My family loves eating squash, especially during the fall months. But, I’ll be honest – while I love that everyone is chomping on vegetables, cooking squash is always a bit of a pain. Itwas, at least, until I figured out I could make butternut squash in a pressure cooker.
this idea now...
If you don’t have one yet, a pressure cooker is at the very top of my favorite kitchen appliances list! It’s a wonderful gadget for the kitchen, something I discovered over the summer when I bought an Instant Pot pressure cooker. I splurged during Amazon’s “Prime Day,” and though it was somewhat of an impulse buy, I’m so glad I did. Especially after reading rave reviews from the Paleo community!
The Instant Pot
is like a slow cooker on steroids, and it’s definitely not slow. It’s not scary like the old pressure cookers you would hear about exploding on the stove, either. In fact, I’m usually cautious about anything new (I hate reading manuals), but I found this kitchen tool very simple to figure out and easy to use.
Health Benefits Of Butternut Squash
I adore butternut squash. It’s one of those delicious vegetables that not even kids require coaxing to eat.
Even better? Butternut squash is loaded with nutritional value! In just 1 cup, you’ll get:
- 437% of the recommended daily amount of Vitamin A (a powerful antioxidant)
- 528 mg of potassium (that’s more than a banana!)
- 52% RDA vitamin C
- Many other vitamins and minerals, including vitamin E, thiamin, niacin, vitamin B-6, pantothenic acid, magnesium, and manganese.
That’s pretty impressive!
How To Use Butternut Squash
And there are so many delicious ways to cook with butternut squash. One of my favorite ways to enjoy it is to make soup. We’re all obsessed with this Thai butternut squash soup!
My whole family also loves my recipe for spiced Whipped Butternut Squash. (It has no added sugar or dairy and tastes incredible!)
I also serve cubed butternut squash as a tasty side dish. It works really well alongside these easy slow cooker sloppy joes, this orange herbed turkey with spiced rub, and these quick and easy Hawaiian turkey burgers.
Believe it or not, I also have served it as a healthy breakfast! Just drizzle it with cinnamon and browned butter, and your kids will go crazy! You can also make it into an easy butternut squash porridge, oneof my 25 favorite paleo breakfasts.
It’s also fun to incorporate into desserts! Think outside the box – how good does a butternut squash cheesecake sound?
Of course, mamas understand how great it is to have an easy healthy option for our tiny ones too. Try making your butternut squash in a pressure cooker, then pureeing it to make homemade baby food!
Last but not least, I love using frozen butternut squash cubes in place of ice cubes when I’m making smoothies.
As you can see, there are a million ways to enjoy this veggie! I used to plan to cook butternut squash often during the fall, at least once a week. Plan is the keyword here because, more often than not, it wouldn’t happen. I would get too busy and not have time to roast it for over an hour in the oven.
Cook Butternut Squash In A Pressure Cooker
But then my Instant Pot came along, and I discovered how to cook butternut squash in a pressure cooker in less than 30 minutes!
Today I’ll show you how to use your pressure cooker to cook your butternut squash fasterand easier than you’ve probably been doing!
All you’ll need is butternut squash, a knife, spoon or fork, a pressure cooker
, and 1 cup of water.
First, cut your butternut squash width-wise into 2-3″ sections.
Use a spoon or fork to remove the seeds.
Set them aside in a bowl for your chickens. If you don’t have chickens, you should get somecan throw the seeds in the compost pile or trash.
Open your pressure cooker. Put in the steamer basket if you have one.Then, pour in the cup of water.
Place the pieces of butternut squash in a pressure cooker, making sure not to go past the “max fill” line.
Close the lidand make sure the pressure release valve on top is shutso the steam will remain in the pot and not vent while cooking.
How To Cook Butternut Squash In An Instant Pot
For an Instant Pot, select the manual button, then 8-9 minutes. If you don’t have an Instant Pot, cook it for an equivalent amount of time inyour pressure cooker.
If you’ve cut your butternut squash into smaller pieces or you bought pre-cut and peeled squash, you can cook it for anywhere from 5-7 minutes instead, using more or less time depending on how big your squash pieces are.
When your pressure cooker signals its done, CAREFULLY vent the stem with the quick release valve. I use a long fork or spoon to open the valve, so I don’t burn myself.
When the steam is finished venting, and your pressure pot is safe to open, open the lid.
Stick a fork in one of the largest pieces of butternut squash; it should be soft. If it’s not, you can cook it for 1-2 more minutes, but chances are, it’s perfectly done.
Use a fork or large serving spoon to carefully remove the hot pieces of butternut squash into a bowl. Let it cool for 3-5 minutes or until you can stand to touch it. Scoop out the delicious butternut squash flesh and use it however you want!
And that’s the quick and easy way to cook butternut squash in a pressure cooker!
What’s your favorite way to use butternut squash? Tell me in the comments below.
More Recipes To Use With Your Instant Pot:
- Instant Pot Mac and Cheese (Kid-Approved!)
- 15-Minute Easy Sloppy Joes
- Easy Aloha Pineapple Chicken
Looking for more ways to use this amazing tool? Here are 19 Surprising Ways to Use Your Instant Pot!
Pin the image below to save the instructions for later!
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