This Butternut Squash Fettuccini Alfredo with Brown Butter and Rosemary is the ultimate fall recipe. A rich, aromatic, thick, creamy sauce (with 65% fewer calories than traditional Alfredo!) smothers every piece of pasta. It’s a great way to “hide” veggies! And best of all- you can freeze the sauce for later.
Ever have one of those meals that you just can’t get out of your head? Like a movie with such a great ending that you keep thinking about it for the rest of the day? This Butternut Squash Fettuccini Alfredo with Brown Butter and Rosemary is that meal.
Butternut squash, brown butter, and fresh rosemary. Three of my greatest (food) loves of all time combine to form the creamiest, most aromatic, and potentially most delicious pasta sauce you will ever have.
The Butternut Alfredo sauce is so easy to make. It uses only one pot. It’s ready in under 30 minutes. AND it’s make-ahead friendly: make the sauce and freeze or refrigerate until you want to use it.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Fettuccini – or any other pasta shape or type you prefer (gluten-free, whole wheat, chickpea, etc. also work well here)
- Butternut Squash – peeled and diced.
- Butter – I prefer salted butter for extra flavor. You can use a vegan butter or olive oil if needed.
- Fresh Rosemary – Chop it up as finely as you can. You can use dried in a pinch- just crumble it up a bit before adding it (and use 1 teaspoon instead of 1 tablespoon).
- Chicken or Vegetable Stock – you can use water in a pinch.
- Milk – preferably whole milk. You can use half and half or cream for a richer version, or low-fat if you like. Use coconut milk for a vegan version.
- Onion – diced, I suggest either yellow white.
- Salt, pepper, parmesan for serving (optional)
How to make Butternut Squash Fettuccini Alfredo
- Brown the butter. Melt butter in a large deep skillet, then crank the heat to high and stir/whisk constantly until it foams on top and the butter turns brown. This is a good time to bring a pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta as well.
- Add onions and rosemary. Adding the onions and rosemary will stop the browning process, so as soon as the butter browns add these in. Sauté until they are soft.
- Add the chicken stock and butternut squash. Bring it to a boil, cover, and let the squash cook until tender.
- Cook the pasta. I like to wait until this point so that the pasta doesn’t sit around waiting for the sauce to be done.
- Mash the cooked squash with a potato masher. Just break it up a bit.
- Add milk and blend with an immersion blender. You can also use a regular blender, in batches if needed.
- Season the sauce with salt and pepper.
- Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and serve!
Why it’s healthier than traditional Alfredo sauce
Have you ever made Alfredo sauce from scratch? It, too, is delicious, but certainly not very healthy. It’s usually made with a stick of butter, heavy cream, and lots of parmesan cheese.
A typical Alfredo sauce has almost 500 calories per serving. This butternut squash pasta sauce has 172. That’s almost 65% fewer calories than Alfredo sauce!
Even though this butternut squash sauce is a much healthier alternative to Alfredo sauce, it will fulfill your need for a rich and creamy sauce to satisfyingly coat each fettuccini noodle as you twirl it around your fork (ah… life’s simple pleasures).
And while Alfredo sauce is delicious mostly because of it’s salt and high fat content, this sauce is delicious because of it’s rich combination of earthy and aromatic flavors without any significant sacrifice.
There is a good amount of butter in the sauce, but half that of a typical Alfredo sauce. There is no cheese at all (and trust me – a cheese fanatic – when I tell you that you won’t miss it!).
Plus, since the base of it is butternut squash, you get a hearty serving of healthy butternut squash veggies in each serving! This is a great way to “hide” veggies with picky eaters.
Tips and tricks
- Use an immersion blender to easily blend the sauce right in the pot. You can use a blender if you want, but let’s be honest… it’s a pain to take out, wash, and transfer the mixture back and forth. An immersion blender is like a magic wand that you stick in the sauce (or soup, or whatever you are making), turn on, and viola! Blended. Go get you one.
- Double the sauce and freeze half. Then, you’ll have an extra super easy fast meal for which you’ll only have to boil pasta! Future you will thank you.
- The sauce doubles as a soup. Yup- just serve the sauce as a creamy butternut squash soup! YUM. You may need to thin it out a bit with some extra chicken broth.
- Buy pre-cut butternut squash, or use frozen, to save time. Peeling butternut squash is a great way to save money but it’s a pain in the neck to do. Save a little time and heartache if you prefer and use the pre-prepped stuff.
Other Butternut Squash Recipes
- Maple Glazed Chicken and Fall Veggies Sheet Pan Dinner
- Ginger Turmeric Butternut Squash Soup
- Moroccan Spiced Roasted Butternut Squash
- Fall Minestrone Soup with Butternut Squash and Rosemary
- Butternut Squash, Chickpea, and Spinach Stew
Want to use pumpkin instead of butternut squash? Here’s a recipe for Pumpkin Fettuccini Alfredo!
