This crispy baked coconut crusted acorn squash is like a healthy version of onion rings perfect for fall.
Here’s the problem with reading so many amazing food blogs every day, you end up bookmarking a million and one different recipes you want to try out after the gorgeous pictures leave you drooling, usually at 8am with your cup of coffee in hand.
If you’re anything like me, your bookmarks are so overwhelming that if you end up making even 10% of them you’d be happy.
Well, last week Jessica made these and I could.not.get.them.out.of.my.head.
What a genius idea!
And, anything that looks like an onion ring but made with a “real” vegetable and baked instead of fried, totally wins in my book.
Lucky for me, there have been 2 acorn squash sitting on my counter for a couple weeks now.
I have this obsession with roasting root vegetables and squash in coconut oil though so I thought I would go a different route with the breading and play up the coconut theme.
Of course, rosemary was involved too because apparently I’m unable to make anything without it recently.
No joke, it smelled like a piña coladas and Christmas in my kitchen.
A weird, yet amazing combination.
I made these coconut crusted acorn squash rings at lunch time and my plan was to save them for later as a side for dinner.
Ha! Hahaha.
Plans are meant to be broken, right?
I justified the first bite by “needing” to make sure they were good.
And then I took another and another….until I had eaten every single one.
Oops.
The outside crunch is so aromatic between the coconut and rosemary while the inside still has the delicious sweet flavor of the acorn squash.
It really is like the best onion ring you’ve ever had minus the grease factor.
So glad this recipe was one of the 10%.
MORE ACORN SQUASH RECIPES TO TRY:
Maple Baked White Acorn Squash
Twice Baked Kale and Pecorino Acorn Squash
Apple Lentil Stuffed Acorn Squash
Coconut Crusted Acorn Squash
Ingredients
- 1 acorn squash
- 1/3 cup bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 tablespoon whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 teaspoon minced rosemary
- salt & pepper
- 1/3 cup unsweetened coconut milk, I used the Silk brand
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with tin foil and place a cooling rack on top.
- Cut the acorn squash into rounds and remove the seeds.I peeled the rounds as well.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a dish.
- Combine the wet ingredients in a shallow bowl and warm in the microwave for about 30 seconds to get the coconut oil to melt.
- Coat each acorn squash round first in the wet mixture and then the dry mixture and place on rack.
- Drizzle with olive oil or spray with cooking spray before baking.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, flip rounds and drizzle with more olive oil before baking for another 15-20 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
Thank you for this recipe. I made it with panko for the breadcrumbs and AP flour because that’s what I had. The shredded coconut is delightful with the squash. This was a really great way to combine my love of fall and its nostalgia with the place I live now (no seasons and plenty of coconut trees).
Love rosemary and those look amazing!