Smoky Tempeh Stuffed Acorn Squash

Smoky Tempeh Stuffed Acorn Squash — A hearty vegan recipe that’s perfect for your holiday meal or dinner! You won’t even miss the meat!

Happy Halloween my friends!

The scariest part of today will probably be the fact that I’m running on little sleep and I’ve only had one cup of coffee thus far. My class of kiddos this morning will see just what the living dead actually looks like….

While some are passing out bowls of candy, others are already singing Christmas carols. Choose your squad wisely.

I’m amongst those all eye roll emoji at all the holiday commercials between the Exorcist, and lighted trees next to the blow up ghosts on harleys. Thanksgiving however, is in da buildinggg!

As in like..less than a month away, and feel it is appropriate to start planning for kinda building. Find me some T-day carols, and I will belt them.

Being a vegetarian for 9 years always made Thanksgiving a little bit of a tease. Between the wafts of roasted turkey, boats of creamy gravy to slather on literally everything, and the fact that 75% of the dishes were made with chicken stock or with bacon may have pushed me to bend the veggie rules a wee bit for this one and holy food day of the year.

I did however try my best to not simply eat a plate full of mashed potatoes and stuffing for dinner, and actually make an entree worthy of sharing the table with the prized poultry.

Stuffed squash was one of them. It was fall-fitted. It was filling. And it was drop dead gorgeous. But I couldn’t even pronounce tempeh let alone cook and enjoy it for most of my veg years.

And here we stand, meat eating and all, and it is now one of my favorite proteins. It’s already cooked. Full of protein, fiber, and even probiotics. What the hell can your turkey do?

It’s also my first time working with liquid smoke, but definitely won’t be my last. Not gunna lie though, I was expecting a cloud of flame-broiled genie magical steam to come billowing out of the bottle as soon as I opened it, only to find a soy sauce-esque liquid. If yours does in fact do that, rub the crap out of that bottle, and remember me when you make your three wishes.

Smoky Tempeh Stuffed Acorn Squash

Author: Sinful Nutrition

Recipe type: Main Dish, Entree, Holidays

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Serves: 2 servings

Ingredients

1 medium acorn squash, cut in half and deseeded
1 (8 ounce) package tempeh, finely chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons tomato paste
4 tablespoons water or tomato sauce
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce
salt and pepper, to taste
chopped green onion, for garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Spray cut acorn squash with oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Place cut side down on a baking sheet, and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until tender.
While the squash is baking, heat a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Add oil and garlic, and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
Add finely chopped tempeh, and sautee 2 minutes.
Add tomato paste, water, liquid smoke, and soy sauce to combine. Remove from heat.
Once squash is cooked, add half of tempeh mixture to each squash.
Sprinkle with green onion and serve.