Trying new butternut squash recipes for company is fun but it is often hard to figure out just how much squash to purchase at the store to make a particular dish. Sometimes the recipe calls for 3 cups prepared cubes or 2 cups cooked and mashed squash to go into a soup. How much does a whole butternut squash weigh? How does all that relate to the produce sold at the market?
To answer how many butternut squashes to buy for 3 cups prepared raw cubes we went to the grocery store to see what was available in the produce section. Butternut squash is shaped like a vase or a bell with a pale beige colored skin that is not eaten. However, its dark orange flesh has a sweet, nutty flavor that is often compared to sweet potatoes. This squash ranges in size from 1 to 5 pounds with a length of 4 to 7 inches, although we did see 2 impressively long ones! The average weight at our market came in at 2 to 3 pounds.
After you remove the peel and seeds the remaining edible portion will be 2 to 3 ounces less than the starting weight. We discovered a 3-pound squash yields 4½ cups uncooked 1-inch cubes. Therefore, 1 cup cubed raw butternut squash weighs about ⅔ pound. A cup of raw butternut squash cubes yielded ½ cup of soft cooked cubes.
Next time your recipe calls for a cup of either cooked or raw butternut squash or 1 pound of butternut squash you'll feel confident knowing what to purchase. You can also use our conversion tool below for any custom how many butternut squashes in a... measurements you need.
Winter squash includes the following vegetables: Acorn, Amber Cup, Autumn Cup, Banana, Butternut, Buttercup, Carnival, Delicata (Peanut), Fairytale Pumpkin, gold Nugget, Hubbard, Kabocha, Spaghetti, Sweet dumpling, and Turban squashes.
Choose squashes that are heavy for their size with hard, thick shells. Avoid those with any signs of decay, soft spots or cuts in the shells.
Butternut squash benefits from a curing which is simply holding the squash at room temperature about 70°F (21.1°C) for 10 to 20 days.
After curing, transfer to a cool 45 to 50 (7.2 to 10°C) dry place such as the basement or garage for long term storage. Since the butternut has a thinner skin than most winter squashes, it won't store as long as other varieties. The butternut squash will only last about 1 instead of 3 to 6 months.
Refrigerate cut squash pieces in an airtight plastic container for up to 5 days. Cooked squash should be stored in the refrigerator and then used within a week.
To freeze winter squash, wash and cut into small pieces, remove seeds and peel. Cook until soft, then mash pulp or put through a sieve. Once cooled, place in an airtight freezer container with ½ inch of head space and freeze at 0°F (-17.8°C); winter squash will keep for 1 year.
One of the biggest hassles when cooking and working in the kitchen is when a recipe calls for "the juice of 1 lime" or a similar measurement. Often times when cooking people use bottled juices, pre-sliced vegetables and other convenient cooking time savers. Produce Converter will help you convert the "juice of 1 lime" and other similar recipe instructions into tablespoons, cups and other concrete measurements.
Produce Converter can also be used to figure out how many vegetables to buy when you need, for instance, "A cup of diced onion." You can use our easy conversion tool to figure out exactly how many onions you need to buy at the store in order to end up with the amount you need for your cooking.
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