Spiced Butternut-Sweet Potato Bowl
Roasted butternut squash and sweet potato together, ground turkey with warm autumn spices, cottage cheese, avocado, and hot honey. The gentlest bowl in this series. Sweet potato holds its shape and caramelizes at the edges; squash softens into something almost melting. Together they make a base that is richer and more layered than either one alone.
Ingredients
- 350 gbutternut squash
- 350 gsweet potatoes
- 500 glean ground turkey
- 200 gcottage cheese
- 2 pieceavocados
- 2 tbsphot honey
- 2 tbspolive oil
- 3 piecegarlic cloves
- 0.5 tspcinnamon
- 0.125 tspground nutmeg
- 1 tspsmoked paprika
- 0.5 tspcumin
- 0.5 tspgarlic powder
- 1 tspsalt
- 0.5 tspblack pepper
- 0.5 tspchili flakes
Method
- Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F). Peel and seed the butternut squash and cut into 2.5 cm cubes. Peel the sweet potato and cut into slightly smaller 1.5 to 2 cm cubes.
- Toss both together on a large lined baking sheet with 1 tablespoon olive oil, cinnamon, nutmeg, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Spread in a single layer. Roast 28 to 32 minutes, flipping once halfway.
- While the vegetables roast, heat the remaining olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add minced garlic and stir 30 seconds. Add the ground turkey and break it apart. Cook 5 to 6 minutes.
- Add cumin, the remaining smoked paprika, chili flakes, salt, and pepper to the turkey. Stir well and cook 2 more minutes.
- Season the cottage cheese with a pinch of salt and black pepper.
- Assemble: roasted squash and sweet potato as the base, turkey alongside, cottage cheese in its own zone, half an avocado per bowl. Drizzle hot honey over everything.
FAQ
Sweet potato is denser and sweeter. Butternut squash is softer with a faint nuttiness. Together they give a more complex autumnal base: sweet potato caramelizes, squash almost melts.
Cut squash into 2.5-3 cm cubes, sweet potato into 1.5-2 cm. They will finish at the same time. Both want 220°C and the same spice mix.
Cinnamon, nutmeg, smoked paprika, salt, pepper. Add spices before roasting — high heat opens the aromatics.
Yes, but thaw completely and pat very dry. Raise oven to 230°C. Fresh gives better texture but frozen works for weeknights.
The softest and most autumnal. Less heat, more warm spice. The squash makes the base gentler. Suits a cold evening when you want comfort, not intensity.
Rate this
Recipes by email
One letter a week: a recipe picked for your taste, plus whatever is new on the site. Unsubscribe in one click.
Welcome gift: Sergei's cookbook (e-book).
By subscribing you agree to the privacy policy.
Tell us what you like to cook (30 seconds) →Keep browsing
More dishes from the American archive — picked by overlap with what you're cooking now.
Join the conversation
Comments (1)
Salt the butternut squash at least 30 minutes before cooking spiced butternut-sweet potato bowl, or right before — never in between. Salt draws moisture to the surface; given 30+ minutes it reabsorbs. At 10 minutes, it's just sitting there making things wet.