Ok so over the weekend, we talked turkey––specifically, this all-in-one Thanksgiving meal of herb-roasted turkey breast, stovetop stuffing, and gravy.
Now, it’s time to talk pie.
You may recognize this particular pie, which was sort of hiding in the corners of those turkey breast photos (playing a supporting role on the Thanksgiving table we set up for that photo shoot), and a few of you have already asked me how I made it. Well, I would never show off a pie without providing the corresponding recipe (I’m not a monster). So here it is––the perfect cap to your Thanksgiving meal.
Making Pie with Fresh Butternut Squash
Now this is a butternut squash pie, which I made with the beautiful butternut squash we grew in our garden over the summer. It’s a great option if you want to use fresh squash puree, rather than the canned stuff (which, incidentally is often also butternut squash).
I definitely think fresh puree makes a better pie. It’s wonderfully bright orange, sweet, and I think smoother than regular pumpkin puree.
To make the butternut squash puree, all you have to do is peel and cut up a butternut squash into large chunks and steam until super soft. Then just puree it in a blender or food processor, and you’re good to go!
I like to serve my butternut squash pie with cinnamon whipped cream (see our other recent Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake recipe to find out how to make it), but a good old fashioned scoop of vanilla ice cream will also do nicely.
Butternut Squash Pie: Recipe Instructions
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. In a large bowl, whisk together the butternut squash puree, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices and salt until smooth. Set aside.
Prepare your pie dough. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Use a pastry cutter or 2 butter knives to cut the butter cubes into the flour mixture, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water and stir in with a fork until the dough just comes together.
Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and squish the dough together into a ball. Flatten it into a disk and use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll it out into a 12-inch round.
Arrange the dough in a 9-inch pie plate.
Whisk together the filling mixture again to ensure it’s well-combined, and pour into the prepared pie shell. Take your egg wash mixture and brush the edges of the crust.
Bake for 15 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Continue baking for about 35 minutes more, or until a butter knife inserted on the outer edges of the pie comes out clean. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream!
Enjoy this butternut squash pie for your next Thanksgiving dinner or family gathering!
Butternut Squash Pie Family Recipe
Ingredients
For the pie filling:
- 2 cups pureed butternut squash (about 900g)
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk (400g)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the crust:
- 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (about 160g)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 stick cold unsalted butter (4 oz. or 115g, cut into small cubes)
- 3 tablespoons ice water
- 1 egg (beaten with 1 tablespoon water)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. In a large bowl, whisk together the butternut squash puree, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices and salt until smooth. Set aside.
- Prepare your pie dough. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Use a pastry cutter or 2 butter knives to cut the butter cubes into the flour mixture, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water and stir in with a fork until the dough just comes together.
- Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and squish the dough together into a ball. Flatten it into a disk and use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll it out into a 12-inch round. Arrange the dough in a 9-inch pie plate.
- Whisk together the filling mixture again to ensure it’s well-combined, and pour into the prepared pie shell. Take your egg wash mixture and brush the edges of the crust.
- Bake for 15 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Continue baking for about 35 minutes more, or until a butter knife inserted on the outer edges of the pie comes out clean. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream!
nutrition facts
Whenever I’m going to cook squash, I nuke it for about 3 min. Don’t have to use any muscles to peel! It comes right off. Then I just steam the cubes in a glass bowl with a cover for about another 3-4 min. (depending on size)…or a bowl covered with plastic. Mash and go!
Thanks for sharing that tip, Katie!
Hi Sarah! Thanks for your recipe! I just got a huge squash in my CSA. When you steam it, do you peel the squash first with a regular peeler beforehand? Or do you peel it after steaming. Just wondering how hard it is or if it comes off easily. The squash feels really hard by feel! Let me know if you have any tips.
Hi Win, I peel it before steaming. Here’s what to do: Cut off the ends of the squash, so you have two flat ends. Then cut the squash in half crosswise where the “skinny” part” meets the wider base of the squash, so you have two more manageable pieces. then you can lay each piece on its widest flat side, and then cut the skin off around the sides of the squash. Then you can cut the base in half (where the seeds are), and scoop out the seeds. Hope that helps!
The only tow things different in this recipe and the one I have used for 60 years is the pepper and the type of squash. In this area we grow buttercup squash not butternut, butternut has too long a season for growing up here. It is a much more flavorful squash, but tends to be larger then butternut so making the pie out of part of the squash as always been done in my family, much better taste and color and after all there are usually over 50 of then in the garden each year. The bulk of them are given away to anyone that wants some!
I will have to try buttercup squash sometime if I can find it, Barb!
Got a large squash crop this year. This recipe works the bomb! thnx. Like the egg mixture on the crust fluting idea.
Thank you!
Could I make this ahead of time, put in the fridge covered, and then bake it?
Hi Lena, you can make the filling ahead and the crust ahead, but only pour the filing into the pie just before you bake it!
Can you clarify the quantity of pureed butternut squash used? If you search for a cup of butternut squash or pumpkin puree weight, you’ll generally find that 1 cup is 227 grams. So 900 grams is about 4 cups, not 2 cups. Which number is correct?
Hi Bill, hm, I’ll have to check on the weight measure in this recipe. Could’ve been a typo! It’s safe to go with the volume measure here—2 cups.
We just had Thanksgiving here in Canada and everyone said this is the best pumpkin-type pie ever. Perfect creaminess and spices. Perfect. I’m a pumpkin pie freak but I gotta admit, butternut is better. Thank you for sharing this!!
You’re so welcome, Viva! So glad everyone enjoyed this so much (very happy with “best pumpkin-type pie ever” status!), and Happy Thanksgiving!
Perfect pie! I had to double the recipe to fit in my giant pie pan, so it took a little longer to bake (double the time…) Shared it with coworkers who said that it was perfection. No extra sugar – yes please!
Thank you so much, Hilary! I’ve been feeling the fall vibes lately, and I’m itching to make this pie too!