What is the difference between banana squash and butternut squash

The classic sweet flavor and rich texture of this winter squash makes it a popular pick for cold weather dishes such as soups , risotto , or gnocchi. The acorn squash is shaped like its namesake, and has a green exterior and yellow-orange flesh. It has a mild flavor and is great for roasting or stuffing.

Simply scoop out the seeds and glaze the inside flesh with syrup or brown butter for the perfect baked acorn squash. Delicata is an heirloom variety with a cream and green striped rind.

This oblong-shaped squash is very tender and the taste resembles that of a sweet potato. The skin on a delicata squash is actually edible, since it is very thin.

They're delicious baked or stuffed , and you can even roast the seeds for a salty fall snack! This Japanese squash has a squatty shape, green rind, and orange flesh. The dense flesh and sweet flavor makes it well-suited for mashing and using in baked goods. It is also commonly used in soups, and is primarily grown and eaten in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and the United States.

Sweet dumpling squash is much smaller than other winter squash varieties. It's roughly the size of a large apple and resembles a small pumpkin with a multi-color rind. Because of the size and shape of this squash, it is often carved out and used as a bowl for soups or stuffed with meats, grains, cheeses, and other vegetables. The taste is similar to a sweet potato, and the flesh is smooth and tender.

Try substituting sweet dumpling squash for acorn squash in your recipes. This bright orange gourd is a fall favorite, but there's much more to it than simply decoration. The sugar pumpkin is used mostly for pumpkin pie , but it's also great in breads, muffins, cupcakes, and soups. This squash, also known as an orange Hokkaido pumpkin, has a teardrop shape and an orange skin that is edible once cooked.

Its flesh has a smooth texture, yellow color, and chestnut flavor. The word "kuri" is actually Japanese for chestnut. Like sweet dumpling squash, red kuri squash can also act as a substitute for acorn squash. Try stuffing it with rice, vegetables, beans, or meat. This stunning, multi-color squash is a cross between acorn and sweet dumpling squash, and can be easily substituted for either one.

Test for doneness by piercing with a fork. Fork should easily pierce peel and flesh. Let sit until cool enough to handle, cut in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds if needed , and proceed with recipe or eat.

Thoroughly scrub each squash under running water until the skin feels clean. Then cut off and discard the stem end and scrape off the other end. Only if the skin is unusually tough or the surface feels especially gritty after washing, is it necessary to peel the squash. Most summer squash is now ready to be used in any recipe. Depending on your recipe, you may grate, slice, or cut into pieces of various shapes. To steam summer squash:. Cover and steam just until barely tender.

Remove from heat and drain well. Toss with melted butter or your favorite sauce. Cook in butter over medium-high heat until barely tender.

Season with herbs of your choice, salt, and pepper. Check out all my many Squash Recipes. Remember that different types of winter squash may be substituted for each other in your favorite squash recipes. Freezing Summer Squash:. Choose young squash with tender skin. Water blanch 3 minutes. Seal and freeze.

Grated Zucchini for Baking — Choose young tender zucchini. Wash and grate. Steam blanch in small quantities 1 to 2 minutes until translucent. Cool by placing the containers in cold water.

If watery when thawed, discard the liquid before using the zucchini. Freezing Winter Squash:. Wash and cut squash into small pieces, remove seeds and peel. Cook until soft. Mash pulp or put through sieve. Cool by placing pan containing squash over crushed ice and stir until cool.

Squash and Pumpkin seeds are a great healthy snack and a delicious addition to salads, granola or trail mix.

Separate the squash or pumpkin seeds from the stringy membrane of a freshly opened squash. Rinse the seeds in a colander until they are free of any membrane matter. Spread the seeds on clean kitchen towels or layer of paper towels and dry thoroughly. Throw the whole mess fibers and seeds in the oven and once they are dried out, the seeds separates very easily. If you want to use this technique, roast the fibers and seeds together, spread in an even layer on a baking sheet, at degrees F.

You only need enough oil to barely coat the seeds, otherwise, they will be greasy. You can use any seasoning blend you like. Adjust the amount to your taste buds.

Spread prepared seeds out in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet. Place in degree F. They are done when they are light brown in the toasted. Remove from oven and let cool before serving.

You can eat the seeds whole hull and all or crack them to remove the inside. Try additional seasonings on your squash or pumpkin seeds: Cajun seasoning, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic salt are some of the many possibilities.

