Finding vegan-friendly pasta recipes can be challenging, but this vegan butternut squash ravioli is worth trying. The creamy filling and buttery sage sauce will have you going for seconds! Plus, it's easy to make so that you can impress and enjoy a great bowl of homemade ravioli with fall's cozy flavors.
The fall season is marked by the arrival of delicious butternut squash and using pumpkin spice for everything!
This is one of the vegan ravioli fillings we use the most when making pasta, and served as an entrée, as we would serve a butternut squash risotto. They both pair well with this stuffed portobello mushroom for a complete autumn feast.
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🧾 Ingredients
- Sweet Butternut Squash: The star of the show, it brings a creamy texture and natural sweetness that pairs perfectly with savory elements. Plus, it's loaded with vitamins A and C, making each bite as nutritious as it is delicious.
- Vegan Butter: Adds that rich, buttery flavor we all crave, without the dairy. It also helps in sautéing the squash to perfection, enhancing its natural sweetness.
- Rosemary Sprig or Fresh Sage: These herbs add an aromatic depth to the dish, elevating the flavors. Whether you go for rosemary or sage, you're in for a fragrant treat that complements the squash beautifully.
- Nutmeg: A pinch of this spice goes a long way in adding warmth and complexity to the dish. It's like the secret handshake among the ingredients, tying everything together in cozy harmony.
Optional: garlic cloves and pine nuts to garnish.
Substitutions
- Pumpkin - you can use pumpkin or acorn squash instead of butternut squash.
- Vegan butter- You can use vegan cream cheese or olive oil instead of butter.
- Rosemary - use fresh thyme instead.
See the recipe card for quantities.
🔪 Instructions
Making this vegetarian ravioli filling is easy, and you can make it in the oven while you work on your vegan homemade pasta dough to make the most of your time.
Roasted butternut squash ravioli is so awesome! The roasting time on this recipe is key!
Step 1: Cut butternut squash in half and place them face up on a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step 2: Bake the butternut squash with vegan butter and a rosemary sprig.
Step 3: Bake the roasted squash until golden brown
Step 4: Make a butternut squash puree
Step 5: On a lightly floured surface, mark the pasta dough with a cookie cutter, add the butternut squash filling to the piping back, and pour about one tablespoon per ravioli.
Step 6: Paint ravioli edges with water.
Step 7: Place the second ravioli sheet on top, beginning from one side, and slowly closing the circles for each one before you lay out all the dough.
Step 8: Cut the ravioli with a cookie cutter, pressing firmly.
Hint: I always try the upper dough to be longer as it has to go through all the filling hills and might be short to close the ravioli batch.
Read our post: making homemade ravioli dough from scratch and using different ravioli cutter tools.
Hint: see our post on how to roast butternut squash to perfection for more tips.
Make the brown butter sauce
On a skillet, melt vegan butter on low heat, add the fresh sage, and let cook at the minimum fire; often stir until a brown butter sage sauce is formed.
After boiling the ravioli in boiling salted water in a large pot, toss them with a slotted spoon for 3 minutes until al dente; drain the water and reserve a cup of pasta water.
Gently toss the cooked ravioli into the butternut squash sauce made with butter and sage using the reserved pasta water. Add one tablespoon at a time until you see a perfect creamy consistency, coating evenly on medium heat, and serve on serving plates.
Then add toasted pine nuts and garnish the butternut squash pasta with crispy sage leaves and a couple of brown butter sage sauce tablespoons.
📖 Variations
- Cheesy - add vegan parmesan cheese to the mixture for a cheesy note.
- Garlicky - roast a head of garlic with the butternut squash, and use one or two roasted garlic loves when mashing the purée.
🥢 How to serve
Wondering what to put on butternut squash ravioli? Here are some of our favorite sauces for butternut squash ravioli.
1. Sage Brown Butter Sauce
Melt & Sizzle:
Start by melting some vegan butter in a pan. Once it's all liquid gold, toss in some fresh sage leaves.
Having butternut squash ravioli with sage butter allows all the flavors from this vegan ravioli filling to stand out while beautifully melding with a distinct and still mellow flavor that feels just right.
Infuse the Flavor:
Let the sage leaves sizzle until they're crispy. This infuses the butter with a heavenly sage aroma.
Final Touch:
Add a splash of lemon juice for a little zing and season with salt and pepper to taste.
🌟 Pro Tip: Butternut squash ravioli with sage is best served immediately, so have your ravioli ready to go!
2. Creamy Garlic and Spinach Sauce
Sauté Time:
In a skillet, sauté minced garlic and red pepper flakes in olive oil until the garlic is golden.
Get Creamy:
Pour in some coconut milk or any plant-based milk you prefer. Stir well.
Add Greens:
Toss in some baby spinach and let it wilt into the creamy mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Tomato Basil Sauce
Preheat the Pan:
Get a saucepan nice and hot, then add a drizzle of olive oil.
Tomato Tango:
Add canned crushed tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, and a pinch of sugar to balance the acidity.
Simmer Down:
Let it simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper, and you have a delicious butternut squash ravioli with tomato sauce!
Did you know that tomatoes are rich in lycopene, an antioxidant that's super good for you?
Serve this squash ravioli with vegan parmesan cheese, rosemary focaccia bread, or Italian Pagnotta bread.
Another sauce for butternut squash ravioli that works well is the carrot greens pesto, the mint pesto, and kale and sage pesto.
