The One Easy Way To Tell if a Butternut Squash Is Ripe (2024)

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The One Easy Way To Tell if a Butternut Squash Is Ripe? ›

The One Way To Tell Butternut Squash Is Ripe

You can tell if your butternut squash is ripe by the color and texture of the outer rind. If there are any green spots, it's definitely not ready to cook. The skin should be hard, according to the Farmer's Almanac, not at all glossy, and en even color.

A squash that's ready will certainly have a thick, woody stem. If there's any trace of lively looking green-bendy-fleshiness left in the stem, it's not yet ready. Try to see if you can make a little indent with your fingernail or if your thumb makes an imprint when pressing against the tough squash skin.

Once they're dry lay the squash fruits out in a warm, sunny spot. It should be about 80 to 85 degrees F. (27-29 C.), with a humidity of around 80 to 85 percent. A greenhouse table or a sunny windowsill might be perfect for your unripe green squash to cure and finish the process of ripening.

Ripening Off the Vine

If you do harvest butternut squash early and find that the flavor is not fully developed, you can attempt to ripen them off the vine. Place the harvested squash in a warm and dry area with good air circulation, similar to the curing process.

A ripe butternut squash should be a dark shade of beige. Its skin should have a matte look.

In general, butternut squash takes about 100 to 120 days from planting time to mature. So if you're growing butternut squash and you planted seeds in late spring, you'll begin harvesting by late summer.

When choosing one at the store, be sure to select one with a creamy tan color. Light surface scratches are normal, but avoid choosing one with soft spots, bruises or cuts. Butternut squash should also have a matte finish. If it's shiny, it means it was picked too early.

Feel for a hard exterior before settling on a squash.

Use your fingernail to gently push into the surface of the squash. If your nail goes through with little resistance, it may not be ripe enough. A ripe butternut squash should feel hard like an unripe avocado.

Butternut squash needs full sun, ideally 6 hours per day.

Can you eat almost ripe butternut squash? ›

Unripe winter squash taste different from ripe, but you can treat unripe, peeled butternut like summer squash with good results. My personal preference is to pluck any later flowers rather than let unripe fruit develop. These can be eaten raw or stuffed and cooked (my go-to method is seasoned cream cheese and chive).

Gather the ingredients and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place squash, cut-sides down, in a 9x13-inch baking dish. Pour 2 cups water into the dish around the squash halves. Bake in the preheated oven until tender and easily pierced with a fork, about 1 1/2 hours, adding more water as needed.

Butternut squash (Figure 4), for example, turn their characteristic mature tan color some two-to-three weeks before they should be harvested for best quality. If harvested too early, the developing seed inside butternut squash will utilize nutrients stored in the flesh to mature, decreasing its eating quality.

Test the shell: The outside shell of your squash should be hard and firm. If you feel any soft spots, it's past its ripe days. Make sure it's heavy: A ripe squash should feel heavy for its size. If it's feeling lighter than expected, it either isn't ripe yet or is too old at that point.

Did you know you can eat under-ripe, immature butternut squash? They are gourd-eous!

Unripe winter squash taste different from ripe, but you can treat unripe, peeled butternut like summer squash with good results. My personal preference is to pluck any later flowers rather than let unripe fruit develop. These can be eaten raw or stuffed and cooked (my go-to method is seasoned cream cheese and chive).