For this holiday-worthy recipe, roasting the butternut with several bay leaves slipped between the slices results in a subtle aromatic backdrop for the chile glaze.
Ingredients
8 Servings
1
1
1
¼
3
2
6–8
Preparation
Step 1
Place a rack in upper third of oven; preheat to 425°. Halve squash lengthwise and scoop out seeds with a large spoon. Using a peeler, remove skin and white flesh below (you should reach the deep orange flesh). Rub all over with oil; season with salt and pepper. Roast in a baking dish just large enough to hold halves side by side until beginning to soften (a paring knife should easily slip in only about ¼"), 15–18 minutes.
Step 2
Meanwhile, bring chile, maple syrup, butter, and vinegar to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-high, stirring occasionally and removing chile as soon as desired heat level is reached (set aside for serving), until just thick enough to coat spoon, 6–8 minutes. Reduce heat to very low and keep glaze warm.
Step 3
Transfer squash to a cutting board and let cool slightly. Using a sharp knife, score rounded sides of squash halves crosswise, going as deep as possible but without cutting all the way through. Return squash to baking dish, scored sides up, and tuck bay leaves between a few of the slices; season with salt and pepper.
Step 4
Roast squash, basting with glaze every 10 minutes or so and using pastry brush to lift off any glaze in dish that is browning too much, until tender and glaze forms a rich brown coating, 45–60 minutes. Serve topped with reserved chiles.
Step 5
Do Ahead: Squash can be roasted 4 hours ahead. Let cool until just warm; cover and store at room temperature. Reheat before serving.
Nutrition Per Serving
How would you rate Hasselback Butternut Squash with Bay Leaves?
Leave a Review
Reviews (31)
Back to TopFun recipe and super simple. An easy hasselback hack is to lay chopsticks on either side of whatever you are hasseling - no need to worry if you are going to slice all the way through and you can concentrate on consistent cuts.
Bill
Whistler
10/20/2021
Am kinda sick of butternut squash but this was great. I only made half the recipe, though, enough is enough.
brushjl
solon, oh
2/16/2021
Very good recipe. I added toasted pine nuts at the end which was a good addition. Also I used fresh bay leaves.
Anonymous
Westchester NY
11/26/2020
This was a lot of work but delicious. I am looking for new Thanksgiving recipes. And there are a lot of free squash in my community.
Rodigga
Flint, MI
11/10/2020
I have been a pretty adventurous cook for some time, and this was one of the most tedious things I’ve made in a long time. That being said, the flavor combination is spectacular, but I’m not 100% sure the method is worth the...hassle.
New York City
10/23/2020
I have made this a few times, both following the recipe closely and amending it to my taste. I honestly just dislike the addition of the ACV. I do not think any vinegar here is necessary, but perhaps a squeeze of lemon would do better. This is also excellent without the red pepper and a dash of dry sage/thyme. I do think the cooking time is slightly longer than needed. In short the combo of maple, butter, and the squash is fantastic.
Anonymous
Chicago, IL
10/21/2020
I've made this recipe twice now. The first time, I made it exactly to the letter - even going out of my way to find a smaller butternut squash when I bought one too big! It turned out pretty good, but it did leave me with a bit of a want for some thicker, savoury-er flavour. I glazed 5 times, cooking for about 50 minutes. The squash collapsed in on itself where I had taken out the seeds. Overall, however, it was pretty good. The second time, I used a slightly bigger squash (4-ish pounds) and left it in for a shorter time when cooking it first (about 13 minutes at 425F). For the glaze, I cut down the amount of maple syrup to about 45 mL (3 tbsp) and added about 1 tbsp soy sauce, simmering 8 minutes. A commenter below mentioned adding Spanish paprika, which I did as well. The apple cider vinegar, chile and butter I left the same. I glazed 4 times (cooking for about 45 minutes) and added quite a bit more bay leaves, maybe 12-15. Overall, the richer glaze was less sweet which was much to my taste, and the squash turned out slightly firmer - didn't squish in after baking! Carla's original recipe is great, and works well with other dishes on the holiday table, but I preferred a less sweet-forward glaze. Wonderful recipe nonetheless! Gonna wheel it out for big occasions for sure, considering how needy the squash is.
Anonymous
Toronto, Canada
10/18/2020
I have been in love with fresh Bay leaf or Laurel for a long time and have sought out ways to use it - and not just as an extra in our soups . Its flavor is ancient feeling which means many humans across time are connected to your dish! This recipe is one of my favorite recipes in years. It is so elegant and sumptuous and simple and balanced. The spicy to sweet to fatty butter triangulation is top notch. Have made to for for dinners in the last two months, none of which had other recipes in common but this one made it into each of theses quite different dinners. THANK YOU. Everybody make this tomorrow!
Anonymous
NYC
12/29/2019
I made this is a lo and slow rib roast for christmas dinner (also found on this site). Was very tasty, and made a great presentation. But definitely took a fair amount of attention. I'll use the sauce again in the future with bagged, cubed squash as it was a fair amount of work. Using precut cubes should cut the time in half.
Anonymous
San Pedro CA
12/26/2019
I'm making this for Christmas and I'm super excited! However I'm also making a million other things so I'm trying to figure out what parts of all my recipes can be made ahead. Do you think I could make this glaze the day before? Would it be fine sitting in the fridge until ready to use?
LaraCB
Melbourne, Australia
12/22/2019
This is delicious and looks lovely on the table. I don’t care for bay, so I used rosemary instead. I tried it out a few weeks back, and it will definitely be on my Thanksgiving table!
Anonymous
Washington, DC
11/22/2019
I am making this right now and it looks and smells delicious! The only thing I altered was the glaze. I didn’t have any Fresno chiles, so I used Thai red chile instead, and then added a few pinches of Spanish paprika to add some of that smoke factor, and a few grates of fresh nutmeg. I ended up adding quite a lot of salt to the glaze as well, which I think was a good call. I accidentally cooked the glaze for too long; not long enough to burn it, but long enough to turn it into pretty thick caramel, and I ended up adding almost 1/4 of a cup of water until it dissolved and heated it again for 2 minutes. I think it ended up quite nice, because the caramel flavor was emphasized. And my oven sometimes runs very hot, so I lowered the temperature and cooked it a bit longer than the recipe called for, but that was just for my temperamental oven’s sake.
Ellen Little
Charlotte, NC
11/7/2019
this is somewhat cumbersome, but then, so is a Paris-Brest or a genuine Cassoulet, and i plan on making those, also. i cook for myself only, so i eat lots of leftovers, happily. this Maple-Cider Glazed Hasselback Squash makes me smile. but all Carla videos do that.
hollis5
Vero Beach, FL
1/12/2019
These turned out great! Made them for Thanksgiving and they were a huge hit. Because of the crowded cooking schedule I had a 350 degree oven to work with which was totally fine - I just cooked these for an extra ten minutes for the first round and then an extra 15 or 20 minutes for the glazing round. We couldn’t find Fresno chiles and the ones we did find didn’t end up being spicy enough, so I would love to try these with little kick. Even without that these were amazingly good.
soapnana
Chicago
11/23/2018
Made this for Thanksgiving today, and it was an absolute smash hit! I was not able to source Fresno chilies, so I used a Manzana chile instead, and it was just hot enough to taste without being overwhelming. The chopstick trick worked fairly well, only cut through in a few small places.
binkleyz
Kennett Square, PA
11/22/2018
