Tender, delicious, seasoned chicken pieces sitting in a savory, healthy butternut squash sauce. Serve this Butternut Squash Chicken with rice, cauliflower rice, noodles, bread, salad or other grains.
This is an amazingly good dish I could imagine eating at a restaurant :).
Ingredients for Butternut Squash Chicken
Red curry paste (optional) – Can omit entirely or use chili powder as a substitute to spice up the butternut squash sauce. Try 1 tsp of red curry paste for mildly spicy and 3 tsp for spicy – or to taste.
Frozen corn or other diced vegetables – Corn pairs well with butternut squash but other mixtures of firm, diced vegetables are possible, such as carrots.
Basil leaves – Use preferred or available basil. However, varieties that resemble Thai basil are ideal. They impart a pungent, really fragrant taste to the entire dish.
Coconut milk – The carton coconut milk is ok to use (for example, “So Delicious Dairy Free Shelf-Stable Coconut Milk, Unsweetened”). Regular milk with a bit of heavy cream can also substitute for coconut milk. Another option is canned coconut milk, which is generally thicker and tastier, with substantially more fat. However, I have yet to try this alternative.
Notes for making Butternut Squash Chicken
- Consider brining the chicken beforehand, particularly for low-fat chicken pieces. For this type of recipe, where meat simmers and stews in a savory sauce for some time, brining can be really helpful. Brining prevents meat from drying out while it simmers; infuses it with any herbal flavors; and better ensures meat turns out tender and tasty. For basic steps on brining meat, visit this blog.
- This recipe seemingly makes an overabundance of sauce. But it goes fast when served over vegetables, rice or other sides!
- Don’t worry if the butternut squash sauce appears watery or soupy, it will thicken up on the burner after shutting it off. The sauce will also naturally thicken over time like a lentil stew.
- If the sauce appears lumpy or thick, the butternut squash was probably not blended enough before using it. Lumpy is not a bad thing, but for a smoother sauce, blending is necessary. Provided below are steps for cooking butternut squash for this recipe.
How to cook butternut squash
There are various ways to cook cubed or whole butternut squash: boiling, roasting and instant pot pressure cooking. Although roasting imparts a tastier, more flavorful butternut squash, my favorite methods are boiling and cooking via the instant pot because they are relatively quick.
Frozen butternut squash is usually pre-peeled and quite easy to cook. The bag will provide directions on how to cook the frozen cubes. Customary instructions are usually boiling in water (for ~4-6 minutes) or microwaving (for ~7-10 minutes) with 1 tbsp. water.
Butternut squash that has been boiled absorbs more water than other methods. Due to the water content, it blends smoothly in a food processer, but adds some excess moisture to the sauce. Boiling butternut squash is fast. It takes about 4-6 minutes, but requires peeling and cubing prep work.
To boil butternut squash:
- Peel and cube about 1 lb. or 1.5 cups butternut squash.
- Pour about 1/4 – 1/3 cup water into a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
- Add butternut squash and return the saucepan to a boil.
- Cover and reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 4-6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove, drain and allow butternut squash to cool before blending in a food processor.
To instant pot butternut squash (for a 6 quart instant pot at about sea level):
- Add 1 cup cold water to the instant pot.
- Place trivet inside the instant pot along with 1 lb. or 1.5 cups cubed, peeled butternut squash or about one quarter of a whole, de-seeded and unpeeled butternut squash.
- Hi-pressure cook for 13-15 minutes with a quick release.
- Remove and allow to cool before slicing skin off (if necessary) and blending in a food processor. If having trouble blending, add a tablespoon of water to the blender contents.
Butternut Squash Chicken
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Loading...Tender, delicious, seasoned chicken pieces sitting in a savory, healthy butternut squash sauce. Serve with rice, cauliflower rice, noodles, bread, salad or other grains.
Ingredients
- Oil or butter
- 1/2 onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced, grated, or paste
- 2 tsp ginger minced, grated or paste
- 1.5 cups butternut squash cooked, ground/mashed
- 1 tbsp. brown sugar or other sugar of choice
- 1 tbsp. peanut butter
- 1-3 tsp red curry paste or to taste (optional)
- 1/2 + 1/3 cup coconut milk
- 1/4 cup unsalted chicken stock
- 1/3 cup frozen corn
- 1 handful basil leaves
- salt and pepper
- Chicken coating:
- .75 lb. chicken cut into 1” cubes
- oil
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- pinch of cardamom
Instructions
Coat and sear the chicken. In a small bowl, combine salt, garam masala, cumin, coriander, turmeric, black pepper and cardamom. Toss and coat chicken cubes in 1-2 tsp oil. Sprinkle chicken with seasoning and toss chicken pieces well. In a sauté pan with oil or butter over medium-high heat, add chicken pieces and sear on both sides. Set aside.
In a Dutch oven or pot over medium heat, add about about a tbsp. oil, diced onions, garlic and ginger. Cook until the onions are softened and translucent.
Add the butternut squash. Stir in peanut butter, sugar and red curry paste if using.
Pour unsalted chicken stock and coconut milk into pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add back the chicken and simmer another 10 minutes until the internal temperature exceed 165F. Taste to season further with salt and pepper. Stir in corn and basil leaves and shut off heat.
Notes
Brining the chicken is strongly recommended to keep it juicy and tender. Please read the blog for more tips.
