Name: Air Fryer Butternut Squash
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Ingredients: 4 cups butternut squash (peeled and cubed in small squares); 2 tbsp olive oil; 2 tbsp brown sugar ((sweet)); 1 tsp cinnamon ((sweet)); 1 tsp thyme ((savory)); 1 tsp sage ((savory)); 1/4 tsp salt (or more to taste (savory)); 1/4 tsp pepper (or more to taste (savory))

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Butternut squash was one of my favorite dishes before I owned an air fryer and now that I have an air fryer, butternut squash is just better. Often in an oven, squash is either under-cooked on one side or mushy in the middle. But with this recipe, the squash cooked to perfection.

Squash is a wonderful complement to any entree – in under a half-hour (with prep time) you can have a simple, tasty and healthy side for your meal. Butternut squash is incredibly versatile and can be savory by adding thyme and sage or sweet by adding brown sugar and cinnamon. Add air fryer butternut squash to your family’s rotation.

We cooked the savory and sweet versions of this recipe at the same time in two different air fryers. The top plate in the photo below is the cinnamon and sugar version, as evidenced by the caramelizing on the squash pieces. It was air fried in a GoWISE USA 4.6 QT air fryer and the savory version on the bottom plate was cooked in an Emeril Lagasse Power Airfryer 360.

Air Fried Butternut Squash Cooking Tips

Capacity really does make a difference in cooking time. The four cups of squash crowded together in mostly in one layer in the GoWISE USA 4.6 QT air fryer and required one stir/shake halfway through cooking. The same amount in the Emeril Lagasse Power AirFryer 360 (which promotes a 16 QT capacity) was in a spaced-out single layer and didn’t require any stirring. While I cooked them at the same temp (400 degrees Fahrenheit) and for the same amount of time (15 minutes), I think we could have shaved a minute or two off in the Power AirFryer 360.

So what’s your takeaway from this experiment? Use our cooking time and temp as a guide, but adjust as needed for your air fryer’s capacity. If you have a smaller basket, you may need to stir more than once to make sure the multiple layers of squash get mixed around. If you have an extra large capacity air fryer like the Emeril Lagasse Power AirFryer 360, you may not need to stir but be sure to fork a few pieces around the ten minute mark to gauge how much more time is needed.

Air Fryer Butternut Squash

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

15 mins

Have delicious butternut squash in a short time with this healthy vegan recipe.

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Air Fried Butternut Squash, Air Fryer Butternut Squash, vegetable

Servings: 4

Calories: 131 kcal

Ingredients

4 cups butternut squash peeled and cubed in small squares
2 tbsp olive oil

Sweet OR Savory (but not both, unless you want to make two batches like we did)

Sweet

2 tbsp brown sugar (sweet)
1 tsp cinnamon (sweet)

Savory

1 tsp thyme (savory)

1 tsp sage (savory)
1/4 tsp salt or more to taste (savory)
1/4 tsp pepper or more to taste (savory)

Instructions

In a mixing bowl, mix the butternut squash, seasonings and oil.
Place squash in the air fryer basket, setting the temperature to 400 ° F | 205 ° C.
Cook for 15 minutes shaking the basket halfway through cooking.