As the perfect fall side dish, the focus of a hearty vegetarian main, even adding sweetness to a veggie-packed lasagna, squash is the center of so many incredible fall meals. They are versatile, easy to cook, and can be paired with all kinds of flavors (sweet or savory!). Acorn to butternut, spaghetti to pumpkin, this trusty crop has been the star throughout all of your autumn dinners, from a speedy weeknight dish to the ultimate Thanksgiving veggie side. But, wait, is squash a fruit? Or is it a vegetable?
Main Characteristics of Vegetables
Typically prepared in a savory manner and served alongside dinner or as the base for a meal (hello, salad!) vegetables can be recognized as the leaves, roots, and stems of a plant. Think celery, potatoes, and broccoli. Veggies tend to be prepared as savory dishes, with salt, pepper and other spices, and are served as part of dinner or lunch. Rarely will veggies be included in sweet dishes.
Main Characteristics of Fruits
When you think about fruit, what first comes to mind? Perhaps your go-to breakfast of yogurt and berries. You may also consider apples, oranges, and bananas, of course. These are all fruits because they contain seeds in or on their flesh. Where vegetables have seeds that grow separately from the part eaten, fruit include the seeds. These fleshy and typically sweet crops also grow from the flowers of the plant.
You know all of the stringy flesh and seeds you remove before carving your jack-o-lantern every Halloween? Those little guys mean that your favorite autumn side is actually a fruit. If you guessed that squash is a fruit, congrats! You're right!
Botanically speaking, squash are a fruit because of their internal seeds. And they fall into the tricky category of surprising fruits that masquerade as veggies, along with tomatoes and avocados. Not only do they have internal seeds, squash also grow from flowers, (AKA squash blossoms), and have a fleshy interior and a thick skin. If you think about it, they're sort of like apples. Or oranges. Or melons!
If you thought squash was a veg, that makes sense. We typically equate vegetables to savory applications and fruits to sweet ones. And although Thanksgiving isn't really complete without a pumpkin pie, we more often eat butternut or acorn squash with dinner.
Whether it's a fruit or a veggie (we promise, it's a fruit) squash, of all sorts, is the star of so many fall dishes.
32 Easy Butternut Squash Recipes Perfect for Cozy Fall Dinners
