Brown butter spaghetti served with baby kale and roasted butternut squash. It’s an easy pasta dish to make during busy weeknights!

brown butter spaghetti with baby kale and roasted butternut squash
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I sure do share lot of pasta recipes.

What can I say? I love carbs, especially in the form of noodles.

This spaghetti is special because it uses brown butter.  

Brown butter is my secret ingredient of choice.

Not only it is amazing in baked goods like chocolate chip cookies and brown butter peach scones, but the warm, nutty flavor of brown butter does wonders to savory foods.

brown butter spaghetti

Brown Butter Spaghetti

The nutty brown butter works well with the hearty butternut squash, the slight bitterness of the baby kale, and the sweetness from the caramelized onions.  

Brown butter is created when the milk solids of butter is cooked until fragrant and golden brown.

Butter is made up of water, butterfat, and milk solids. As melted butter is headed, the water evaporates and the milk solids separate from the butterfat (thus creating clarified butter or ghee).

The milk solids brown in the fat. Those golden specks is what gives brown butter its iconic rich, nutty, warm flavor.

Garlic with Mortar and Pestle

Use Fresh Garlic for Pasta

Fresh garlic tastes more vibrant and clean compared to jarred minced garlic.

Peeling and mincing fresh garlic is well worth the effort.

I have a mini mortar and pestle that I absolutely love.

For large amounts of garlic, I recommend using this garlic press.

Garlic fans will love this spicy garlic shrimp spaghetti or Filipino garlic fried rice.

uncooked butternut squash

Oven Roasted Butternut Squash

Cooking the butternut squash is the most time consuming part of this dish.

Cut and prep a whole butternut squash, or save time by purchasing already cut squash.

It’s best to roast butternut squash over high heat.

Spread the butternut squash chunks over baking sheet. Toss with oil and season well.

It will take about 30 minutes to cook. Heat until the squash is soft and can easily be pierced with fork tines.

baby kale

Kale and Other Vegetable Options

I highly recommend using baby kale. Although, any variety of kale will work such as dinosaur kale (Tuscan kale) or curly kale.

Other great green options include: spinach, baby spinach, or collard greens.

If you don’t want leafy greens, you may also used sautéed zucchini, roasted mushrooms, asparagus, or eggplant.

brown butter spaghetti with baby kale and roasted butternut squash

Serving Suggestions

This brown butter spaghetti sets off an explosion of flavors and smells that causes my belly to do a little dance with every bite.

For an even heartier dish, serve this pasta with grilled protein of choice. It’s fantastic with chicken, steak, or shrimp.

Although the pasta dish should be served warm, it’s just as tasty at room temperature or chilled.

5 from 2 votes

Brown Butter Spaghetti

An easy weeknight vegetarian meal. The combination of nutty brown butter paired with sweet butternut squash, earthy baby kale, and umami packed parmesan cheese is unstoppable.
Yield: serves 2-3
Servings: 3
brown butter spaghetti with roasted butternut squash served on white plate.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Inactive Bake Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
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Ingredients

  • 6 oz spaghetti
  • 2 cups butternut squash chunks
  • 1 Tablespoons olive oil
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter
  • 3 cloves fresh garlic, , smashed or minced
  • 2 small onions, sliced, about 2 cups
  • 4 cups baby kale, , packed
  • ¼ cup grated pecorino romano
  • ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • additional pecorino romano or parmesan, for serving
  • finely sliced chives, for serving

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 400° F.  On a parchment lined baking sheet, spread out butternut squash.  Drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Toss to combine.  Bake for 30-40 minutes until squash is soft and can be easily pierced with a fork or knife. Set aside.
  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti to al dente according to package details. When draining pasta, reserve a cup of pasta water.
  • In a large nonstick skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Once butter is melted, continue to cook over medium low heat until butter has browned and is fragrant (should smell nutty).
  • Add minced garlic (I like to smash mine using a mortar and pestle) and sliced onions. Cook until onions are almost translucent. Add baby kale in two additions. Cook until kale begins to wilt. Remove from heat.
  • Add pecorino romano, parmesan cheese, and roasted butternut squash. Toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add cooked spaghetti and toss to coat pasta. Add 1/4 cup of reserved pasta water at a time until pasta is well coated with sauce. (I ended using 1/2 cup of pasta water).
  • Serve immediately with sliced chives and/or more cheese, if desired.

