From Ramen to Hummus to Lasagna, These Are the Best Winter Squash Recipes

Use any Asian chili paste or sauce you have in your refrigerator to give this rice bowl a touch of salty heat, including sambal oelek, garlic chili sauce, or even Sriracha.

This recipe is just as wonderful with kabocha squash.

A far cry from the storebought packages, real ramen starts with amazing broth. This simplified version can be made in a long afternoon—or started the day before.

This vegetarian dish is fragrant with garam masala, an Indian spice blend that typically includes black pepper and a mix of sweet and savory spices.

We love the play of savory-sweet flavors and big textures in this hearty winter salad.

This beautiful, nourishing platter needs only some warm flatbread and a pot of herb tea to make you feel energized to face the world.

Brilliant orange roasted pumpkin replaces the traditional mashed-potato topping here, giving new life to classic English pub grub.

These little cakes are a snap to make and, with the salad, create a great vegetarian entrée for fall.

Not quite enough pumpkin for you? Serve this soup in Mini Pumpkin Bowls.

The naturally sweet squash is seared and roasted to perfection, then finished with a rich brown butter infused with sage and the tang of malt vinegar.

You can assemble and chill the lasagna a day ahead, but add 10 to 15 minutes to the baking time. You can also freeze the lasagna, wrapped well in plastic wrap, for up to 1 month and bake it frozen (add 1 1/4 hours to the oven time).

Although this posole tastes like it’s been simmering all day long, it takes less than an hour to cook. For shorter prep time, buy bagged cut squash and sub in coleslaw mix for the garnish.

Celebrate autumn with this vibrant chicory salad, featuring sweet roasted delicata squash, crisp apples, and a savory seed and seaweed granola. The black tahini dressing adds a nutty, creamy richness that ties the ingredients together beautifully.

Browning the ribs and adding cocoa powder, cranberries, ginger, and orange zest make the stew sing.

Some butternut squash soups can be too sweet; here, almond butter, lime juice, and slightly spicy salad mix-ins keep the flavors lively. For a heartier dish, add a few cooked medium shrimp (warmed first in a little hot water) to each bowl.

Cooking with store-bought cubed squash saves time on weeknights. You can sub in almonds or walnuts for the pistachios.

These handheld savory pies are perfect for a party, with your favorite chutney on the side. Empanadas get their name from the Spanish word empanar, “to bake in pastry.” We’ve used pie dough for a more delicate, buttery crust.

Roasted acorn squash and earthy sage sing in this delightful winter soup.

Cube the bread a day or two ahead and leave it out on the counter to dry, so it will fully absorb the flavors of the dressing. (If you forget, you can dry it in a 375° oven for a few minutes.) For a moister dressing, use the larger amount of broth. This makes a good main dish for vegans (use kosher rye, which excludes dairy). But it’s good with sausage too; add about 1 pound, casings removed, browned and crumbled.

The last of late-summer’s corn, cooked so it still has a light crunch, accents this silky squash soup.

Whole parsley leaves are tossed with mixed chicories, slices of pickled winter squash, and an apple cider vinaigrette for nice palate-cleansing acidity, which is great for a heavy meal.

Western farmers grow all manner of lentils, including the green ones called French or lentilles du Puy, which cook up firm and nutty. Combine them with root vegetables, kale, and squash for a deeply satisfying winter meal.

Almost any kind of winter squash can be cooked this way, including red kuri, which has a nutty flavor and a potato-like texture (red kabocha is similar but not as starchy) and mild, sweet delicata. All three varieties have tasty, edible peels, so there’s no need to cut them off. They’re good in stews, as a side for roasted meat, and in salads.

Bright orange kabocha squash forms a sweet base for tender scallops, spiked with ginger and chile. The dish is also very good as a vegetarian version, without the scallops.

This soup is built on root vegetables roasted until sweet, dense, and crisply browned. Roast meatballs at the same time, pour in broth, and you have soup straight from the oven. Warm some bread alongside the soup while you’re at it.

Think of these roasted squash rounds as tiny pizzas: You simply bake them, and add any topping you like or have on hand.

Warm spices and caramelized onions underscore the natural sweetness of pumpkin and butternut squash in this comforting dish. The easy swirl of ginger butter at the end adds a bit of flavor and a lot of style.