Apple and Butternut Squash Hash

I need to stop eating squashes. It’s getting out of control. I think I bought every kind of squash possible the other day. Pretty sure some of them are just decorative squashes. Some look like they have weird moles. But I don’t care. I’m going to cook them anyways.

So this weekend was a pretty damn good weekend. Mostly because I did anything and everything I wanted to. I watched my friend Tommy compete in a CrossFit competition, I hung out with Sarah which included eating a Chipotle bowl with sweet potato chips then finished it off with my new favorite chocolate bar (which I pretty much spent my entire paycheck on…so worth it), then I went out to my favorite bar and was lucky enough to see my friend Justin who moved to San Fransisco recently. Can you say run on sentence?

Anywho, it was a good weekend. But probably the best part of the weekend was Sunday night. When I was invited to CrossFit Rootsin Boulder to be a judge for their Crocktoberfest. It.Was.Awesome. I got to try 17 crockpot recipes and rate them based on their originality, taste, and presentation. Awesome idea huh?

The champion was a seven layer beef dish. I don’t even remember all the ingredients, but I remember it was awesome. And there were mashed plantains and almond flour tortillas alongside. Say wha?? Yeah, it was fabulous. And seeing everyone’s crockpot really made me want a new one. The lid is kind of broken on mine, so I have to pry it off with a knife, which usually means I take on some uncomfortable steam burns. I should start putting my face over it, burn off acne scars. Those b*tches.

Thank you to everyone at CrossFit Roots for having me. Especially Nicole, Stephanie and Shane. You three are not only extremely good looking, but super cool. Can’t wait to come back again soon!

Speaking of crockpots, I got a new tool recently. A pressure cooker. And I want to use it real bad. But I’m intimdated by it. It’s so scary. The directions are crap and they don’t use pictures. I’m totally a pictures type of person, because my brain works like a child’s brain. I’m going to have to look up some pressure cooker youtube tutorials in order to get over my fear of dying via pressure cooker.

Print

Apple and Butternut Squash Hash

  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 10 mins
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 3-4 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 small butternut squash, skin removed, shredded
  • 1 apple, shredded
  • 1lb US Wellness Meats Natural Breakfast Sausage
  • 4 strips bacon, diced
  • 1/2 yellow onion, diced
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. Place a large skillet over medium heat and add your diced bacon to the pan. Once the bacon is flipped a couple times and crispy, add to a separate plate to cool, keeping the bacon fat in the pan.
  2. In the bacon fat pan, add your minced garlic and diced onion. Mix around to coat.
  3. While the onions are cooking down, shred your apple and butternut squash. I just put mine through my food processor with the shredding attachment. Don’t have one? Use a grater. Don’t have one? Dice the apple and butternut squash instead.
  4. When your onions become translucent, add your breakfast sausage to the pan and break up with a wooden spoon.
  5. Brown the meat until it is half way cooked, then add your apple and butternut squash to the pan. Mix around.
  6. Add your basil and salt and pepper and mix around thoroughly.
  7. Cover for around 6-8 minutes, mixing around randomly to keep from burning, and to help cook the butternut squash down
  8. When your meat has cooked through and your butternut squash is tender, add back in the bacon and mix well.
  9. Add a bit more salt and pepper if needed.
  10. Eat up buttercup!

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Oh, Hi! I’m Juli.

I’m a food hoarder. And a really bad dancer. If you don’t know me well, you will probably not understand my humor. Therefore, I apologize ahead of time. Thanks for listening to my ramblings of my ever-changing life and trusting my kitchen mishaps. Your trust in me is appreciated.

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62 thoughts on “Apple and Butternut Squash Hash”

  1. As usual, I’m giggling at your post. Thanks for your blog.
    Re: pressure cooker fear… I vaguely recall my husband telling me a story of his parents ending up with an explosion & shrimp on the ceiling when he was a kid. Your fears are not unfounded. Ha!

  2. I haven’t tried this YET, but I am SO in love with all things squash/gourd that I am giddy just waiting til I get the time to make this. Based on your previous concoctions the logical conclusion is this will be FAB!!!

    Thanks for all the great paleo-riffic recipes/tips!

  3. Just watch Iron Chef America and follow what they do… They’re always using pressure cookers. I effing love that show.

    1. i’ve seen that too. but it’s still frightening. ill catch up on some shows tonight so it doesn’t feel like im researching pressure cookers

  4. “The champion was a seven layer beef dish” I thought you were talking about a crossfit hottie! I started looking for a picture of this guy!