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Butternut Squash Fettuccini Alfredo with Brown Butter and Rosemary
Equipment
- Large, deep skillet or pot with a lid
- Potato Masher
Ingredients
- 16 oz. fettuccini or any kind of pasta you prefer
- 4 tablespoons butter I prefer salted
- 1 yellow or white onion diced
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 cup chicken stock/broth or vegetable stock or, in a pinch, water
- 3 cups diced uncooked butternut squash (from about 1/2 large squash)
- 1 cup milk preferably whole
- kosher salt and black pepper to taste
- grated parmesan cheese for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Melt butter (4 tablespoons) in a large skillet with a lid (or pot) over medium heat. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta.
- Turn heat to high and stir constantly; butter will begin to foam on the surface and turn brown after about 2 minutes.
- Once butter begins to brown, immediately turn heat to medium and add the diced onion and chopped fresh rosemary (1 tablespoon). Sauté over medium heat until softened (about 3 minutes).
- Add the chicken stock and diced butternut squash. Bring to a boil, cover pot, and simmer on low, until squash is fork-tender (this will take about 10-20 minutes- the smaller it's diced, the shorter time it will take).
- Once the butternut squash is starting to soften, cook fettuccini according to directions in the boiling salted water (I like to wait until this step so the cooked pasta doesn't sit around waiting for the sauce to finish getting dried up and sticky).
- Use a potato masher to mash up the squash directly in the pot. It doesn't have to be smooth- just break it up a bit.
- Add the milk to the squash and stir together.
- Add kosher salt and black pepper to the sauce to taste.
- Add cooked pasta to the sauce and stir to coat. Serve immediately, with parmesan cheese and fresh cracked pepper if desired.
Notes
- Make it Vegan: Substitute the butter with olive oil and skip the “browning” step, or use a vegan butter substitute. Substitute the milk for coconut milk, and be sure to use veggie stock or water in place of chicken stock.
- Time Saving Tip: you can usually buy already prepared (peeled and diced) butternut squash at the store, or you can use frozen.
- Money Saving Tip: peeling and dicing the butternut squash yourself will save you some money. Here’s a great tutorial.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
This post originally appeared on Bowl of Delicious on November 16, 2014. It has been republished with new photos, improved recipe instructions, and more pertinent information.
L
This was not good. It was bland, tasted just like gritty butternut squash and that’s it. We had to try to salvage it with garlic and parmesan, and it’s just barely on this side of “have to order dinner”. It was maybe a 2 of 10 when made according to the recipe.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Hm. My first thought here is – did you add enough salt, or did you perhaps forget to add salt? Without salt, this sauce would definitely not taste good. Ina Garten says that chicken broth will taste like dirty dish water until you add salt, and she’s right! If you didn’t add salt, salvaging it with garlic and parmesan would do nothing. Other than that, I’d question the ripeness of your squash (in the case of using an underripe squash by accident, adding a bit of sugar, honey, or other sweetness might help, as well as cooking it for longer to make sure it’s completely cooked). I’ve had nothing but success with this recipe as have other readers, so I’m thinking one of these might have been the culprit here. Hope that helps!
Caity
So, so, SO good. I used rosemary from my garden that I had dried. Also used heavy cream I happened to have in the fridge. I agree that salted butter is the way to go; I didn’t need to add any more salt. Will definitely be making this again!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Julie
Made this recipe tonight with butternut squash from the garden. It.was.amazing! Everyone loved it, including the picky 7yr old! Thank you!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! Jealous of your garden fresh butternut squash!
Jen
I have never eaten pasta Alfredo, but this was tasty. You could taste the squash a tiny bit but I liked it.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Glad you liked it!
Ron
Simple and delicious!
I substituted a baked sweet potato for the squash and used a half cup of cream. Wonderful. I plan to make this with roasted acorn squash. (I pre-roast squash, etc. when the oven is on even if it’s not on the menu.)
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it, and thank you for sharing this tip on cooking squash whenever the oven is on! I love that idea for saving time, and reducing the energy it takes to bake things. Genius. And I’m happy to hear this recipe worked well with a sweet potato!
Sam
Thank you for this recipe – it was SO delicious! Perfect cozy fall meal.
I needed to make it dairy free , so I used Myoko’s vegan butter and followed their directions for browning, and used coconut milk. You would never know it was dairy free. So good!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it, and thanks very much for sharing your dairy-free/vegan substitutions!
