That’s a mouth full. I hate shortening my titles for my recipes, but I did. I didn’t talk about the cinnamon or salt in the recipe. Anywho, Thanksgiving is on the way, so this week will be filled with recipes to help you eat paleo through the holidays. Yayyyy!

If you’ve done paleo before during a holiday or party and are a legit foodie, you know that it can be ultra annoying to be at parties and not be able to eat everything that’s there. And when I say “not be able to eat everything that’s there” I mean you’re having an internal battle on whether or not you should eat that piece of pumpkin, blueberry AND apple pie, along with the 6 different dips that are paired with chips and crackers. You know what I’m saying if you’re a foodie for life. You’re acting like you’re listening to the conversations around you, but you’re actually just thinking about the dessert table and if you should just have a taste. Just a fork full. Even though you know that the fork full will turn into a whirlwind of pounding food without even know what you’re consuming, you just know if has frosting on it. And that’s really all you care about because you haven’t had frosting in months, maybe even years. If you act like you’ve never been there, you don’t love food near as much as me. Because that was me at a party the other night. And I gave in. Frosted pumpkin squares?? Eff me.

I didn’t have my best eating choices over the weekend. I think some people think that since I create paleo recipes that I will never ever ever fall off the wagon. Which isn’t totally true. I have my moments. Life is all about living, but it’s also making the best decicions you can in certain situations. Sometimes you don’t get to choose where you get to eat while traveling. You’re at other people’s disposal when it comes to food choices. So I did my best. Then not my best. Then my best once again at the airport. Eating at airports is my least favorite. Except when I got to eat at Root Down at DIA and had a burger with sweet potato fries and a bloody mary. Made me feel like I wasn’t even in an airport, which I love. Either way, I don’t feel my best but I’m back home and back on the track that I want to be on.

I just watched a woman stuff an incredibly greasy burger king bag into her purse. It creeped me out. Which is odd since I’m pretty much a huge grease ball after what I shoved in my face over the weekend. Call me butterball. Do it.

Want to save this recipe?
Just enter your email and get it sent to your inbox!
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.
Print

Thanksgiving Side Dish: Maple Bacon Pecan Roasted Butternut Squash

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

4.8 from 33 reviews

  • Yield: 4-5 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 68 pieces of bacon
  • 5 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash (640 grams)
  • 1 cup pecans, roughly chopped (100 grams)
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup (70 grams)
  • 23 tablespoons bacon fat (rendered from cooking bacon)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/41/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Place strips of bacon on a foil lined baking sheet
  3. Cook bacon for 20 minutes. Bacon should still be slightly soft (not crispy) when you pull it out of the oven. Remove from baking sheet to cool on a paper towel lined plate. Chop bacon into small pieces once cooled. Place the rendered bacon fat in a large bowl.
  4. Add the cubed butternut squash, pecans, maple syrup, cinnamon and salt to the large bowl with the bacon fat.
  5. Mix together to coat the squash well. Add pieces of bacon to the mixture and mix well.
  6. Add mixture to a 9×11 glass baking dish.
  7. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees.
  8. Place dish in the oven to bake for 35-40 minutes (depending on size of cubed butternut squash) or until squash is soft.
  9. Serve immediately.

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us — we can't wait to see what you've made!

PaleOMG Thanksgiving Side Dish Maple Bacon Pecan Roasted Butternut Squash

___________

More Sweet Sides:

PaleOMG Cinnamon Sugar Sweet Potatoes
Cinnamon Sugar Sweet Potatoes


Last Minute Thanksgiving Smashed Maple Sweet Potatoes

______________

Click Here To Get All My PaleOMG Recipes Into Your Meal Planner With Real Plans!

PaleOMG + Real Plans

I may be compensated through my affiliate links in this post, but all opinions are my own. This compensation helps with expenses to keep this blog up and running!

You May Also Like:

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

97 Comments

  1. Ross says:

    I made these the other night and they were %@#!*$# obscenely delicious – you are nothing short of a food goddess and should be worshipped as such, or perhaps as a squash princess. ALL HAIL THE SQUASH PRINCESS!






  2. Leslie says:

    I just made this recipe vegan by substituting coconut oil for the bacon grease and several dashes of liquid smoke for the bacon. It is amazingly delicious! Thank you!

  3. Joanna says:

    I absolutely looooove this recipe and have made it a million times, but this time I only have pumpkin and no butternut squash. Do you think that would work? I assume yes since you said yes to sweet potatoes etc.






  4. WeaverGrace says:

    I call this dessert 🙂

    I had no fear when we wound up with a whole lot of butternut squashes; I knew that you would help us go beyond our previous favorite of squash and sausage.

    I baked my bacon in a large cast iron skillet in the oven, and then used that pan for mixing and baking the squash.

    By the way, my pan cleaned up easily.

    To support your blog, we bought your latest book. We’ve flipped the pages a whole bunch of times, but have so many of your recipes marked here, I don’t know when we’ll get back to it. We’re glad to support your work, though, with the book purchase.

    Thank you for all the goodness that you put in our meals 🙂






    1. juli says:

      Thank you for all the support!!

      1. WeaverGrace says:

        Thank you for all the tasty eating!!

        Let me know if you see a way that my blog might help support your efforts.

  5. Brianne says:

    I made this last night to accompany roasted chicken. It was excellent! My husband and I ate almost the entire batch. Thanks for the great recipes.






  6. Deb says:

    This looks so great!! I am making this for Thanksgiving, am concerned about oven space with the turkey though and the timing. Any suggestions about converting to a crockpot? I’m thinking I will double the recipe and cook on low in a crock for 4-5 hours, maybe starting on high the first hour. Any suggestions? thanks for sharing!

    1. juli says:

      i’m not sure this would work in a crockpot, it may become mush

  7. Jessica says:

    I made this for Thanksgiving and it was easy to make and delicious! I used the already cubed butternut squash to save time. If only I didn’t have to share it with the 12 other people at the table haha






  8. Ron says:

    Juli, you knock me out! Made this for Christmas dinner with roasted pork loin and a Norwegian sweet/sour cabbage w/apples concoctiion. Only one question….will you marry me? Thanks for the happy palate and tummy and Happy New Year!

  9. Angie says:

    Made this last night. So dang good. Reminded me of my mom’s sweet potato casserole, minus all the butter and sugar. I’ll definitely be making this for Thanksgiving! Thanks as always!






  10. Crossfit Valencia says:

    Thanks for sharing this delicious dish’s recipe with us. I will definitely try to make this at home. Keep sharing more tasty dishes with us.