Our Editors Dished on Their Favorite Fall Vegetables—Here’s How They Cook with Them

It’s not autumn until you’ve made this easy and cozy delicata squash pasta.

Yes, there’s something bittersweet about bidding adieu to summer’s last berries, peaches, and tomatoes. But if we had to select one season when our passion for cooking really takes root, it’s fall. 

Late-season farmers markets are still open most of autumn, giving us a lot of colors and flavors to paint our plates with throughout September, October, and November.

“Cooking for me lately is very optional,” says Lauren Phillips, senior editorial and strategy director. “I’ll cook when I can, but it’s more of a treat than a must-do task these days. Yes, my spending on takeout and delivery is very high as a result! That said, there are so many great fall produce options, I feel more motivated to cook this season specifically.”

Sarah Martens, senior food editor, agrees, adding that “There’s so much great local produce that becomes available in the fall months.”

Ahead, we’re sharing four reasons why we’re big fans of making the most of our kitchens come fall (just in case you, too, sometimes find yourself lacking motivation to cook). Then, BHG team members are dishing up the seven vegetables they look forward to cooking all year—consider this your seasonal edible bucket list—plus the recipes they adore most that put these produce picks to delicious use.

Meet the Experts

• Sheena Chihak, RD is the editorial director at BHG.com.
• Erin Hooker is the assistant food editor at Better Homes & Gardens magazine.
• Sarah Martens is the senior food editor at BHG.com.
• Lauren Phillips is the senior editorial and strategy director at BHG.com.
• Emily Williams is the home editor at BHG.com.

5 Reasons We Adore Fall Cooking

Working with the Test Kitchen to develop and perfect recipes may leave us a bit biased, but we believe it’s possible to find joy in the kitchen all year long. However, fall particularly lures us in.

1. Cooking with fall produce can help cure the “summer’s over” blues.

“I am a total summer girl at heart, so I’m heading into fall feeling a little reluctant. But the one thing that gets me excited is fall cooking,” says Erin Hooker, assistant food editor.

Many of the season’s best taste incredible raw or roasted, so depending on how warm the weather is that day, you can choose accordingly to match your mood—and how much you’re willing to heat up your kitchen.

Related: 29 Farmers Market Recipes to Use Fresh Produce in Creative Ways

2. The conditions are ideal.

On a similar note, Sheena Chihak, RD, editorial director, says she looks forward to cooking in fall and winter all year because she’s “no longer worried about the house getting too hot and blasting the air conditioner, and it adds that warm cozy feeling we crave in colder months.”

3. It’s the perfect time to bust out family heirloom recipes.

Fall flavors are joined by a big dose of nostalgia for Emily Williams, home editor. This is the season she breaks out all of her mom’s family recipes for chilis, casseroles, and slow cooker meals.

“I love experimenting with new dishes, but there’s something so lovely and familiar about my fall favorites,” she says.

4. It’s oh-so cozy.

“There’s nothing better than spending a lazy fall Sunday cooking,” Martens says. Anything from chili, casseroles, and soups she finds “so relaxing and soulful.” And as soon as the temperatures drop below 70, you’ll be likely to find Williams “in the kitchen chopping veggies for a chili, stew, or soup,” and if it’s a weekend, she’ll have football on in the background.

Related: Donna Kelce’s House Rules—Family Comes First

5. The building blocks are dynamic.

Another laudable quality about fall flavors Phillips mentions is that many can swing sweet or savory. (Case in point: Pumpkin, Barley, and Sage Soup vs. Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.) No matter what you’re craving, there’s a recipe for you to explore.

7 of the Best Fall Vegetables to Cook With, According to Editors

When autumn rolls around, here’s what we look forward to most when we’re harvesting our vegetable gardens or stocking up for the week at your local Sunday farmers market. 

1. Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes, not to be confused with yams, “are a staple for me,” Martens says. “I absolutely love them. I will roast them in wedges and use them in salads, as a side dish, or tossed with pasta. My youngest daughter and I fight over them. She loves roasted sweet potatoes as much as I do.” 

Must-try recipe: If you, too, are sweet on these fall roots, try Air-Fried Sweet Potato Tots as a family-friendly side dish with dinner.

2. Butternut Squash

Yes, if you’re not familiar with cutting butternut squash, it can be daunting—but the mission is worth it. According to Williams, whether you take it in a sweet or savory direction (or both), enjoy it soup-ed or stuffed, you can’t go wrong with butternut squash.

“I love the versatility of butternut squash,” she says. “I’ll include it with herb-roasted veggies for a savory side dish, and I also adore a sweet and creamy butternut squash soup.”

