This post was created in partnership with Pederson’s Natural Farms.
We’re about to steal your comfort food-loving heart with these one-dish Butternut Squash Noodles with Sausage and Kale
And did we mention they’re also Whole30-friendly?
If you leave the cheese off, of course. And best of all, it’s a complete meal with just one skillet. Slicing the butternut squash really thin with either a spiral vegetable cutter or a handheld vegetable peeler cuts down on the cooking time – so does using precooked kielbasa sausage.
For this recipe we’ve partnered with our friends at The Simple Grocer and Pederson’s Natural Farms- maker of high-quality, humanely-raised, responsibly-processed and Paleo and Whole3-friendly meats like the kielbasa used in this recipe. Learn more about how The Simple Grocer can you save you time and money here and learn more about Pederson’s Natural Farms here.
Easy, hearty and satisfying – the perfect mid-week meal is just 30 minutes away
Prepping all of the ingredients before starting to cook is the key to an easy and successful one-skillet dinner. You can even prep all of the ingredients up to 3 days in advance if you want to make things really easy.
It’s all in there – no side dish required
Of course, we’d never begrudge you for adding a salad or side of steamed vegetables to this dish but really, you don’t have to. It’s all in there – carbs from the butternut squash noodles, protein from the kielbasa and plenty of fiber from the kale, squash and mushrooms. The only thing we’d add is a pinch of red pepper flakes for a little more heat (though the kielbasa does pack a little heat already) and maybe a sprinkle of parmesan cheese when we’re not Whole30-ing.
P.S. You can even top the leftovers with a fried egg for an insanely easy and satisfying breakfast. How’s that for awesome?
Butternut Squash Noodles with Sausage and Kale
Ingredients
- 1 medium butternut squash, spiralized or thinly sliced (or cut into thin ribbons using a vegetable peeler)
- 2–4 Tbsp. water
- 2 Tbsp. avocado oil, divided (such as Primal Kitchen)
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 14 oz. Pederson’s Natural Farms Kielbasa, cut into slices ¼ -inch thick (or other no sugar added turkey or chicken kielbasa or sausage)
- 1 bunch kale, stems removed and roughly chopped (about 4 cups)
- Sea salt to taste
- Crushed red pepper, optional
- Shredded parmesan cheese, optional – omit for Whole30
Instructions
- Place a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 Tbsp. avocado oil. Once oil is hot add butternut squash noodles and saute for 2-3 minutes. Then add 2 Tbsp. water and cover for 10 minutes or until squash noodles are tender (not overly soft/mushy). Add additional water as needed to prevent noodles from burning. Remove squash noodles from heat and transfer to a plate or bowl.
- To the same skillet over medium-high heat add remaining 1 Tbsp. avocado oil. Once oil is hot, add red onion. Saute for 2-3 minutes. Next add mushrooms and garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes or until mushrooms start to soften and give off moisture. Add kielbasa and continue to cook until kielbasa is heated through, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the kale to the pan and saute until kale is wilted then toss in the butternut squash noodles and heat through.
- For more heat, add a sprinkle of crushed red pepper. Salt to taste.
Last Step! Please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive so we can continue providing free recipes and high-quality content for you.
Notes
All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. If you wish to republish this recipe, please rewrite the recipe in your own unique words and link back to the source recipe here on The Real Food Dietitians. Thank you!
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size: 1/5th recipe
- Calories: 450
- Fat: 27g
- Sodium: 757mg
- Carbohydrate: 30g
- (Fiber: 7g
- Sugar: 7g)
- Protein: 20g
Dietary
What’s your favorite one-dish or one-skillet meal? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Pin it now & Make it later
This post was made possible by our friends at Pederson’s Natural Farms. Though we received compensation for this post, the opinions expressed here are 100% our own. Thank you for supporting the great companies we works with thereby allowing us to continue creating great recipes and content for you.
This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.
Leigh says
My family is not big on spiraled/ribboned veggies. I keep trying, but they just don’t like them… it’s a bummer! Would cubed butternut squash work? I’m guessing I’d have to roast it till crisp-tender in the oven and toss in at end… making this a two pan dinner… but you can buy it already cubed, so it’s win-win!
Stacie Hassing says
Hi Leigh! Yes you could also use cubed butternut squash – you’ll just want to saute it longer so that it’s cooked through before adding the other ingredients. Or you could mix in our Butternut Squash Home Fries. https://therealfooddietitians.com/butternut-squash-home-fries/. That would be good too! Enjoy!!
Maura says
Hey there! This looks like exactly what I had in mind for this week. One question: is it missing any kind of sauce to pull it together?
Jessica Beacom says
Hi Maura!
The recipe isn’t missing a sauce – it relies on the oil used for sauteeing the veggies and meat to bring it together though you could add something if you’d like (I never do as I feel it’s perfect as is).
Enjoy and have a great week ahead!
Deb says
Delicious. I use spinach instead of kale . And different types of sausage.
We like chicken apple with this the best.
Jessica Beacom says
Sounds delicious!
Julie says
Healthy alternative for a filling dinner! I had never made a dish with spiralized squash before and found this recipe. I used 2 leftover links (hot dog shaped) of a package of tomato basil chicken sausages with no nitrates or antibiotics and it was delicious. I cut the sausage into smaller pieces, but I would use 3 links next time. I will be making this recipe again and trying it with the Pederson’s sausage.
Stacie Hassing says
Hi Julie. This is great to hear and the Tomato Basil Chicken Sausage sounds so good! Glad you enjoyed this recipe and it’s one you’ll make again!
RedBlueSpice says
This dish is tasty. I was looking for a recipe that would have beta carotene in it, and this looked interesting. I used chicken apple sausages, because that is what I had, so I added red pepper flakes to give more spice, and it turned out really well. All of the nutrients in this tasty dish was really satisfying. Thank you!
Stacie Hassing says
You are so welcome!