🍽 Equipment
Use a piping bag to make the ravioli; this will facilitate the ravioli-making process.
🥡 Storage
Store the vegan ravioli filling in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2-3 days.
💡 Top tip
If you don't have one, you can use a nylon or plastic bag and push all ravioli filling towards one of the bottom's ends. Then, cut about ¼ inch of the tip of the bag.
🍝 More homemade pasta recipes
- Homemade vegan pasta noodles
- Vegan bolognese recipe
- Creamy eggplant pasta
- Roasted butternut squash pasta sauce
Also, try our vegan butternut squash lasagna, one of our favorite recipes to enjoy during squash season!
⭐ If you try this recipe, let us know! 💬 Leave a comment, rate it, and don't forget to tag us @ourplantbasedworld on Instagram. Cheers!
🎥 Video
📋 Recipe
Vegan Butternut Squash Ravioli
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash large
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter or olive oil
- 2 rosemary or fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg freshly ground
- black pepper freshly ground
- homemade pasta dough
Directions
Whole roasting whole butternut
- Preheat the oven to 400 ºF (200 ºC).
- Cut the butternut squash lengthwise from top to bottom, and deseed it using a spoon. Save the seeds for later use, like roasting them on a pan sheet for a simple, healthy, and delicious snack. Place both halves on top of a pan sheet.
- Toss the butter inside of the butternut squash, rubbing some of it on the surface, then dropping the butter cube in the middle.
- Add a rosemary sprig inside each half of the butternut and add salt and pepper.
- Roast the squash for 40-50 minutes or until a fork pierce them all the way down.
- Remove from the oven and let the butternut cool down otherwise you can handle it with kitchen thongs.
- Remove the rosemary sprig scoop the soft flesh out and mash with a potato masher.
- Adjust the flavor by adding freshly ground nutmeg, salt, and pepper, and let the mixture cool down completely.
- Prepare for ravioli. Add the ravioli filling into a nylon piping bag and make the ravioli.
Alternative method (dicing butternut squash)
- Preheat the oven to 400 ºF (200 ºC).
- Cut the butternut squash lengthwise from top to bottom, and deseed it using a spoon. Save the seeds for later use, like roasting them on a pan sheet for a simple, healthy, and delicious snack.
- Peel the squash with care.
- Dice the butternut squash and put it in a mixing bowl, then add the butter and rosemary, stems removed- Season with salt and pepper.
- Peel and cut the butternut squash into big chunks and mix with the herbs in a bowl. Either drizzle extra-virgin olive oil to get the cubes lightly coated or set the diced butternut squash on parchment paper to prevent sticking and avoid using oil.
- Spread the seasoned squash on a lined baking sheet with parchment paper. Roast for 30 minutes until tender.
- Remove from the oven, remove the toasted rosemary leaves, and transfer it to a mixing bowl.
- Mash with a potato masher, adjust the flavor using freshly ground nutmeg, salt, and pepper and let the mixture cool down completely.
- Add the ravioli filling into a nylon piping bag and make the ravioli.
Brown butter sauce and serving
- On a skillet, melt vegan butter on low heat, add the fresh sage, and let cook at the minimum fire; often stir until a brown butter sage sauce is formed.
- After boiling the ravioli in boiling salted water in a large pot, toss them with a slotted spoon for 3 minutes until al dente; drain the water and reserve a cup of pasta water.
- Gently toss the cooked ravioli into the butternut squash sauce made with butter and sage using the reserved pasta water. Add one tablespoon at a time until you see a perfect creamy consistency, coating evenly on medium heat, and serve on serving plates.
- Then add toasted pine nuts and garnish the butternut squash pasta with crispy sage leaves and a couple of brown butter sage sauce tablespoons.
Video
Nutrition Facts
Nutritional Disclaimer
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice. See our full Nutritional Disclosure here.
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Janessa says
Wow, love the flavours in this ravioli filling! I was eating some of it straight from the spoon while I made these haha.
Stephanie says
Wow I really enjoyed this dish! I love butternut squash, so it only made sense that it would be a delicious ravioli filling.
Jessie says
I have always wanted to make homemade pasta and your step by step directions were so helpful! These little pockets of deliciousness came out beautifully!
Louise says
Two of my favourite things, butternut squash and ravioli- plus all vegan too! Utterly delicious and the how-to images really helped with creating the little parcels of yum!
Gus says
I am glad you liked the ravioli recipe and found the steps easy to follow! Thanks for you review!
Claudia Lamascolo says
These are my new favorite way to make squash love them this way and will make them again so good!
Beth says
perfect pasta comfort food for cold days. I love how silky smooth the butternut squash filling was.
Gus says
I am glad yu liked them, Beth! Yep, we love making them, especially during the fall season!
Gina Abernathy says
Butternut squash gets looked over a lot in recipes. Glad to see a great recipe using this squash.
Kate says
Oh I've been looking for a recipe to make my own vegan stuffed pasta for ages, this is incredible! Butternut squash is such a creamy and delicious ravioli filling.
Ieva says
One of my favourite fillings of ravioli of all time - love the butternut and nutmeg combo! Will make these again soon 🙂
Kathleen says
Great Fall flavors in these fabulous homemade raviolis. Can't wait to taste them.
Casey says
Such simple but AMAZING flavors! We loved this!
Chenée says
This ravioli is my new favorite fall recipe! Even better that it's vegan! The Buttery Sage sauce is just perfect.
Gus says
We are glad you enjoyed the ravioli recipe, Chenée!