Warm up a chilly day with this Roasted Butternut Squash Quinoa recipe featuring a tasty medley of roasted butternut squash and cauliflower with sweet cranberries.
Hellooooo comfort food! I originally published this recipe back in 2011 and now that it’s 2025 I’m currently updating this post with new photos. This rockin’ recipe has been a favorite of mine all these years!
The cranberries and roasted butternut squash add a welcome sweetness that can be enhanced further by adding a teeny bit of ground cinnamon. As for the cauliflower, it adds a fun al-dente yet tender crunch to the mix as well as some extra nutrients too! The colorful base of curried quinoa is light and flavorful and compliments without overpowering this delish dish.
Overall, this has quickly become one of my favorite fall recipes. I made it a few weeks ago and have been making it on repeat ever since!
What Readers are Saying
★★★★★ “This is a great recipe. I have made it several times to take to potlucks. It is delicious.” – Gloria
★★★★★ “Oh my goodness that just became on of my new favorite recipes I see myself mixing it up a lot of ways. I made a double batch with extra curry powder and roasted the veggies in coconut oil. I will be eating it as a side to fish this week! I am already thinking of ways to eat it on salads, for lunch, ect. I really think I could make this every week-it is that good.” – Laura
Butternut Squash Quinoa with Cauliflower and Cranberries
Most of my dishes are either sweet OR savory, but this curried quinoa recipe is a fab medley of both making it downright irresistible.
It can be served up as vegetarian main dish and also doubles as a super tasty side dish too!
I’ve been known to save a leftover bowl and scarf it as a savory breakfast the next day with zero regrets. My husband for sure looks at me like I’m a maniac but it’s SO GOOD!
special diets and swaps
No butternut squash? No problem! Try it with acorn squash or even cubed sweet potato instead!
Sometimes I’ll even add some fresh roasted pineapple to the mix for a sweet and fruity dish.
T-Rex friends, feel free to serve this up as a side dish to pair with your favorite protein recipe. You could even turn it into a sheet pan meal with roasted chicken if desired.
Butternut Squash Quinoa with Cauliflower and Cranberries
Ingredients
- 1 small butternut squash cubed
- ½ head of cauliflower cut into florets
- 1-2 TBSP olive oil needed
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup dry quinoa
- ¾ cup veggie broth
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ½ teaspoon curry powder plus extra to taste
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- zest of 1/2 a lemon optional but delish
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Begin by chopping your veggies and coating them in olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- Add veggies to a foil-lined baking sheet or roasting pan and roast for 40 minutes or until golden brown.
- While your veggies are roasting away, rinse, dry and cook your quinoa.
- Rinse and drain your quinoa using a mesh strainer or sieve. Bring a small pot to medium heat and lightly toast the quinoa to remove any excess water. Stir as it toasts for just a few minutes. This step is optional but really adds to the nuttiness and fluff factor of the quinoa! Next add your veggie broth, set burner to high, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low, add in 1/2 cup of dried cranberries, 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder and 1/2 teaspoon of mild curry powder. Add your lid and allow quinoa to simmer, covered with the lid slightly ajar, for 12-13 minutes or until quinoa is fluffy and the liquid has been absorbed.
- Fluff the cranberries and quinoa and allow to cool a bit before tasting a small spoonful. Feel free to add a little more curry powder and the optional lemon zest if you’d like.
- Move mixture to a bowl and combine with your roasted veggies.
- Dig in!
Notes
Nutrition
Leftovers can be revamped by mixing this dish into ooey gooey macaroni and cheese (oh yes – I’ve tried this!) or stuffed into button mushrooms and baked! So SO good!
For giggles – this is what the OG photos looked like back in the day. I snapped this and called it a day? Yikes.
crazy for quinoa?
- NEW! Black Bean Quinoa Salad
- Healthy Chicken Shawarma Quinoa Bowls
- Roasted Chickpea Quinoa Taco Bowls
- Italian Quinoa Casserole via Live-In Kitchen
- Healthy Vegetarian Quinoa Chili – READER FAVORITE!
If you get a chance to try this Roasted Butternut Squash Quinoa with Cauliflower and Cranberries, let me know!
You can leave me a comment here (LOVE checking those daily!) or tag @PEASandCRAYONS on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creations. I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
Questions & Reviews
I was really craving something that I tried at a wedding and this is as close as I could get! Thank you!
So super glad you enjoyed it Alysha! xo
This is a great recipe. I have made it several times to take to potlucks. It is delicious.
Thanks Gloria!!! <3
yum
Oh my goodness that just became on of my new favorite recipes I see myself mixing it up a lot of ways. I made a double batch with extra curry powder and roasted the veggies in coconut oil. I will be eating it as a side to fish this week! I am already thinking of ways to eat it on salads, for lunch, ect. I really think I could make this every week-it is that good. Since it is spring and not butternut season I am thinking maybe I could make it with sweet potatoes instead since they are cheap at the farmers market! Hmm would sweet potatoes, pineapple, and cauliflower be a good mix? Thanks for an awesome recipe that I can eat mounds of and still feel good because of all the veggies!
