Butternut Squash Casserole

Savory butternut squash casserole is everything your holiday table has been missing! It’s full of earthy autumn flavors, from the butternut squash, kale, and sweet Italian sausage in the filling, to the buttery breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, and fresh sage in the crisp topping. Easy to make vegetarian!

🥘 What Makes This Casserole So Good

• Whether you serve it as a side dish or the main star, warm butternut squash is a perfect compliment to your autumn dinner table. It’s rich and buttery, savory and earthy, tender and crispy. Plus the colors are beautiful!
• It’s incredibly filling and nutritious. Butternut squash and kale are FULL of good-for-you nutrients. Vitamins, antioxidants, fiber – there’s so much here your body will love. The Italian sausage gives you a little extra protein, too.
• Prepping for the holiday? Chop all your produce the day before you plan to cook the casserole. I don’t recommend baking the dish in advance or toasting the breadcrumbs too early, but you can at least do the general prep the day before. For leftovers, just refrigerate them in an airtight container up to 5 days, and reheat them in the oven.

👩🏼‍🍳 Chef’s Tips

• Try to pack the casserole into as even a layer as you can. If you fill the dish unevenly, your butternut squash casserole won’t bake evenly, and the texture of the squash will be off.
• This is noted on the recipe card, but I’m repeating it here for emphasis. Halfway through the bake time, cover the casserole dish with foil so the breadcrumbs won’t burn or dry out! Be careful, too, that you don’t burn the breadcrumbs on the stovetop.
• If you tend to shy away from kale, don’t be turned off from this recipe. Sautéing the kale makes it nice and tender, and it takes away some of that bitter flavor you get from raw kale. Massaging the kale first will also help with the taste and texture, but you don’t really need to do that since you’ll be cooking it.