  5. This is an awesome recipe. I think I might make this for my Sunday breakfast..the one day out of the week I can do something fancy! Wonder how an acorn squad would pair with this?

  6. Do you think we could get the Crockpot recipe? Almond flour tortillas, shut the front door. I saw the picture and loved the name of the event. Some people, like you, are so darn funny!

  7. I’m doing this stupid fast right now and everything in this dish is on my fast. I could cry with joy. Or the fact that JuliD thought “Seven Layer Beef Dish” referred to a sexy man. Hilarious!

  8. Looks yummy.

    I found a typo. sorry! But it’s one that makes it a difference. (Brown the meat until it is have way cooked, then add your apple and butternut squash to the pan. Mix around.) have = half I assume?

      1. Have you ever cooked this up and then frozen it?? Want to give it to my brothers family who is having a new baby to eat when they are ready!

      1. I’ve tried a few different varieties of apples in this recipe. Honeycrisp is the best, by far. However, if it’s out of season or out of your budget, just make sure to get a crisp apple. Softer apples don’t shred well and turn to juice. And though it still tastes good that way, it’s a PAIN to deal with. Hope that helps!

  9. Juli you rock! I wish I had a kitchen out here so I could try cooking one of these. Instead I will just have to dream….

  10. You probably already know it, but George linked to urbanposer’s blog which is a new found love! She posted a butternut squash apple hash too, and I have made it like 4 times since. Loving the squash/apple combo. I have been doing everything in cubes, but I’m down for the shredded version. Can’t wait to make it again 🙂

  11. I got a pressure cooker a year ago for my birthday. It has yet to see light outside of its box. One day I’ll be brave enough to break it out!

  12. Yes, this! So amazing. Can I just thank you for finally getting me to use the shredding attachment on my food processor? I never found a need to use it until your recipes, and now I am so in love with that handy tool. Why in the *$%@ was I grating things by hand??? Not to mention that shredding by hand inevitably left me grating a piece of skin off one of my fingers nearly every time. I know they say that the skin is the best part, but still… Now I don’t have to worry about accidentally adding Soylent Green to my hash. Thanks!

    1. Soylent Green, Ha, I laughed out lound and got looks from my coworker.
      I too am in love with the grater attachment, why oh why did I wait so long to try it.

  13. Still trying to decide what’s worse – dragging out my massive food processor (which I store in the back of a bottom blind cabinet … why?) and searching for who knows how long for the shredder attachment or going with the easy access, cheap-o, dollar store grater and risking the inevitable shredded finger tip or knuckle, or both. Love your site (and the recipes!) but am a little peeved to see an anti-Paul Ryan ad. C’mon – is there no escape from political bashing? I may have to burn my Paleomg t-shirt in protest. Just kidding … I don’t have one.

  14. that chocolate looks amazing. my all time favorite raw chocolate is Gnosis. have you tried it before? it’s hella expensive obviously but it’s the best damn chocolate bar i’ve ever tasted. the truffles are crazy good, too.

  15. Recipe looks delicious, as usual! Holy crap just checked out the Righteously Raw website. Did you see the coconut macaroons and Rawcholatl!?!?! So heading to the nearest Whole Foods after work. Finally a hot chocolate mix that you don’t have to feel bad about drinking, its not loaded with partially hydrogenated oils and a ton of sugar. Can’t wait for cold winter weather to snuggle up with a blanket and a cup of hot cocoa.

  16. You posted this picture at lunchtime and it looked SO good, I had to make it! Made a variation with chicken and threw in a couple of scrabled eggs. OMG!! The best lunch I’ve had in a long time. Thank you!!

  17. I think there is some info about pressure cookers on nomnom paleo. I am still afraid to use one but she makes it look so easy.

  18. Please do yourself a favor and use that Badass Crossfit Beast Attitude and use that pressure cooker. Hubby got me one for our anniversary this year and just like you I was terrified by it as my grandmother use to tell me horror stories… I digress. Anywho I just decided I was going to attack it like a WOD and watch out it’s much easier and safer than I could have imagined. So I say to all you scaredy cats just do it!

  19. Don’t be afraid of the pressure cooker! it’s like a crockpot for impatient and very hungry people (like me) who like to live on the wild side, well maybe not that wild, but… you know… slightly more wild than the crockpot side.
    Good Luck!

  20. Guess what I’m about to do now… Make some hash! That is after I clean out the palemayo from the food processor. Wouldn’t happen to know the block content off the top of your head would you?