Nutrition

Calories: 551kcal, Carbohydrates: 64g, Protein: 17g, Fat: 27g, Saturated Fat: 13g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 9g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 57mg, Sodium: 305mg, Potassium: 873mg, Fiber: 8g, Sugar: 6g, Vitamin A: 19426IU, Vitamin C: 107mg, Calcium: 467mg, Iron: 3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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34 Comments

  1. DH says:

    Made for my cooking club….was so tasty. I used spinach from my garden. :)

    1. Maryanne says:

      Awesome! I bet it taste great with spinach. Oh, how I wish I could grow vegetables :)

  2. Musings from a writer's life says:

    Looks yummy and I’ve put it on my list of dishes to try. I was looking for other ways to eat butternut squash and this looks inspiring! :-)

    1. Maryanne says:

      That’s great to hear! Thank you,Sophia!

  3. Julia Demmer says:

    Where do you buy the baby kale? I only know the regular size kale…

    1. Maryanne says:

      Hi Julia, I bought my baby kale from Ralphs supermarket. I think the brand was Earthbound Farm Organic. Regular sized kale is totally fine for the recipe.

    2. Julia Demmer says:

      Thank you!! Kale and squash are a great match!
      I made a salad with (raw) kale and oven roasted butternut squash with a orange/honey/ginger vinaigrette last night…

    3. Maryanne says:

      Yes they are! That sounds delicious…I want to try that dressing!

    4. Julia Demmer says:

      Heu Maryanne!

      Here’s the vinaigrette recipe:
      ingredients:
      3 tbsp olive oil
      juice of 1 orange
      1/2″ knob of fresh ginger, peeled and
      minced
      pinch of salt
      squeeze of honey

      To make the dressing, combine the
      olive oil, fresh ginger, orange juice,
      salt and honey in a small bowl or
      mason jar. Stir or shake until well
      combined – then drizzle dressing over
      any salad.

    5. Maryanne says:

      THANK YOU Julia! I’ll be making it this weekend!

  4. p-- says:

    Holy cow, is this stuff good!

  5. Natalie says:

    Hi, looks delicious! I picked up a bunch of normal kale at the supermarket today (looks a lot frillier than the baby kale in your pic) – would it work in this recipe, or too bitter?

    1. Maryanne says:

      Hi Natalie, normal sized kale should work fine. For large leaves, it would be best to cut off the thick center stalk. Chop or tear large leaves into equal sizes so they cook evenly.

  6. Danita says:

    I made this amazing dish last night for 20 plus people. THEY LOVED IT!! THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR SHARING.

    1. Maryanne says:

      You are so welcome, Danita! I’m happy that your party enjoyed it!

  7. Danielle says:

    I made this last night and it was delicious! I’m loving your blog, Maryanne!!

    1. Maryanne says:

      Thanks for checking out the blog, Danielle! I’m glad you enjoyed the spaghetti. Its one of my favorites!

  8. Judy says:

    I made this tonight and it is absolutely delicious! Thanks!

    1. Maryanne says:

      You are welcome, Judy! I am glad you liked it!

  9. Allison (Spontaneous Tomato) says:

    This looks so good! And I was just going to make the same comment as the first commenter– I’ve never thought of using brown butter in savory contexts (other than with fish), but brown butter with pasta sounds like the happiest combination! I love baby kale, too… I would have used even more! :)

    1. Maryanne says:

      Thanks, Allison! I kept picking at the baby kale as it was cooking.

  10. Rosie @ Blueberry Kitchen says:

    Your pasta looks delicious! I’ve never tried brown butter in a savoury dish, I think I need to give it a go!

    1. Maryanne says:

      Brown butter is amazing in all applications! Give it a try!