Roasted Honey Nut Squash and Chickpeas With Hot Honey

Roasted Honey Nut Squash and Chickpeas With Hot Honey
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
1 hour
Rating
5(4,964)
Notes
Read community notes

Colorful and meatless, sweet and fiery, this sheet-pan dinner is an exuberant combination of cold-weather vegetables and warming spices that will perk up any weeknight. Although the recipe takes about an hour from start to finish most of it is hands-off, and the actual prep time is relatively short. If you don’t have hot honey, you can substitute regular honey and a pinch of cayenne. And try to use canned chickpeas prepared with sea salt; the unsalted kind are bland.

Featured in: You Can’t Resist This Easy Squash-Chickpea Recipe

Learn: How to Make a Sheet-Pan Dinner

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
  • Print Options


Advertisement


Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 2(14.5-ounce) cans chickpeas (preferably not “no salt added”), drained and rinsed
  • pounds honey nut or butternut squash, peeled, trimmed, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups)
  • teaspoons baharat, garam masala or another spice blend
  • teaspoons fine salt, plus more as needed
  • 5thyme sprigs
  • teaspoon red-pepper flakes
  • 3tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
  • 1small red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1teaspoon cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar, plus more as needed
  • ½cup fresh cilantro leaves or dill sprigs, or a combination
  • 1 to 2tablespoons hot honey, plus more to taste
  • Plain whole-milk yogurt or sour cream, for serving (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

550 calories; 17 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 90 grams carbohydrates; 20 grams dietary fiber; 22 grams sugars; 18 grams protein; 1255 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line one sheet pan with parchment paper and a second sheet pan with a clean kitchen towel or paper towels. Place drained chickpeas on the towel-lined sheet pan and gently rub them dry. Place the pan on the back of the stove and let the chickpeas dry as you prepare the other ingredients.

  2. Step 2

    Place the squash on the parchment paper-lined pan and toss with 1 teaspoon baharat, ½ teaspoon salt, thyme sprigs, red-pepper flakes and 2 tablespoons oil. Spread squash into an even layer and roast for 20 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    After 20 minutes of roasting, in a medium bowl, combine chickpeas, red onion, remaining ¾ teaspoon baharat, ¾ teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon oil, and toss until well combined. Add the mixture to the pan of squash and stir everything well. Continue roasting for another 30 minutes, tossing the mixture halfway through, until the squash is golden brown and tender, and the chickpeas and onions are slightly crispy.

  4. Step 4

    Remove the pan from the oven, sprinkle vinegar and herbs on top and toss. Drizzle with hot honey and toss again to combine. Taste and season with more salt, more hot honey and vinegar to taste. Serve with dollops of yogurt if you’d like.

Ratings

5 out of 5
4,964 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.

Cooking Notes

For those wondering about hot honey, a quick Google search will do wonders, both for finding brands to buy (I find a lot of stores sell Mike's Hot Honey) and easy recipes for how to make it, most using just honey, red pepper flakes, and apple cider vinegar.

Great flavor, but texturally boring. Next time I'll roast things separately, so the squash is browned but not mushy and do the chickpeas at very high heat to make 'em crunchy.

While parchment paper is great for clean up it is NOT good for caramelization and crispness. Skip the paper when it comes to roasting vegetables if you want that caramelization.

Please share substitution suggestions for "another spice blend".

@Sheila DM: Zatar would be delicious with this and is widely available (or on Amazon). Even something a bit more whack like Chinese 5-spice powder would be great, if you're feeling adventurous. Or try shichimi togarashi, a Japanese 7-spice blend that can be had at any Japanese market, and probably best used after the dish is cooked. Same for zatar. If you use honey nut squash, the peel is super thin and completely edible, like Delicata squash. Save yourself some time and frustration!

Instead of baharat, I used cumin, smoked paprika, sumac, cinnamon, and cardamom.

Carrie, thanks for clarifying "hot honey". I thought it was just really warm honey.

For those who, like me, loathe cilantro: I made this with mint. It tasted marvelous, especially served with yogurt.

Used Ras El Hanout instead and topped with fresh pomegranates. Delicious!

Delicious! Followed instructions to a tee... The only change I'd consider next time is splitting it between two baking sheets so ingredients get more space to brown and not stream.

Amazing, simply amazing. I used the yogurt, honey plus cayenne, and cilantro options.

I added spinach and halloumi and it was delicious!

Made nearly as written -excellent. The yogurt (I thought would be plain) was surprisingly integral to the end result. Used garam masala and also mix of baharat spices (pepper, coriander, paprika, cumin; less cloves, nutmeg, cardamom) based on our preference; seasoned liberally. Definitely bake chickpeas and squash on different pans. Have made with butternut and delicata (both great) but kabocha would also be nice here. Used cilantro leaves with a bit of chopped mint. Served with rice for kids.

Squash and chick peas are a perfect blend. With addition of the herbs and spices it makes an even richer, interesting and complete meal. For ‘greens’, I added wilted spinach with the fresh cilantro at the end. Served with yogurt on the side and pita. Simply delicious one pan meal.

This was sooooo good. I didn’t have any issues with the texture/crispiness like some other reviews, but I cooked on tinfoil rather than parchment paper. I also rubbed the chickpeas a bit to get some of the skins off, which is tedious but helps with crispiness. I didn’t have enough butternut squash, so I added some sweet potato in and that worked great also. Really just delicious, can’t wait to make again!

Cook veggies on seperate trays

The hot honey I bought was too hot so I cut it with plain honey to bring down the heat. I was cooking for two people, so next time I will only use 1 can of chic peas.

Delicious. I used Tandori Blend by The Spice Hunter which has all of the spices mentioned.

I cooked this using maple syrup in lieu of honey for a vegan option. I dried out the chick peas in the oven beforehand which worked well. I used vegan sour cream instead of yogurt. Unusual dish, loved the spices. I served with broccoli and crunchy bread. It’s a very filling dish and I enjoyed making it.

Easy and delicious. I added peppers with the onions and didn’t use dill because had none. Reheated well in microwave. Bought ingredients to make again in same week because it was so good.

We made this with regular butternut squash and white onion and garam masala. We liked the combination of tastes and textures. The only issue I had is that the squash got pretty roasted in the initial 20 minutes of roasting at 425 and I was worried it would burn so I moved up the pan in the oven and lowered the temperature. Next time I would add the chickpeas earlier.

Dill and Greek yogurt, crispy chickpeas, home made baharat, pickled red onion in lime juice

Added tofu at chickpea stage Dry out chickpeas in oven while chopping squash. One large butternut was enough Very good.

I used trader joes hot honey. Amazing, and I hate cooking

Add tomatoes, feta Finish with arugula, cilantro, and vinegar

Great recipe! Strongly agree with others about roasting the squash and chickpeas/onions on separate sheet pans. The jar of preserved lemons in my fridge kept beckoning me here so I put some slivers on top with the cilantro and sour cream. That funky salty tang really sent the whole thing up to the heavens.

how is the best way to reheat?

Used regular honey instead of hot honey. Also added large slices of feta with the chickpeas. They all roasted nicely together. Delicious!

A friend recently made this for a Book Club with Lemon Garlic Tahini as recommended by Debbie in the comments below. Amazing! SO very, very delicious!

Accidentally made this with 5+ pounds of Butternut Squash, which explains why we had to use three baking sheets to roast everything (we had squash for two recipes, but the sous-chef made an assumption....). No matter, it was delicious! Opted for mint over cilantro--not a fan. Really outstanding, will go into our regular rotation.

Private notes are only visible to you.

Advertisement

or to save this recipe.