Small, round and acorn-shaped with sweet, slightly fibrous flesh. Best stuffed and baked with butter, brown sugar and crushed pecans. Acorn
White Acorn Encased in hard, white, inedible skin, the pale yellowish-gold flesh of this squash is sweet, with smooth, delicate texture. Somewhat ovoid-shaped and pointed at the bottom, they are easily recognized by thick, longitudinal ridges.
A rich, yellow-gold rind and golden-orange flesh offers a natural, nutty sweetness. Small to medium size, this deeply ribbed variety resembles an acorn. Chefs love this squash's attractive and dependable presentation as well as its excellent flavor. Golden Acorn
Beige colored and shaped like bell with a sweet, nutty flavor. Best pureed into a cold or warm fall soup. Butternut
Small, yellow, and watermelon shaped with a mild, nut-like flavor. When cooked, the flesh falls into spaghetti-like strands. A healthy spaghetti alternative, try with a meaty tomato sauce! Spaghetti
Carnival Cream colored with orange spots or pale green with dark green spots in vertical stripes. They have hard, thick skins and only flesh is eaten. The delicious yellow meat is reminiscent of sweet potatoes and butternut squash and can be baked or steamed then combined with butter and fresh herbs. Also great in soups.
Sweet Dumpling This small, mildly sweettasting squash resembles a miniature pumpkin with its top pushed in. It has creamcolored skin with specks. It has sweet and tender orange flesh and is a great size for stuffing and baking as individual servings. These are tiny but great for roasting and presenting whole.
Golden Nugget A variety of winter squash that has the appearance of a small pumpkin in shape and color. These squashes are small, weighing on average about 1 lb. Both the skin and the flesh are orange. They may be cooked whole or split lengthwise (removing seeds). Pierce whole squash in several places, and bake halved squash hollow side up.
Buttercup/Kabocha This squash has a dark-green skin, sometimes accented with lighter green streaks. It has a sweet and creamy orange flesh. This squash is much sweeter than other winter varieties. It can be baked, mashed, pureed, steamed, simmered, or stuffed and can replace Sweet Potatoes in most recipes. Kabocha is the generic Japanese word for squash, but refers most commonly to the buttercup type.
Delicata This is one of the tastier winter squashes, with creamy pulp that tastes a bit like corn & sweet potatoes. The squash can be baked or steamed. The thin skin is also edible. This squash is actually an heirloom variety, a fairly recent reentry into the culinary world. It was originally introduced by the Peter Henderson Company of New York City in 1894, and was popular through the 1920s.
Turban Named for its shape, Turban Squash has colors that vary from bright orange, to green or white. It has golden-yellow flesh and its taste is reminiscent to hazelnut. They come in bizarre shapes with extravagant coloration that makes them popular as harvest ornamentals. It is popular for centerpieces, and its top can be sliced off so it can be hollowed and filled with soup. Use in recipes that call or pie or sugar pumpkin.
Heart A beautiful winter squash with golden orange, fine grained flesh, the Southern States Heart of Gold Squash grows on a semi-bush type plant. This squash is a large heart-shaped fruit with a creamy white rind and green mottled stripes.
Hubbard The extra-hard skin makes them one of the best keeping winter squashes. They range from big to enormous, have a blue/gray skin, and taper at the ends. They have an inedible skin; large, fully developed seeds that must be scooped out; and a dense flesh. The flesh tends to be very moist, leading to longer cooking times in the oven. Generally peeled and boiled, cut up and roasted, or cut small and steamed or sautéed. Perfect for pies!
Yellow Yellow Straight-Neck squash is a glossy variety that may be a light, butter yellow to a bright, lemon yellow in color. Closely resembling the Yellow Crookneck, this squash has a tapering cylinder shape and does not have a curved neck.