Easy Butternut Squash Pasta

This Easy Butternut Squash Pasta is a yummy and comforting vegetable-based pasta. It’s really simple to make – no roasting of squash needed! And it’s made deliciously creamy using just the butternut squash, stock/broth and a dash of milk. Perfect for whole family dinners and for your toddler to practice their self-feeding skills, you’ll love this butternut squash pasta sauce.

Butternut Squash Pasta served for toddler.

Ingredients in Butternut Squash Pasta

This baby and toddler friendly pasta sauce recipe has the following simple ingredients:

Butternut squash/pumpkin – Why we Aussies and Kiwis call butternut squash a butternut pumpkin I’m not sure, but no matter your location I’m sure we can all agree it’s delicious! Sweet and a little nutty, it’s perfect for a vegetable-based creamy pasta sauce.

Onion and garlic – For added flavour!

Tomato paste – You can opt for salt-reduced if you like, especially if making for a baby under 12 months.

Pine nuts – Optional, for added flavour in the sauce, and for sprinkling on top. Adjust the amount for sprinkling as you like.  

Chicken stock/broth – The chicken stock/chicken broth adds a richer flavour, but if you’d like this to be a vegetarian dish then use vegetable stock/vegetable broth. Choose salt-reduced if making for a toddler, or salt-free for a baby under 12 months.

Milk – I use full-cream. I haven’t tested this recipe with dairy-free alternatives, but if you do then please let me know how it goes in the comments below!

Parmesan cheese – This seasons the sauce. Babies can have a small amount of parmesan [2], but the choice is yours 😊. You can always reserve their portion before adding the parmesan for the rest of the family.

Olive oil, salt and black pepper to taste.

Pasta – Whatever variety is your favorite pasta (not pictured below).

Butternut Squash Pasta labelled ingredients on a chopping board.

How to make Butternut Squash Pasta

This is a really easy butternut squash pasta recipe to make! No roasting of the squash needed, it’s sautéed instead for a quicker meal.

First, finely chop the vegetables – for a quick shortcut, use a food processor! Then sauté the vegetables and toast the pine nuts. Add half the toasted pine nuts, stock and tomato paste to the squash mixture. Let it simmer, before adding the milk. Finally, blend with a stick blender or in a food processor before stirring through the parmesan cheese.

Cook and drain the pasta as per packet instructions, and serve the creamy sauce over it. Sprinkle with reserved pine nuts, if using. You can have this made and served on the dinner table in under 20 minutes!

Thermomixer? Make the squash pasta sauce in your thermo cooker by chopping and sautéing the vegetables. What your machine can’t do is toast the pine nuts for you 😉; you’ll need to do this on the stovetop. Add half the toasted pine nuts, stock and tomato paste to the vegetables, cook and then blend. Add the milk and cook for another 2 minutes. Stir through the parmesan cheese, and then serve the creamy sauce over your preferred pasta. Sprinkle with reserved pine nuts.

I admit that with Thermomix pasta recipes, I always cook pasta on the stovetop and not in my Thermomix as an all-in-one meal. I find it much easier to portion and store sauces separately, as we normally have leftovers with Baby LJ not eating a full adult serve of pasta. It’s also a lot easier to control the cooking of the pasta to al dente.

You’ll find the recipe card below, with ingredient amounts and detailed steps for both regular and thermo cooker methods.


Serving

Serve this butternut squash pasta sauce over whatever type of pasta you like.

I normally choose a spiral variety, because the sauce sticks really well to it and is much easier for Baby LJ to eat with his hands. He isn’t a master of cutlery yet! This is a fantastic vegetable pasta sauce for young families, for everyone to share. 

Butternut Squash Pasta in a small white bowl served for a toddler.

For older family members, I like to serve the pasta topped with extra grated parmesan cheese and the toasted pine nuts.

Butternut Squash Pasta garnished with parmesan and toasted pine nuts for older family.

For a non-vegetarian family meal, you can also stir cooked shredded or diced chicken through the butternut squash sauce before serving. On days where I need to make dinner ahead of time, I do this and turn it into a pasta bake, ready for reheating later. With grated tasty cheese on top for extra comfort! 😁


Storing

For cooked leftovers, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for 3 months. Remember to be food safe when storing and reheating food for babies 😊.

This butternut squash pasta sauce can be made ahead for easy meal prep and/or frozen, sauce only. Allow it to cool completely before transferring to freezer-safe containers. It’s also really handy to freeze it in individual portions, for when you need a kid friendly dinner on the table, FAST! When reheating the sauce, you can loosen it with a splash of pasta water if you find it’s a little thick.

