Crock Pot Butternut Squash with Apples, Walnuts and Raisins – This easy, delicious, and simple holiday side dish combines butternut squash, fresh apples, crunchy walnuts and sweet raisins cooked simply in the crock pot.
It’s time for another version of crock pot butternut squash deeee-liciousness!
But first, I’d like to wish you a Happy Happy Sunday, pals! Also, Happy End-of-Daylight-Saving-Day! How did you enjoy that extra hour this morning?
Personally, I hate it. Throws me off. Throws the kids off. AND losing an hour of daylight is baaaaad news for my pictures. Less light = dark blue hues with a pinch of green. UGH. I know… serious problems.
On the flip side, the CUBS are WORLD SERIES CHAMPS, so everything MUST be all right with the world. ⚾
P.S. Did we really play ‘the world‘? Or did we play teams from just *this* country? I’m asking for a friend – we need to figure out why it’s called a World Series…? ⚾
Now, how about that wonderful Fall food up there! It is a bunch of regular, gorgeous Fall ingredients slow cooked to perfection with all these classic flavors and textures to make a side dish that is going to rock-your-holiday-world yummy. I hear side-dish angels singing.
Although, let’s be honest; I would not be sad if I ended up eating this 12 months of the year. This crock pot butternut squash could love me all year long.
I was headed to a little Fall-themed birthday party at my girl’s house last week, and I wanted to bring something baked, warm, VEGETARIAN (no chicken??? ) and in a crock pot. During process of elimination – no chicken, no chicken wings, no chicken thighs!!! – I came to a point where I wanted to give up, but then I quickly bounced back, took a knife to my lovely squash, and a dish was born!
But, because a basket of apples was staring right at me, I took a knife to those, too. And because I was out of cranberries, but found a large bag of raisins, I threw those in there, as well. And you know what, you can swap in any nuts or dried fruits you want. Mix them up, or stick to walnuts, and add in craisins, or something else, or put your right foot in, take your right foot out, put your right foot and you – you want to shut me up, don’t you? 😃
Basically, what I’m trying to tell you is that you just need to layer all these ingredients in the crock pot, add a bit of apple juice and buttah, cover it and bounce. Go do your thing while all of this comes together.
Okay, now I’ll go.
ENJOY!
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TOOLS AND INGREDIENTS USED IN THIS RECIPE
Crock Pot Butternut Squash with Apples, Walnuts and Raisins
Ingredients
- 2-1/2 pounds butternut squash , peeled, cut in half, seeds removed and cut into cubes (about 4 cups of cubed squash)
- 2 large cooking apples , cored and cut into cubes
- 1/3- cup raisins, or dried cranberries
- 1/3- cup apple juice
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or to taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage, or 1 teaspoon dried
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- salt and fresh ground pepper , to taste
- 2 tablespoons butter , cut in pieces
- 1/3 cup chopped toasted walnuts
Instructions
- Add cubed squash, apples, raisins, apple juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg to the crock pot; mix until combined.
- Stir in sage and season with salt and pepper.
- Dot with butter.
- Cover and cook for 4 hours on LOW.
- Remove cover and stir.
- Transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle with walnuts.
- Serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
can I substitute apple cider for apple juice?
Yes, but please make sure it’s apple cider and not apple cider vinegar… and I only say this because you won’t believe how many readers have used apple cider vinegar (not on this recipe, but on a different one that calls for apple cider) and then they give the worst reviews because the dish was too “vinegary”. Uhmm, yeah, 1/2-cup of apple cider vinegar will definitely taste vinegary. 😆
Can you make this the day before?
Yes, you can, but it’s better if made the day of. What I do is, I chop up everything the night before, put it all in ziploc bags, and then the next morning I just dump it all into the slow cooker and let it cook.
Does the sage make it bitter. Can you leave it out or does it change the taste a lot. If you don’t have fresh sage can you use ground and if so how much
Looks great! Love these flavors. Thanks for adding ww pts. How much is one serving?
If doubling the recipe does cooking time change?
Hi! No, you should be fine. 4 hours on low is plenty of time for 4 pounds of squash.
What type of apples did you use? and did you peel them?
Hi! I use Honeycrisp Apples and I don’t peel them.
Can you make this without the butter? Could you use oil or Smart Balance or some other healthy butter substitute? How will it affect the recipe?
Hi! Sure! It shouldn’t be a problem at all if you use a substitute.
Sorry if I missed it somewhere, but how many does this serve?
Thanks,
Jan
Hi! It’s about 6 servings.
How many squashes come out to that many cups? How many should I buy?
Hi Lindsey! If I understand correctly, you are asking how much butternut squash to get? That would be 2-1/2 pounds butternut squash. Let me know if I misunderstood, please.
can you use cranberry’s instead of raisins
Hi Hannah! Yep, you absolutely can.
thank that great
It’s like autumn in a slow cooker, Kate – the perfect side dish!
you are queen of the crock pot! I am loving this idea for Thanksgiving
I don’t know why I haven’t thought to cook squash in my slow cooker, what a great idea!!
I could eat this all year, too! Looks amazing, and helloooo…..love that you made it in the crock pot!
This is so colorful and I love all the flavors in here!
This sounds amazing! I plan on making a lot of slow cooker sides for Thanksgiving this year! Can’t wait to try this!
This looks so comforting – want!!
Whoa. You are speaking my language with this. I bet the squash, apples, and raisins play so nicely together!