This easy, baked feta pasta recipe uses butternut squash for a creamy, delicious texture and taste. A fun autumnal twist on the viral baked feta pasta trend from a couple of years ago, I just know this will be a staple in many households for the colder months!

Anyone who was on TikTok circa 2021 will remember just how crazy viral the baked feta trend went. It felt like every other video was someone giving it a try – and falling in love with how easy and delicious baked feta pasta is.

The original trend uses tomatoes and feta – but here, I’ve recreated the trend with butternut squash for a creamier, more autumnal version. Other recipes in this series I’ve made include this baked Boursin pasta, which was insanely good, and this crazy indulgent, creamy french onion pasta.

Why You’ll Love It:

Here are just a few reasons I think you’ll love this basked feta pasta with butternut squash…

• Easy: I love how easy this recipe is! Whack the cubed butternut squash and feta in the oven for half an hour, add a couple more ingredients and stir together with your cooked pasta. Boom, you’re done.
  
• Delicious: It’s creamy, tangy feta and butternut squash with fresh basil, sun-dried tomatoes, and garlic. Literally, what is there not to like?
  
• Perfect for Winter: If like me, the seasons change how and what you eat, you’ll love this recipe. The butternut squash gives it the perfect cozy, comforting vibes that I crave in the colder weather.

What You’ll Need

Equipment-wise, all you’ll need is a baking dish, a saucepan to cook your pasta, and chopping board and knife…and perhaps a spoon for mixing together then ingredients/gently breaking up the cooked butternut squash when mixing the pasta sauce together.

Here are all the ingredients you’ll need – make sure you scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of this page for full quantities and instructions for this recipe.

Ingredients For Your Shopping List:

• 1 butternut squash
• Block of vegetarian feta
• Olive oil
• Salt, pepper, and italian seasoning (or a mix of oregano, thyme, and basil)
• Garlic
• Sun-dried tomatoes
• Fresh basil
• Pasta of your choosing – I liked rigatoni for this recipe

How to Make Baked Feta Pasta with Butternut Squash

This recipe is very simple to make – the most amount of effort lies in peeling, de-seeding, and chopping your butternut squash!

Once you’ve done that, though, you simply need to add the butternut squash to a baking dish and coat in the olive oil and seasonings. Add the feta cheese (the whole block!) to the middle of the dish and coat with a little more oil before baking for 30 – 35 minutes.

Preparing the Butternut Squash Correctly

Butternut squash is obviously a quite hard vegetable and can take some time to cook – when I’m roasting my butternut squash as halves for my other butternut squash pasta recipe or my butternut squash soup, it can take up to 45 to 50 minutes to full cook.

In order for the squash to be fully cooked within 35 minutes for this recipe, then, it’s vital that you chop the butternut squash into even, small cubes. This way, the squash should easily just break apart and mash into the pasta sauce with the back of your spoon once removed from the oven.

If after 35 minutes the squash is still hard, just pop the whole baking dish back in the oven for another 5 minutes – the feta shouldn’t be affected by this!

Mixing the Pasta Sauce

Once you’ve removed the baked feta and butternut squash from the oven, add minced garlic, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, and lots of chopped fresh basil.

Use your spoon to combine the ingredients, mixing the feta and gently mashing the butternut squash as you go.

I liked this recipe with quite a chunky pasta sauce – leaving cubes of butternut squash still whole. However, if you’d prefer a smoother pasta sauce, you could easily pop the ingredients into a blender or food processor and blitz until smooth.

Adding the pasta

While the butternut squash and feta are still baking, cook your pasta according to package instructions. Then, after mixing together the pasta sauce, simply stir in your cooked pasta and a splash of the starchy pasta water.

Top with black pepper and some chilli flakes for a little spice and that’s it! You’re done and ready to enjoy 🙂

Serving your Baked Butternut Squash Feta Pasta

This recipe is perfect as a stand alone meal. You could add a sprinkle of pine nuts and more fresh basil and serve with a simple green salad or some crusty garlic bread, but I just enjoyed a big bowl full!

Possible Adaptions/Variations

While using up my leftovers of this recipe, I loved sprinkling over a heap of smoked paprika and a little bit of grated cheddar cheese before reheating for some oozy, gooey, smokey goodness on top.

You could also season the butternut squash and feta with smoked paprika and add pine nuts to be roasted for a deeper flavour!

Alternatively, add some lemon juice and zest for a more summery feel to the pasta.

Storing

This recipe makes about 4 – 5 portions and keeps well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. 

If you’re planning on making this ahead of time, I’d wait to add the pasta until just before serving for maximum flavour.

More pasta recipes:

Want more pasta goodness? I think you’ll love these:

• Baked Boursin Pasta
• Vegan Red Pepper Pasta with Spicy Fillets
• Vegan Spinach Pasta
• Quick & Easy Courgette Pesto Pasta
• Orzo Mac and Cheese
• Lentil Bolognese with Spaghetti