About this recipe
This butternut squash pasta sauce is creamy, silky, and full of fall flavor. Roasted butternut squash, tomatoes, onion, and garlic come together to make a rich sauce that clings beautifully to pasta. It’s naturally vegan and healthy but still feels like comfort food.
I started making this sauce after buying too many squashes at the farmer’s market—roasting them with tomatoes and garlic turned out to be one of the best weeknight dinner hacks. It’s so versatile: toss it with spaghetti, spoon it over ravioli, or even thin it out into a cozy butternut squash and tomato soup.
Why You’ll Love This Butternut Squash Sauce
- Creamy without dairy – all that smoothness comes from roasted squash.
- Healthy comfort food – packed with veggies but tastes indulgent.
- Family-friendly – my kids love it, and it’s an easy way to sneak in more vegetables.
- Perfect for pasta or ravioli – works with any pasta shape, or as a butternut squash ravioli sauce.
- Meal-prep friendly – freezes beautifully for busy nights.
Ingredients for butternut squash sauce
- Butternut squash, peeled and cubed. Pre-cut cubes make it even easier.
- Tomatoes, Roma or plum varieties are best, but canned tomatoes also work.
- Onion + garlic, roasted for depth and sweetness.
- Olive oil
- Seasonings: oregano, chili flakes, salt, and black pepper.
- Pasta: spaghetti, rigatoni, or even chickpea pasta.
Optional variations: Add coconut milk, parmesan, or nutritional yeast for an extra creamy texture.
How to Make Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce
- Roast the vegetables. Toss squash, tomatoes, onion, and garlic with olive oil and salt. Roast at 400ºF for 25 minutes, until tender and caramelized. Hide the garlic under the squash so it doesn’t burn.
- Blend into a sauce. Peel garlic, then blend all the roasted vegetables with a splash of pasta water or broth until smooth.
- Season + simmer. Heat olive oil in a saucepan, add oregano and chili flakes, then stir in the sauce. Let it simmer for a few minutes.
- Toss with pasta. Add your cooked pasta and a little reserved pasta water. Stir until silky and creamy.
Serving options
- Serve it with wheat pasta, gluten-free pasta, or chickpea pasta.
- Toss it with zucchini noodles.
- Try using it as a pizza sauce.
- Enjoy it as a thick and creamy soup with a grilled cheese sandwich on the side or croutons on top.
- Add a tablespoon of nutritional yeast and smoked paprika to the sauce, and serve it as a cheese sauce for chips and nachos.
- Finish it with a big cream dollop or Mexican crema
Additional recipe tips
- Roast your veggies in a single layer. This will help them roast evenly. If the pan is overcrowded, the veggies will steam instead of roast. And you want all the flavor that roasting brings out.
- Line your sheet pan with parchment paper. This makes for easy cleanup.
- Hide the garlic. Ensure you hide the garlic cloves under the tomatoes or butternut squash pieces, so they don’t burn.
- Carefully transfer the roasted veggies to a stand blender. The veggies will be hot right out of the oven, so be careful. Use a heat-proof blender, or if the veggies are too hot to handle, wait for them to cool slightly.
- Blend in batches. Depending on the size and power of your blender, you may need to blend the sauce in batches.
- Finish the pasta with fried sage, fresh basil, or chopped cilantro. Roasted walnuts or almonds will be great here, as well as roasted chickpeas.
- Add some liquid. If the mixture is too thick for your blender, add more water or veggie stock to help it blend into a smooth sauce.
Tomato & Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce
Equipment
- immersion blender or blender
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups butternut squash cubes
- 3 –4 tomatoes cut in chunks
- ½ large onion sliced
- 2 garlic cloves unpeeled
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- Pinch of chili flakes
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lb pasta spaghetti, penne, or ravioli
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Toss squash, tomatoes, onion, and garlic with olive oil and salt. Roast 25 minutes until golden and tender.
- Peel garlic and blend roasted veggies with 1 cup pasta water or broth until smooth.
- In a pot, heat olive oil, oregano, and chili flakes. Stir in sauce and simmer 3–4 minutes. Adjust seasoning.
- Add pasta and toss with extra pasta water until silky. Serve hot with herbs or parmesan.
- Storage: Refrigerate 4 days or freeze 3 months.
Notes
Nutrition
information
Nutritional information of this recipe is only an estimate, the accuracy for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
- About the Author
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I’m Ale Graf, a Mexican living in Texas and the creator of AleCooks and Piloncillo&Vainilla. I share easy, family-friendly recipes—some Mexican, mostly plant-based—that can be enjoyed all day, every day. My focus is on recipes that bring people together around the table, making mealtime simple, delicious and meaningful. I’m also the co-author of Yo Cocino Latino, and my recipes have been featured in numerous online magazines and publications.
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