For another family dinner that baby can share, try my Prawn and Pea Risotto – like this recipe, it’s easily adapted for babies under 12 months, so that you don’t have to cook separate meals!

If you try this Easy Butternut Squash Pasta, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you! Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest too for more baby and toddler friendly dinners.

Happy cooking,

Chloe x

Easy Butternut Squash Pasta

Author: Chloe
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
Total: 25 minutes
Category: Family Mains
5 from 1 vote
Servings: 6

Tap or hover to scale

This Easy Butternut Squash Pasta is a yummy and comforting vegetable-based pasta. It's really simple to make – no roasting of squash needed! And it's made deliciously creamy using just the butternut squash, stock/broth and a dash of milk. Perfect for whole family dinners and for your toddler to practice their self-feeding skills, you'll love this butternut squash pasta sauce.

Ingredients 

  • 50 g parmesan cheese (Thermomixers: cut into 2cm/1 inch cubes)
  • 500 g butternut pumpkin peeled (Thermomixers: roughly chopped)
  • 1 brown/yellow onion peeled (Thermomixers: quartered)
  • 1 garlic clove peeled
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 2 tbs tomato paste
  • 1/3 cup pine nuts (45g)
  • 100 ml salt-free or salt-reduced chicken stock/broth (Note 1)
  • 450 g pasta of choice
  • 75 ml milk
  • salt and pepper to taste for family over 12 months

Instructions

  • Grate the parmesan and set aside in a small bowl.
  • Using a food processor or by hand, finely the chop onion, garlic and pumpkin.
  • Transfer vegetables to a saucepan with the olive oil. Sauté over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
  • Lightly toast the pine nuts in a frypan on the stove until golden brown.
  • Add the tomato paste, stock and half of the pine nuts to the vegetables. Simmer for 12 minutes. At the same time, cook pasta according to packet instructions.
  • To the pasta sauce, add milk and stir, simmering for a further 2 minutes.
  • Remove sauce from the heat, and blend in the food processor or with a hand blender, being careful not to splash hot liquid.
  • Stir through the parmesan. Serve over cooked pasta, and sprinkle with remaining pine nuts.

Thermomix Instructions

  • Put the parmesan into the mixing bowl. Mill for 8 seconds, speed 9, MC on. Set aside in a small bowl.
  • Add the onion, garlic and pumpkin to the mixing bowl. Chop for 5 seconds, speed 7, MC on. Scrape down the mixing bowl and repeat if large chunks of pumpkin remain.
  • Scrape down the mixing bowl. Add the oil. Cook for 5 minutes, 100°C, speed 1, MC off. While cooking, lightly toast the pine nuts in a frypan on the stove until golden brown. 
  • Scrape down the mixing bowl. Add the tomato paste, stock and half of the pine nuts to the mixing bowl. Cook for 12 minutes, 100°C, speed 1, MC off. Put the simmering basket on the lid to prevent splatter. At the same time, cook pasta as per packet instructions on stovetop.
  • Gradually increase speed to blend sauce for 45 seconds, speed 9, MC on.
  • Add milk. Cook for 2 minutes, 100°C, speed 1, MC off. Put the simmering basket on the lid to prevent splatter.
  • Stir through the parmesan. Serve over cooked pasta, and sprinkle with remaining pine nuts.

Recipe Notes

1. Stock/broth– You can substitute the chicken stock/broth for vegetable stock/broth, though the sauce won’t have quite the same depth of flavour. Choose salt-reduced if making for a toddler, or salt-free for a baby under 12 months. You can also substitute with water if giving to a baby under 12 months of age.
2. Storage– Store in the fridge for up to 3 days or freezer for up to 3 months. Be sure to practice food safety when storing, defrosting and/or reheating food.
3. Nutrition– Per serving, as a general guide only.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 460kcalCarbohydrates: 72gProtein: 16gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 7mgSodium: 192mgPotassium: 645mgFiber: 5gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 9023IUVitamin C: 21mgCalcium: 181mgIron: 2mg
Keywords: butternut pumpkin pasta sauce, butternut squash pasta sauce

[2] Parmesan, 2023, Solid Starts Inc.

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Hello there! I’m Chloe, a mum, wife, lifelong learner, and teacher. I started this blog as a place to share our family’s baby and toddler recipes. Here you’ll find FREE recipes for busy, real, health-conscious families.