Air Fry Delicata Squash

If you are looking for an easy and delicious veggie side dish, just air fry delicata squash with onions and peppers to make healthy home fries without potatoes! You can eat this squash side dish for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Easy, tasty and lower in carbs than regular home fries with minimal ingredients.

You might also like these air fryer diced sweet potatoes recipe.

Recently I went to a great farmers market about an hour away from me and bought some beautiful fresh veggies and fruit. When I saw they had delicata squash I bought a few because I can’t find it many places and it’s my favorite winter squash. The flavor and texture remind me of potatoes more so than other types of squash.

I use delicata squash as a substitute for potatoes sometimes like in this keto breakfast casserole, so I decided to air fry delicata squash with peppers and onions. I wanted it to have that home fries flavor you get at a diner but without potatoes and it did not disappoint.

Why I love delicata squash.

I love the taste of delicata squash which is a bit like a potato but with more flavor. It has a bit of a nutty flavor as well as a bit of sweet flavor. Though it is not as sweet as a sweet potato, but maybe that of a butternut. So maybe it could be best described as tasting a bit like butternut squash with the consistency or texture of a potato.

They come from the same species as yellow summer squash however they mature in the winter and are considered a winter squash. When then are ripe the skin of delicata squash has a cream or yellow color with green stripes. 

I also love that you can eat the skin. If you ever peeled a butternut squash you will know why I appreciate this. You can just cut delicata squash in half lengthwise, clean out the seeds (try this microwave squash seed recipe ) and then make this recipe or cut them into rings and make this roasted delicata squash fries slices . It’s a great squash to try!

Note you can also use sweet flavoring instead of savory spices that we are using today. Try cinnamon, sugar, brown sugar, nut meg, pumpkin pie spice blends, etc.

Recipe ingredients and substitutions.

You really only need 4 simple ingredients to make this dish – 1 medium delicata squash, yellow onions, green pepper and olive oil. I also used salt and ground black pepper.

• Delicata Squash: Because this is a delicata squash recipe I would not substitute this food but you could also make these with butternut squash, sweet potatoes or even zucchini, turnips, rutabaga or celery root. All of these would work but the air frying time will vary.
• Onions: I use yellow onions but you could use white onions, red onions for color or even vidalia onions which have a bit of sweetness.
• Green Peppers: I usually use sweet bell peppers for most of my recipes but today I used just green peppers. You can easily substitute with sweet peppers though. This summer I’ve also been using poblano peppers because we have so many in our garden and I love the bit of heat and they flavor of them. So basically you can use whatever your favorite peppers are.

More variations and seasonings to try.

I only used salt and pepper to flavor these veggies however there are lots of ways to change up the flavor of this simple recipe. You can add some garlic powder, onion powder and paprika to make them more like a seasoned fries dish. For some Mexican flavor add a bit of chili powder, hot pepper flakes or cayenne pepper, cumin and garlic powder.

I also have been loving dried thyme with my roasted veggies this summer. For more Italian flavor try basil, oregano or an Italian seasoning mix along with cherry or grape tomatoes. It’s very versatile and many different spices and seasonings will work with these vegetables and add extra flavor.

How to air fry delicata squash with peppers an onions.

Preheat the air fryer for 3-5 minutes while you prep the veggies. Take out and spray the basket with nonstick cooking spray.

Step 1: While the air fryer is preheating, cut the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out of the seeds. You can roast the seeds like you would pumpkin seeds or in the microwave. Then chop the squash halves into bite sized pieces. Remember it has edible skin so you don’t have to peel it.

Note that you could also cut the veggies so you have squash slices as well as onions and peppers in rings and air fry but again I was going for a home fry dish. Also the cooking time may be a bit longer.

Step 2: Add the chopped squash pieces to a large mixing bowl and pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the salt and pepper. Mix well the spread out in a single layer on the preheated air fryer basket and bake at 400°F for 10 minutes.

Step 3: While that is air frying, dice the peppers and onions into bite sized pieces and place back in the bowl. Mix with the last tablespoon of oil. When the 10 minutes are up add the diced peppers and onions to the air fryer and mix around.

Step 4: Bake in the air fryer for 8-10 minutes until the delicata is fork tender and the peppers and onions are starting to brown. Cooking may vary depending on the size of the chopped veggies.

Just check them toward the end and take them out early or put them back in the air fryer for a few minutes to get them the way you want.

And that is all there is to this simple air fryer delicata squash. To me these taste like diner home fries and that was my intention. So could eat this delicious side dish with eggs, sausage or bacon and it would be great.

For a lunch add a some flavored sausage or chopped chicken. We also eat this with steaks for dinner one night and it was perfect. Just add a green salad and you have a complete meal.

Store leftovers of the air fryer delicata squash in an airtight container. Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card.

More air fryer side dish recipes to try.

Here are a few of my favorite veggie side dishes you can make in the air fryer. Check out all my air fryer recipes here.

• keto cheesy zucchini noodles or zucchini fries
• spicy corn on the cob
• roasted parmesan green beans and potatoes
• diced keto parmesan turnips or diced sweet potatoes
• acorn squash fries or keto buffalo cauliflower

Well I hope you try to air fry delicata squash with peppers and onions as it’s the perfect side dish for breakfast or dinner. And while it’s not a low carb dish it is much lower than if you used potatoes.

The nutritional information for 1 out 4 servings is 107 calories / 6.8g fat / 14.1g carbs / 2g fiber / 1.6g protein = 12.1g net carbs.