Eeeeee! Thanks Laura! It’s amazing on salads with my creamy curry dressing http://peasandcrayons.com/2012/01/restaurant-recreations-chicken-kitchen.html and sweet potatoes would be a fabulous addition too! I interchance them with squash in a ton of my recipes and it always works fabulous =) xoxo
Sometimes I see a recipe online and I can’t stop thinking about it until I’ve made and consumed it. This was one and I’m so glad I did! Yummy! It’s great re-heated too. Thank you!
OMG this looks delish. Can I just come and live with you already?
i decided at the last minute to make this tomorrow for christmas! 2 questions – is it a 1/2 of a whole squash, and if so how big? also, how many servings would you say this makes? trying to figure out how much to multiply it! thanks a lot
Thanks Jenn! Quinoa’s now on this week’s shopping list 🙂 I might have a big quinoa cook up and try both your faux fried rice AND the curried dish. I’ll let you know how I get on xx
I’ve never been a fan of quinoa but this looks so so delish that I must give it a try! It might even convert me 😉
OMIGOSH!!! Looks delicious! Love the remix ideas too! bookmarking!
This sounds DELICIOUS! I’m slightly obsessed with fall-inspired recipes at the moment and I love curry so this is right up my alley. Making this very very soon, thanks for the recipe Jenn!
I absolutely love cranberries, I’ve never tried it in quinoa before though. Usually I stick to sweet or savory, it’s not very often I do for the and!
This sounds delish! I made a squash bisque while visiting my parents last week. They have a pressure cooker. I am in <3. The squash was done in like 10 minutes!
I don’t usually dig on sweet/savoury together, but it works with fall recipes!
this sounds so good!! i recently found a recipe for quinoa with pom seeds that i’ve been dying to make but just haven’t gotten around to!
Ooh I’ve been looking for a quinoa recipe 🙂
And this one sounds doubly good because it involves roasted butternut squash!
It looks really delicious, I want to try it!
AHHH PWEASE SEND ME SOME
Mmmm…I love the sweet/savory combo!! And curry in the colder months is such a comforting spice!
This looks INCREDIBLE!!!
I looooooove my rice cooker! I never even realized I needed one until I married an Asian guy. Ha! We use it every single day, for rice (obviously), quinoa, barley…love it. And they’re not that expensive, either.
Jenn this looks sooo good!! Ive never tried curry flavours with quinoa
i’ve actually never made quinoa, but it is on my list of things to try. and this combination sounds absolutely fantastic. thanks for the inspiration!
Oh man, look at you and this yumminess. Holy moly woman- I want to try this and everything listed on your last post. 🙂
Um….. you may need to give me a pinterest tutorial. I have no clue what to do! (I’m guessing lose a few more hours of sleep.) 🙂
Holy yum! That looks delish, will be giving that a try for sure 🙂
Jenn, this looks fantastic! And I have everything I need to make it. I’ve never made butternut squash before, but I bought some at the produce place last week and need to figure out something to do with it. I’ve got to make this…Thanks!!
Love the colours! Great recipe 🙂
Looks awesome to me! I love combining sweet a7 savory 🙂
Sweet and savory dishes are my face! This looks fantastic. 🙂
Yummm! Can you say early Thanksgiving 🙂
I really like this dish because you don’t try to add more sweetness to the cranberries. Most cranberry recipes I avoid because they are just too much for me with the brown sugar/agave/etc. Butternut squash is enough of a sweetener for me in this – and i LOVE curry!
I love this idea. I LOVE QUINOA! So versatile and delicious 🙂
judging by the recipe i posted today, i’ll let you guess how i feel about this recipe 🙂 i’ll give you a hint- GREAT!
This looks awesome! I’ve got a butternut at home that I can’t wait to get my hands on when I get back. I was already thinking of combining it with dried cherries for some sweetness b/c I love mixing savory & sweet. You’re right, this would make an awesome stuffing. 🙂
What a delightful recipe for fall… so many gorgeous colors, and of course I am sure it tastes good 🙂
Thanks for this pretty lady
such a lovely autumn recipe 🙂
This looks so good and reminds me of fall. You’re a genius! Plus, I like how you provided leftover/remix options. You so smawt 🙂
This looks fantastic – I can’t wait to try it! I lurve the idea of quinoa curry (especially when it involves cranberries) – good thinkin’ on this recipe! 🙂
LOVE! Always loving new things to do with quinoa!
YUM!!! Oh man, I need some of this. And since I have 10lbs of sweet potatoes on my hands, I’d probably add some sweet taters!
This looks great! I love quinoa…cooking up some of Mama Peas quinoa zucchini lasagna right now!
xoxo from Trinidad
Yum – sounds great!
I love the dinosaur references too 😉
xxx
Yum! This sounds great…this is so going on my to make list! :o)
I’m loving quinoa right now – and this looks so delicious! I can’t wait to try it!
mmmm…I like this combo—it’s very fall-festive too!
Cranberries are one of my faves, but I often don’t know what to do with them 🙂
Hmmmm….my mom makes a butternut, spinach, red onion, goat cheese, dried cranberry dish that is super yummy in all of its sweet/savory-ness!