Sherre
I can’t remember if I left a comment on this recipe before, but I’ll say it again if I did: this is soooo good! It’s creamy and not sickening, like traditional alfredo can be. It’s like a grown up version of sketti with butter, which was my ultimate comfort dish as a kid (still is in a pinch :))
Elizabeth Lindemann
Aw yay! So glad you like it so much. I’m making it this week- can’t wait. I was also a fan of “buttery noodles” and still am- and when I was pregnant it’s literally all I wanted!
Trish
Sooo delicious!!
Elizabeth Lindemann
Thanks so much, glad you liked it!
Maddie Walter
Could you provide the nutrition facts for this recipe?
Elizabeth Lindemann
I’m in the (very slow) process of updating all my old recipes to have estimated nutrition information- I went ahead and updated this one (along with making some of the instructions a little more clear)! Here’s the direct link to the recipe so you can see it: https://www.bowlofdelicious.com/butternut-squash-browned-butter-and-rosemary-fettucini-alfredo/#wprm-recipe-container-7459
Katie Cabe
This is one of my family’s all-time favorite pasta recipes. I always double it when I make this and freeze half of the sauce for another night. It’s super flavorful and creamy, even my super picky young sons will eat this happily (and yay for secret veggies!) I make it all year round but always crave it especially during the colder months.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So happy you and your family like it! I almost ALWAYS double the sauce too- then I get super happy when I realize it’s in my freezer ready to go for a busy night. Thanks for the comment!
Vanessa
Last Question :) What meat (chix, beef, seafood..) do you recommend to add in this dish? My husband loves his meat lol..
Elizabeth
Hmmmm I’d probably go chicken with this!
Vanessa
I’m new to butternut squash and trying this recipe first :) How do I prepare the squash? Do I cook it ahead or start this recipe with raw squash? Thanks!
Elizabeth
Oh wow you’re in for a treat! Butternut squash is the best! By “prepared” I just mean peeled and seeded. There are a lot of tutorials on how to do this online. Not cooked first- you’ll cook it when you make the recipe. Some grocery stores sell it already peeled and cut up if you want a shortcut. Frozen would work, too! Good luck, and hope you like it!
Stephanie
So, I love this recipe. I use it with with all things pasta. The only thing that trips me up is that I have a hard time keeping my onions from burning when I turn the stove on high to brown my butter. Any advice?? I feel like I’m sacrificing some of that beloved brown butter flavor so that I don’t have bitter burnt onions. (Please note that I still love it everyone I make it! Just wondering if I can get that step right.) Thanks!!
Elizabeth
I’m glad you like the recipe! Usually I brown my butter on high heat, then once it’s brown, I turn the heat down pretty far to cook the onions. The butter is already really hot, so it will do a good job at cooking/softening the onions without burning them. You can always turn the temp up if you need to. Hope that helps!
Cat
Made this recipe with my hubby tonight and we both LOVE IT! Bonus is that the sauce alone absolutely IS a fabulous soup! This is a total winner! In the future we’ll try variations of it, change the herbs, add heavy creamy in leu of milk, etc. This is a winner! Thank you for sharing this with us!
Elizabeth
SO glad you and your husband liked it! Thanks for the comment :-)
Brenda
Hello!! I tried this recipe although i did use vegan olive oil spread instead of olive oil and left the onions out because I didn’t have any :(. But it was so good! Thank you for sharing this recipe!! I look forward to remaking it with onions next time!
Catherine Emery
I have a big container of store-bought organic butternut squash soup that I need to use. I wonder if that could make a good short cut ingredient for this recipe… sounds delicious!
Elizabeth
Good idea! Chances are the soup already is pretty liquidy, so keep an eye on that when adding the other liquid ingredients. You may not need a lot, if at all. Hope it comes out good!
Sarah
I have a sensitive stomach so red AND white sauces can be too much for me. I’m SO excited to try this one! Now I’ll have something besides pesto sauces.
Elizabeth
Yay! I hope you like it! If the milk is too much, you can just use more chicken stock in place of it.
Beth
I came across this while meal planning – my toddler LOVES pasta and will only eat smooth sauces… this will be a hit! Excited to make this tomorrow.
Elizabeth
Hope your toddler (and you) liked it! Thanks for the comment :-)
Virginia
This was an absolutely fabulous dish! My family raved about it. I added one beaten egg into the milk before I added it to the cooked squash mixture in the pan. It added just a bit more creaminess, a bit more protein and really gave it an “Alfredo” feel to the mouth.
This will be a family favorite!
Elizabeth
SO glad you and your family liked it! Love the idea about the egg- I’m working up a similar recipe using pumpkin right now, so I think I need to try that! :-)
Jodie
This was so delicious! Thank you for this!
Elizabeth
So glad you liked it- thanks for the comment!