Related: The 11 Best Kitchen Knife Sets of 2024 for Home Cooks of All Skill Levels

Her go-to use for this long-necked squash is to whip up a sweet and savory sheet pan dinner.

“After I cube the squash, I toss the cubes with olive oil on a sheet pan, and sprinkle one half with cinnamon and nutmeg, and the other half with a salt and herb seasoning,” she says. “I usually pair this with roasted chicken for an easy weeknight autumn meal.”

Must-try recipe: For a dinner similar to Williams’s favorite that also features one of our most treasured fall fruits, don’t miss our Sheet Pan Chicken with Squash and Apples.

3. Delicata Squash

If Phillips was forced to choose just one favorite fall vegetable, it would be delicata squash “by far.”

“It can be hard to find delicata squash, but when I see it, I get it,” she says. “It’s less challenging to cut up than butternut squash, in my opinion, and I love that you can eat the skin.”

Every autumn, Phillips serves her no. 1 squash in a pasta recipe that’s “unreal and packs all the fall flavors into one bowl.” She boils pasta, roasts olive oil-tossed half-moons of delicata squash, and combines both with browned butter, fresh sage, and toasted walnuts. 

Must-try recipe: Martens is also a devotee of delicata, and raves about this Sausage-Stuffed Delicata entrée.

4. Acorn Squash

Another under-appreciated winter squash, according to Chihak: acorn. The green-skinned goodie doesn’t have a neck like delicata or butternut, which means that you have ample real estate to stuff (after you cut it in half and scoop out the membranes and seeds, of course). Roasted acorn squash flesh also plays nicely in soups, stews, and casseroles.

Must-try recipe: Chihak’s all-time autumn favorite side dish is Maple-Roasted Acorn Squash. She slices the squash in half, removes the seeds and stringy pieces, then coats it in “a very basic sauce of maple syrup, butter, and optional orange zest.” Roast on a foil-lined sheet pan at 425° F until the flesh is tender and the sauce is beginning to caramelize, then pair it with your preferred protein, like pork tenderloin, rotisserie chicken, or a dense bean salad.

Related: 21 Rotisserie Chicken Recipes to Make a Meal Fast

5. Pumpkin

Don’t just reserve pumpkins for carving and displaying on Halloween. The fresh kind is ideal to roast or use in soups, and canned pumpkin is far too convenient and budget-friendly to bypass at the grocery store. We swear by it as a pantry staple year round but really look forward to inviting the warm and cozy flavor centerstage starting in September.

Must-try recipe: “A year never goes by that I don’t make these Melt-in-Your-Mouth Pumpkin Cookies with fall’s all-star: pumpkin,” Chihak says. “The recipe makes a ton of cookies so I can share them, plus they freeze great to add to holiday dessert trays.”

6. Brussels Sprouts

When Brussels sprouts season arrives, “I put these in everything—then also serve them as a side,” Hooker says.

Enjoy them raw and shaved thin in a salad or slaw, as part of a cozy casserole, or fried or air-fried—the versatility of this little cabbage is what sets it apart. Don’t be afraid to mix-and-match sprouts (with the stems removed and sliced in half) with cubes of squash, sweet potatoes, or your other fall favorites.

Related: The 8 Best Air Fryers of 2024 for Crispy, Golden Brown Food, According to Testing

“I get a big sheet pan and place my veggies sectioned out on the pan. I’ll season simply with olive oil, salt, and pepper, then roast them, checking in regularly,” Hooker says. “As certain veggies finish cooking, I’ll take those off and continue with the rest if I want certain things, like the sprouts, extra crispy.”

Must-try recipe: We’ll let you in on a little secret for the absolute best Brussels sprouts: brining! Soak trimmed and halved sprouts in a salt water brine for 1 hour, then drain and roast until golden-brown and tender before tossing with toasted mustard seeds, as we do in this Brined Skillet-Roasted Brussels Sprouts. One reviewer declares, “Even my kids will eat these!”

7. Arugula

In season in both spring and fall, Williams has been putting this peppery leafy green on everything lately.

“I love the fresh and slightly spicy tang it adds to literally any dish,” she says.

Her morning mainstay is toasted sourdough bread, fresh arugula, and eggs topped with everything bagel seasoning. Come dinner, Williams likes to toss cooked pasta with fresh or roasted tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and arugula. 

Must-try recipe: For a modern homemade pizza that’ll have everyone forgetting all about delivery, top your dough with olive oil, a thin layer of fig jam, thinly-sliced red onions, thin slices of prosciutto, and crumbled goat cheese. Bake until golden brown, then garnish with a generous handful of fresh arugula.

“I’ll be making this at least a couple times a month—it’s so good,” Williams says.

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