Air Fryer Stuffed Acorn Squash with Sausage, Quinoa & Apple
The quintessential fall and winter meal is here! Stuffed Acorn Squash with Sausage, Quinoa, and Apple tastes like Thanksgiving and is perfect for meal prep. This recipe is air fryer friendly which cuts the cook time in half, but you can also use your oven!
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 429kcal
Ingredients
- 2 large acorn squash cut in half
- Olive oil cooking spray
- 2 teaspoons butter or olive oil divided
- Salt
- ½ pound spicy Italian chicken or turkey sausage casing removed
- ½ onion diced up small
- ½ cup thinly diced celery about 2 stalks
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1 apple diced
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
- ⅓ cup shredded parmesan cheese optional
Instructions
- Preheat your air fryer to 400F.*
- Cut each squash in half and scoop out the seeds.
- Spray each squash half with olive or avocado oil cooking spray, then sprinkle with salt. Air fry for 16-18 minutes, until softened and crispy on the edges.
- Meanwhile, saute sausage until browned, then add 1 tsp butter, onions and celery and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the veggies are soft. Add in apples and garlic and cook until apples start to caramelize.
- Stir in remaining butter, quinoa, cranberries, and nuts. Turn off heat and let flavors meld for a few minutes.
- When squash is finished cooking, divide sausage and quinoa mixture equally into squash halves and top with Parmesan cheese.
- Put the squash halves back in the air fryer and cook until the filling and cheese is crispy.
Notes
21 DAY FIX: 1 ¼ GREEN, ½ RED, ½ YELLOW, ¼ PURPLE, ½ BLUE (¼ if you don’t use cheese), ½ TSP (per squash half)
WW: 9 points (per squash half)
*If using the oven, heat to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and bake the pre stuffed acorn squash for about 40 minutes. Add in your filling and pop back in the oven for a few minutes to let the filling and cheese warm and melt. If you’d like the cheese to get crispy, broil for about 1-2 minutes.
Nutrition
Calories: 429kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 53mg | Sodium: 764mg | Potassium: 1141mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 1214IU | Vitamin C: 29mg | Calcium: 187mg | Iron: 4mg