Butternut Squash

vegetables · autumn · nutrition

Grows on vines. Butternut squash isn't a vegetable that grows underground like potatoes. Instead, it grows on long vines above ground, similar to how watermelons and pumpkins grow.

Deep orange inside. The flesh gets richer and more orange as it ripens because it's full of beta-carotene, which is a special compound your body turns into vitamin A to help you see better and stay healthy.

Nutty and sweet taste. When you cook butternut squash, it develops a delicious sweet, nutty flavor that's a lot like pumpkin, making it perfect for soups, roasted dishes, or even desserts.

Seeds in the end. Inside each butternut squash is a compartment full of seeds at the blossom end, and you can actually roast these seeds as a crunchy snack.

Goes by many names. In Australia and New Zealand, people call this squash a butternut pumpkin or gramma, showing how different parts of the world have their own special names for the same vegetable.