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Vegan Stuffed Kabocha Squash (Rice, Mushroom, Sage)

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Learn how to cook stuffed kabocha squash with this easy vegan stuffed kabocha squash recipe! Filled with rice, mushrooms, cranberry, and sage. This simple recipe is so delicious!

Two images of vegan stuffed kabocha squash.

This vegan stuffed kabocha squash is all my favorite things about fall and holiday cooking wrapped up into one healthy dish. It’s naturally gluten free, made with whole food, and tastes A-MAZ-ING.

I love this recipe because it combines sweet and savory so well.  The sweet flavors of the squash, cranberries, and caramelized onions pair perfectly with the savory flavors of the walnuts, mushrooms, and sage.  It’s delicious.

Depending on the size of your squash, you may have a little filling left over. Not to worry, it’s so good that you won’t mind eating any leftovers with a spoon.

Roasted kabocha squash stuffed with rice, mushrooms, cranberries, and sage.

How to pick the perfect kabocha squash:

Kabocha squash (also called Japanese pumpkin) is, in a word, incredible. It’s lightly sweet and smooth, and it tastes very similar to both pumpkin and sweet potatoes. There are two things to look for when you’re shopping for kabocha squash.

  1. It should feel heavier than you expect when you pick it up.
  2. The skin should be a deep green (yellow spots and streaks are also a good indicator of ripeness).

How to cook rice stuffed kabocha squash:

For this recipe, we’ll roast the roast the squash by itself, and prepare the filling separately. Be sure to roast the squash upside down (with the cut side down). This stops any liquid from pooling inside the squash and leaves you with a much better finished texture.

Once the squash has finished roasting, you’ll scoop out the flesh (leaving about a 1 cm thick wall). Mix the scooped out squash with the rest of the filling, and pack the filing into the hollowed out squash shell. You want to pack it well enough that you can slice it, but not so tightly that the shell splits.

Yield: 4 servings

Vegan Stuffed Kabocha Squash

A side photo of kabocha squash stuffed with rice on a black plate surrounded by cranberries and sage.

Learn how to cook stuffed kabocha squash with this easy vegan stuffed kabocha squash recipe! Filled with rice, mushrooms, cranberry, and sage. So delicious!

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 kabocha squash (top cut off and seeded)
  • 1 Tablespoon oil (I used grapeseed)
  • Salt (to taste)
  • 3 Tablespoons vegan butter (divided)
  • 1 cup rice
  • 1 ½ cups water
  • 1 package mushrooms (sliced, 8 ounce or 227 grams)
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion (chopped)
  • 5 fresh sage leaves (cut into ¼” strips)
  • 1/2 cup walnuts (roughly chopped)
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries
  • Pepper (to taste)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
  2. Use the Tablespoon of grapeseed oil to oil the interior of the seeded kabocha squash before roasting.
  3. After oiling, lightly sprinkle the interior of the kabocha squash with salt.
  4. Roast on a parchment paper or reusable silicone mat lined baking sheet for 40 minutes with the cut side down.
  5. While the kabocha squash is cooking, prepare the filling.
  6. Boil the water in a medium pot with lid.
  7. While the water is boiling, heat a medium sized skillet on medium high heat.
  8. Melt 2 Tablespoons of the butter in the skillet.
  9. Toast the rice in the skillet for two minutes, stirring it to coat it evenly with the butter.
  10. Transfer the toasted rice to the boiling water and add salt to taste.
  11. Cover and reduce the heat to low, simmer for 18 minutes.
  12. After 18 minutes, turn the heat off and allow the rice to rest with the lid on for an additional 10 minutes.
  13. While the rice is cooking, melt the remaining 1 Tablespoon of butter in the skillet over medium heat.
  14. Saute the sliced mushrooms for 5 minutes, or until they have browned and shrunk considerably in size.
  15. Add the chopped onion and saute for 5 minutes, or until translucent and caramelized.
  16. Add in the sage and saute for 30 seconds, or just long enough for it to cook and crisp up.
  17. Turn the heat for the skillet off.
  18. Once the rice is finished resting, combine the rice, mushrooms, onion, sage, walnut, and dried cranberries in a large bowl.
  19. Scoop out the interior portion of the flesh of the roasted kabocha squash, leaving a 1 cm thick shell to hold the filling.
  20. Mix the roasted kabocha squash into the rice mixture.
  21. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
  22. Transfer the rice filling into the hollowed out kabocha squash shell.  Lightly pack the filling down into the squash (so that it will stay in place when you slice it for serving).
  23. Slice the stuffed squash into 4 even pieces for serving.

Notes

*I used the Earth Balance vegan butter sticks.  This is my favorite vegan butter replacement and I prefer the sticks for baking and cooking because they have a lower water content than the tub does.  The tub has more water in it to make it more spreadable, which makes it not as ideal for baking and sauteing.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1/4

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 556Total Fat: 20.5gCarbohydrates: 90.4gFiber: 11.3gSugar: 28.6gProtein: 9.1g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

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Roasted kabocha squash stuffed with rice, mushrooms, cranberries, and sage.

Looking for more stuffed vegan squash recipes? It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken has a stuffed butternut squash recipe that looks amazing.

Try this vegan stuffed kabocha squash recipe for the perfect vegan holiday dish!

A side photo of kabocha squash stuffed with rice on a black plate surrounded by cranberries and sage.

1 thought on “Vegan Stuffed Kabocha Squash (Rice, Mushroom, Sage)”

  1. Kobocha is one of my favorite squashes! I tried this recipe; changes I would make next time is to saute the onions (and dice, not chop them) with the mushrooms until they cook down. By following the recipe above, it was an unpleasant crunch of strong onion flavor in the finished baked squash…I picked out the onions as I ate it, which was distracting. And, I would cook the rice longer prior to adding to squash mixture; it was crunchy too by following the recipe exactly.

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