This is an amazing website! I absolutely love squash I even made up a song! Squash is delicious and magical and I eat it with every meal! Instead of getting a midnight snack of chocolate or chips I get squash! I love to say squash, it is such a fun word! Winter squash is my favorite but summer squash is amazing too! My favorite type of squash is probably sweet dumpling squash but, what the heck, everyone knows all squash is amazing!

Squash has so many different purposes and I have traveled very far to get unique and unusual types of squash! Try a winter squash coconut curry soup with kale and a bit of BBQ from your favorite joint.

Also Kabocha Squash is not synonymous with Hokkaido Squash. I have properly sourced seeds and grow them currently. Not even close to similar. Hokkaido is a blue to greyish blue hubbard variety that also goes by Blue Kuri Squash. Thank you for the complete and interesting information about squash.

I was looking for information because my husband received a test result that said he would get a strong reaction to eating squash. I was wondering if zucchini and other similar soft skin squash were the same as the hard shell variety.

Are they both truly squash? Squash are the fruits of various members of the gourd family, which fall into two classifications, summer squash and winter squash. I have a squash from our garden that is shaped a lot like the acorn squash, but is a pale yellow in color.

Is it an acorn squash that is not ripe yet, or is it another variety? Such a wonderful article!!! I have been recently studying the nutrition value of squash and have recommended it to my mother for her skin cancer. Love the vitamin A and all the other stuff from mother earth. You can also cook the sections in the microwave, cut side up, for 7 to 10 minutes, although you'll miss out on the lovely caramelization that you get cooking it in the conventional oven.

Cooking it in the microwave is essentially steaming it. But it's definitely quick and convenient. Banana squash has a sweet, unassuming flavor, similar to butternut squash. You can use it in any recipe that calls for an orange-fleshed winter squash, such as butternut, acorn , and kabocha.

It pairs well with pork, lamb, and apricots, as well as herbs such as rosemary, thyme, and sage, and spices like cumin, cinnamon, cloves, curry powder , and nutmeg.

It's easy to substitute banana squash in recipes with butternut or some other winter squash recipes. Try banana squash with these squash recipes:. Banana squash is widely available at most grocery stores all year round, but most you're most likely to find it during its peak season during fall and winter.

Since because of the size of banana squash you're most likely to find it in stores precut, you can keep those cut pieces in the refrigerator, tightly wrapped, for up to five days.

If you happen to get your hands on a whole one, perhaps at a farmers market, it will last up to a month if you store it in a cool, dry place. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Use banana squash in recipes that call for roasting or pureeing as a soup. Squat and green, buttercup squashes have a thick, inedible rind with dark yellow flesh. Buttercup squashes have a sweet, nutty flavor and are best used in recipes that involve steaming or baking.

One of the most popular and easily identifiable of the winter squashes, butternut squashes are those bowling pin shaped, tannish ones that you will find in pretty much any grocery store. They can be used in pretty much anything; soups, stews, roasted, pureed, etc. Tiny and heavily creviced, carnival squashes are known for their speckled green and orange skin that will eventually fade to a yellowish orange when fully ripe.

While carnival squashes can be treated like any other orange-fleshed squash, they are best when roasted to help strengthen their flavor.

Long and skinny, Delicata squashes are yellow with green or orange stripes running the horizontal length. They have thinner skin than a butternut and are great for using as a cooking vessel see recipes below , since they hold their shape well when cooking.

These bumpy skinned, hard-shelled pumpkins are pretty ugly but inside is a dense, richly flavored flesh. Since the Hubbard squash is so hard to peel, it is best halved and then roasted. Kabocha, also known as Japanese pumpkin, is a squat green squash with a green skin that is marked with uneven stripes. Kabocha can be cooked with the skin on and you can eat it too and is pretty malleable in any recipe.

Large and oval, spaghetti squashes more closely resemble melons than some of the other squashes on the list; when cooked, the flesh of the spaghetti squash becomes stringy and has a consistency that resembles pasta; substitute spaghetti squash for pasta for a gluten-free meal.

Also identified as decorative pumpkins, sugar pumpkins are basically mini regular pumpkins that average around 6 to 8 inches in size. They can be baked and then the flesh can be pureed for soups or like their bigger brother, used in pies. How about making a plate of spaghetti that contains no noodles?