully cooked – remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and add the butter to brown.
Prepare the brown butter – place a stick of salted butter in the skillet over medium low heat. Allow the butter to melt completely. Whisk occasionally until the top of the melted butter looks foamy (Image 2). Once it looks foamy, whisk constantly until you start to see small brown flecks at the bottom of the pan and immediately reduce the heat to low.
Step 2: Steam Squash and add pasta
While you cook the brown butter, steam the butternut squash – I usually do this in the microwave. Prepare a large pot of salted water and bring to a boil for cooking the gnocchi.
Add the steamed butternut squash to the skillet with the brown butter sauce (Image 3). Increase heat to medium low, toss to coat and season with salt, red pepper and cinnamon. Add the cooked sausage crumbles to the pan (Image 4).
Continue tossing and simmering the squash and sausage as the gnocchi boils.
Add cooked gnocchi directly into the skillet along with the sage ribbons. Toss to combine everything evenly. Serve immediately and sprinkle with fresh parmesan cheese.
Storage, reheating and Freezing
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. To reheat, put the butternut squash gnocchi in the microwave or on the stove until warmed through.
To freeze, place in a freezer safe container before baking and cover tightly. Bake directly from frozen covered at 325F for a half hour to an hour.
Check out these other Fall Dinner Recipes
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
Email Recipe for Later
Recipe
Butternut Squash Gnocchi and Sausage
Ingredients
- 16 oz ground pork sausage mild Italian
- 20 oz butternut squash diced (I prefer to use frozen)
- 1 stick salted butter
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- 16 oz potato gnocchi
- 2 tbsp fresh sage sliced into ribbons
Instructions
- Heat large skillet over medium heat and add ground sausage to the pan. Brown and break into crumbles. Once fully cooked – remove from the pan and add the butter to brown.
- Prepare the brown butter – place a stick of salted butter in the skillet over medium low heat. Allow the butter to melt completely. Whisk occasionally until the top of the melted butter looks foamy. Once it looks foamy, whisk constantly until you start to see small brown flecks at the bottom of the pan and immediately reduce the heat to low.
- While you cook the brown butter, steam the butternut squash – I usually do this in the microwave. Prepare a large pot of boiling water for cooking the gnocchi.
- Add the steamed butternut squash to the skillet with the brown butter. Increase heat to medium low, toss to coat and season with salt, red pepper and cinnamon. Add the cooked sausage crumbles to the pan.
- Continue tossing and simmering the squash and sausage as the gnocchi boils.
- Add cooked gnocchi directly into the skillet along with the sage ribbons. Toss to combine everything evenly. Serve immediately with fresh parmesan cheese.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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