Caramelized Cranberry Chile Butternut Squash
Cuisine: American-Southwestern Fusion
Author: Anita Edge
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 1 hour
Total time: 1 hour 20 mins
A wonderful, memorable, sweet-hot dish that's just perfect for Thanksgiving.
Ingredients
  • 7 cups peeled, diced (about ½ inch) butternut squash
  • ½ cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp grated orange peel
  • 1 cup orange juice (ideally fresh-squeezed)
  • ½ cup canned whole berry cranberry sauce
  • ½ cup Craisins (dried cranberries)
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • ½ cup hot diced green chiles
  • 2 cups Ritz cracker crumbs
  • ¼ cup melted butter (for topping)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. In a medium saucepan, combine brown sugar, cornstarch, salt, orange peel, orange juice, cranberry sauce, Craisins, and 2 tbsp butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened (about 5 minutes). Stir in the green chiles.
  3. Dump the squash in a 9"x13" baking dish, pour the sauce over, then stir to coat the squash. Spread the mixture evenly in the baking dish.
  4. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. While the squash is baking, blend the Ritz cracker crumbs with the ¼ cup melted butter and set aside.
  5. Remove from oven. Take the foil off. If you wish, stir the squash to thoroughly coat with the sauce again (nice, but not necessary) and spread evenly in the baking dish again. Spread the cracker crumb topping evenly over the squash and pop back in the oven.
  6. Bake for another 15 to 20 minutes or until the crumb topping is starting to brown
  7. Serve!
Recipe by Denver Green Chili at https://denvergreenchili.com/recipes/sides/vegetables/caramelized-cranberry-chile-butternut-squash/