Easy to cook and delightfully versatile, bright white mashed potato squash tastes like a cross between mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes. Whether your goal is roasted cubes or a mash, mashed potato squash cooks up with a soft, creamy texture similar to potatoes.
Mashed Potato Squash
You may have noticed mashed potato squash around a lot more lately. It’s becoming more widely available in grocery stores and farm stands and is often mistaken for a white pumpkin and used in fall decor.
What is mashed potato squash? It’s basically a hybrid acorn squash with creamy off-white skins and pale yellow to ivory flesh. When roasted, the squash takes on a super creamy, soft texture similar to mashed potatoes.
The similarity doesn’t end at the texture and looks, though. I’m never going to be the gal who tells you anything other than a potato tastes exactly like a potato.
It does, however, taste like a cross between mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes. It’s gently sweet; not overtly sweet.
You can roast it and scoop it from the shells and eat it just as it is. Or you can go one step further and mash it with butter and milk. Either way, while it isn’t a potato, it’s darned tasty.
Mash Potato Squash
If you’re unfamiliar with what makes a good mashed potato squash, I’ve got you covered, too. Mashed potato squash tend to weigh in at between 1 and 2 pounds; they’re relatively small.
Try to select a squash that feels heavy for its size and has firm, hard skin that is free of soft spots or insect holes. The more unblemished the skin, the better the flesh is likely to be.
You should count on needing about 1 pound of squash per person. In other words, if you have a 2 pound squash, that should be roughly enough to feed two people.
Leftover mashed potato squash can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days after it is cooked and/or mashed. If you think you’ll be unable to eat all of it, you can store it in zipper top freezer bags with excess air squeezed out for up to 6 months.
How to Cook Mashed Potato Squash
The only half-way tricky part of cooking a mashed potato squash is getting into it. And there’s even a little trick to that!
There’s no doubt that the little beasties have really thick, hardy skin. If you have dull knives or are a little less confident with your knife skills, this may be a little daunting since they’re also distressingly prone to rolling around.
Fear not! You can jab the squash a couple of times all over and then microwave it whole for 2 minutes. That will soften the skin significantly and reduce your risk of injury while cutting it!
How to Cut Acorn Squash
Hold the squash firmly on a cutting board with your fingers and thumbs tucked to keep them safe, carefully cut the stem plus about 1/4″ of the squash top, then trim a 1/4″ disc from the blossom end of the squash.
Stand the squash on the cut blossom end and use your knife to cut the squash in half from top to bottom. Use a spoon or ice cream scoop to scrape the seeds and strings from the center of the squash.
Have you seen or tried these little beauties yet? Tell me what you think!
Mashed Potato Squash
Rate RecipeIngredients
To Roast the Mashed Potato Squash
- 4 lbs mashed potato squash This should be roughly equal to 4 small mashed potato squashes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper or more to taste
To Make Mashed Mashed Potato Squash
- 1/2 cup milk gently warmed
- 3 tablespoons butter cut into small cubes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Have a half sheet pan available to use if you using the oven to roast your mashed potato squash. Optionally, you can line the sheet pan with foil or parchment paper if you want to make clean-up a breeze.
- Hold the squash firmly on a cutting board with your fingers and thumbs tucked to keep them safe, carefully cut the stem plus about 1/4" of the squash top, then trim a 1/4" disc from the blossom end of the squash. (See notes!) Stand the squash on the cut blossom end and use your knife to cut the squash in half from top to bottom.Use a spoon or ice cream scoop to scrape the seeds and strings from the center of the squash.
- Brush the cut sides of the squash with the olive oil, sprinkle evenly with the salt and pepper, and place cut side down on your half sheet pan or in your air fryer basket.
How to Roast the Mashed Potato Squash In the Oven
- Roast the squash in your preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until a butter-knife can easily pierce the skin and sink into the squash flesh. You can serve these squash halves as is or continue on to make mashed squash.
How to Roast the Mashed Potato Squash In the Air Fryer
- Roast the squash in your preheated air fryer for about 30 minutes, or until a butter-knife can easily pierce the skin and sink into the squash flesh. You can serve these squash halves as is or continue on to make mashed squash.
To Make Mashed Mashed Potato Squash
- Use a large spoon or ice cream scoop to scrape the flesh from the squash shells into a mixing bowl. Add the milk and small cubes of butter and mash the squash using a sturdy spoon or potato masher. Taste and adjust seasonings if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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