The Right Way To Roast Frozen Butternut Squash For A Crispy Finish
Butternut squash is one of the best vegetables to cook during the fall and winter seasons. It's perfect for making soup, stuffing with other veggies or meat for a meal on its own, or roasting in the oven for a delicious side dish — there's a seemingly endless array of butternut squash recipes to choose from. If you want roasted butternut squash but are looking to save time and effort (or maybe it's just not available fresh at your local grocery store), it's perfectly fine to buy frozen, cubed butternut squash, season it up as you wish, and roast that instead. Believe it or not, it's just as tasty.
Of course, frozen vegetables are going to behave a bit differently in the oven than fresh veggies. As a result, there are a few tips and tricks to ensuring your frozen squash tastes just as good as the fresh kind, including paying close attention to oven temperature and where you place the baking sheet in the oven.
How to properly roast frozen butternut squash
If you're inclined to shy away from frozen vegetables because you don't think they're as good as the fresh kind, you could be mistaken. Frozen vegetables have just as many nutrients as fresh veggies, and in the case of butternut squash, they're easy to work with. To get perfectly roasted butternut squash, purchase frozen squash that has already been cubed — the pieces will be almost the exact same size and thus cook more evenly.
From there, set your oven temperature high; you'll want it at 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Add the squash to a bowl, and toss the cubes with olive oil or another neutral cooking oil with a high smoke point, like avocado, to help the exterior crisp up. You should also season them as desired. A little salt and pepper go a long way, but other herbs and spices, like paprika or rosemary, can add loads of flavor. Consider following in Gordon Ramsay's footsteps and pair your squash with the Moroccan spice blend ras el hanout. When you place your squash in the oven, keep the sheet pan on the lowest rack. This will ensure that it's as close to the oven's bottom heating element as possible; the concentration of heat will help the vegetable develop more of a crust — for more consistent browning, you can turn the squash cubes over mid-roast.
Let the baking sheet preheat along with the oven
One easy trick for perfectly roasted squash you can do right off the bat is to let the baking sheet preheat in the oven while it warms up. This will help any ice on the outside of the squash to quickly evaporate the moment the cubes hit the sheet pan. You should also make sure to spread the cubes out evenly and not pile them on top of one another, which will ensure each piece roasts evenly on all sides. The hot sheet pan paired with the high oven temperature will help make the squash crispier; otherwise, the frozen pieces could end up steaming instead of caramelizing, which won't give you the desired texture.
When shopping for frozen vegetables, keep it simple. Check the nutrition facts and ingredients list to make sure the vegetables don't have any added sauces, salt, etc., which could impact the nutritional value and cooking process. And finally, feel the bags, too; buy bags with pieces that feel separated. If all of the veggies feel stuck together, that could suggest they had a chance to defrost at some point and have refrozen. When this happens, ice crystals form that can affect flavor and texture. As long as you start with a quality product and follow these steps, you'll be crunching on crispy squash in no time.