Stuffed Delicata Squash With Lentils and Cashew Raita Recipe (2024)

This is really delicious and not too much work. I didn't have Delicata squash the second time I made it so used roast sliced butternut and I actually preferred it. One thing I discovered is that you need to make double the cashew raita if you are using a Vitamix. The recipe is too small a quantity for the blades to engage properly.

Start with a conservative amount of salt in the cashew sauce, the full amount is a bit much. I kept tasting my sauce and it wasn’t doing it for me so I added a half of a garlic clove. Also a little less liquid in the lentils.

Wonderful. Unusual. I really liked the lentil filling. I could easily double the spicing though. I used yogurt Raita as others suggested.

I love this recipe! I’ve made it for thanksgiving before and I’m making it again. A note on roasting squash/pumpkin seeds- they tend to be unpleasantly chewy if you roast them while they are damp. I always wash seeds, dry them on a cookie sheet, and roast them the next day. If that doesn’t fit your timeline, use previously roasted seeds or skip that topping. I have some I roasted from a pumpkin recently, so that’s the route I’m going this time.

Made this for Thanksgiving and it was an absolute hit for the vegetarian and meat eaters (they had seconds)!

This was delicious! I plan on continuing to make this lentil filling as a standalone dish when delicata isn't available. I would never have thought to put coconut milk, jalapeno, and balsamic together, but it is SO good. For convenience on a weeknight, I used plain Greek yogurt with dried mint and lemon instead of making the cashew yogurt, but I'll definitely try it as written in the future. One qualm: the seeds definitely take longer than written to roast and they're not great if undercooked.

Too lazy to make the raita but the squash and lentil combo was still delish!

I used a regular cucumber and coarsely grated. Delicious stuffing. I think it would well with most winter squash.

can this be made in advance?

I cooked lentils separately and added an equal amount of rice. I halved squash and and baked separately. Everything was delicious.

Outstanding and easy, and healthy. If you are not a vegan, "real" yogurt would be better. This cashew concoction was nice but not a patch on the real thing. But all in all a big success. Thank you, NYT, for another excellent and unusual vegan recipe, my non-vegan guest was enthusiastic about it. My only addition: a bay leaf for the lentils. Possibly, chives would have been nice in the "raita" also. Mincing in a piece of cucumber as suggested by a reader really made a difference.

I just made this as a trial for Thanksgiving. So filling! And delicious. I used full fat oat milk instead of coconut. I used dill instead of mint in the sauce. I added chopped red onion, mushrooms, broccoli, and cauliflower to the lentils. I actually might skip the milk and balsamic vinegar, I prefer savory to sweet. Once the balsamic was added, I needed to add salt and pepper.

This is incredible. Better than I expected. I didn’t make the cashew raita, but even with just the squash and lentils, it was heavenly and tasted complete.

Great recipe - we really loved this - the flavors and smells were great, and it was really pretty. Two things: 1. to speed things up - I boiled the cashews for 15 minutes, rather than the 4-hour soak. 2. The raita was not getting creamy and was a little dry - I threw half a cucumber in the blender and it added nice flavor and moisture. Tara is right - stick with the blending until it is creamy - it becomes next level.

What a nice surprise!I picked this out because of someone preferring gluten-free AND dairy free dishes. We ended up with tiny delicatas - maybe 4-5 ounces each. It was nice to choose a portion size that way. Each of the parts (except the toasted tiny seeds) was delicious, and together it was surprisingly addictive. The cashew raita didn’t taste like raita but was amazing sauce. Loved it all - was sad (and pleased) the leftovers were gone by the time I got home today.

Wonderful recipe. Definitely less liquid for the lentils though. A bit too soupy.

Kudos to NYT for developing such a beautiful plant-based dish that is easy to prepare. I really enjoyed it as written but made adjustments on my second preparation. I used a quick homemade dried mushroom and miso broth in place of the veg broth to make it more savory and added the minced hydrated mushrooms to the lentil mixture, along with soy sauce, a bit of tomato paste, and garlic. More umami, more savory that way. Major hit!

Wow! This was so good!! Mostly followed the recipe but with regular yogurt raita. Salted and peppered the squash too. I think everything benefits with just a touch more spice. Including life don't ya know?

This is one of the best dishes I have made. Cutting the squash is always tricky, but worth the effort and risk. This took some time to make, but really was so delicious. I just roasted sunflower seeds instead of roasting the squash seeds. Much faster. I served this along with Samin Nosrat's Greenest Green salad and a side of brussels sprouts. I will be making this again.

Lentils had nice flavor, but way to much liquid was advised. They were soft after 30 min, but required another 30+ to reduce.Seeds were not worth the effort.

I made this for dinner tonight. The combination of flavors and textures was fantastic and made for a delicious and wholly satisfying meal. Two points. My blender is not great so making the Arita was a hassle. I finally had to use an immersion blender to achieve the desired consistency. I used a regular, seeded cucumber which seemed to work just fine. Second, the seeds toast my ch faster in a dry cast iron skillet on the stovetop.