  21. This looks good…but the pic looks like saffron rice…darn you, now I am craving saffron rice. I miss saffron rice. Sniff Sniff 🙁

  22. I’m just gonna be shameless and say I love you. And your blog. Don’t feel bad about the squash thing…You couldn’t open my pantry without a squash rolling out at you…or my fridge for that matter. Seeing someone that actually knows what real food is such a relief. I honestly want to tear my hair out and beat the crap out of my computer when I see so many bloggers still eating their tofu and soymilk and “healthy” whole grains (thats a total oxymoron). Today my friend showed me her health and nutrition textbook and I almost cried at the absurdity of what they are teaching. Anyway, I’ve ranted long enough. Thanks Julie. Really.

  23. My paleo challenge starts tomorrow and I just made this as my first recipe…so good!!! I used sweet sausage instead of breakfast bc it’s what I had on hand, and cut back a little of the bacon bc the sausage is pretty fatty…so delicious!! This will be a go to recipe for any meal for the next 30 days…thanks juli!

  24. Okay….I’ve gotta try this. I’ve slipped off the primal/paleo wagon (damn you, martinis! “shakes fist at the sky*) and I’ve gained back 7 lbs! *cry*

    Anywhoo…….pressure cooker! Oh my, it’s simple. It’s sorta like boiling water really. Here’s what you do.

    1) Throw everything you want to cook in the pressure cooker (brown meat first if you want to but you don’t have to) and add about 1/4 c of water or broth, whateves.

    2) Cap the lid, lock it in place, choose a pressure setting (usually 1 or 2, wtih 2 being more pressure and higher internal temp so it cooks faster) and plop that baby on the burner at high heat.

    3) When the thing starts whistling you walk over and drop the heat low enough to keep it whistling lightly but just that. That’s when you start timing your food. Veggies usually take 5-8 min, meat can take about 20 mins or so. At the end of the time, switch your pressure setting to the lowest (usually 1) and let the steam whistle out til the sound goes away. When it does, cautiously unlock the lid and let the rest of the steam escape.

    VOILA! It’s a beautiful thing. Try it, you’ll wonder why on earth you didn’t cook whole chickens this way like….forever ago.

  25. First time commenting…been following for a few months and have always had great luck with every recipe. However, this is the first one that left my husband speechless. According to him, this is the best one yet, and I can make it any day and he would devour it. Great work! Making it again this weekend, and can’t wait to buy a cookbook when it comes out!

  26. OMG I made this tonight and had some difficulties since I haven’t used butternut squash or tried to grate apples and squash but WOW! Delicious! I used chicken sausage and fried an egg in coconut oil over medium and mixed it all together! Thank you so much! I would never make it without your recipes!!!

  27. I made this tonight and one word: OMG!!! I used some chorizo that I found and it was the best thing ever. I can see myself craving this. I’m already planning to surprise my husband with it for breakfast with an egg on top tomorrow. Awesome…

  28. Trying this out tonight- I cannot wait! Just preordered your cookbook- so excited! You’re recipes keep my 3 and 6 year old eating Paleo, and your blog keeps me laughing- you rock!

  29. I was very unsure ops out this but had a butternut squash I needed to use. OMG, it was soooo good! Even my 4 year old asked for seconds!

  30. I’m late to the party (fashionably), as today is my first day Paleo-ing. Made this recipe for lunch. It was amazing. Tasted like the stuffing my mom used to make for Thanksgiving. I added a little celery just because it happened to be sitting next to me at the time and I needed to use it up. I will be making this again, probably tomorrow, as soon as I have more sausage!

  31. Great dish! I’m slowly converting our family of 6 (4 are 6 & under) to a paleo diet and even without the bacon, this was a perfect transition food. The little ones aren’t fans of butternut squash, so this was a good way to enjoy it without knowing what it was!

  32. I made this for myself last week and it was outstanding – I even put a couple of fried eggs on top. Yet another recipe of yours that I’ll be making again. Thanks.

  33. Hey Juli!
    This was bomb.com!! I didn’t have basil so I tried herbs de province and cuminn (sounds strange but it worked). Do you have any tips to cut/peel the squash so its small enough to fit in the processor? That was the only part that took me any time at all!

  34. I make this regularly and it’s UH-MAZING. Wouldn’t change a thing about it. Usually double the recipe so my hubby and I can portion and eat bfast off it for a week. DELICIOUS.

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