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Varieties of Winter Squash

Discover the many types of winter squash.

Acorn: Shaped like an acorn with green skin speckled with orange patches and a pale yellow-orange flesh, this squash has a unique flavor that is a combination of sweet, nuts and pepper.

Amber cup: Small, orange and round like a pumpkin, Amber cup squash has a dry, sweet flavor.

Banana: Banana-like in shape and color, this variety grows up to 2-feet long and is commonly found in markets cut into small pieces.

Buttercup: A green-skinned squash with creamy orange flesh, the buttercup is extremely sweet, making it an ideal choice for soups, purées, pies and stuffings. (It can replace sweet potatoes in most recipes.)

Butternut: Beige-colored with a vase-like shape, butternut squash weighs 2 to 5 pounds. It has a sweet orange flesh with a sweet potato-like flavor.

Carnival: Cream with orange spots or light green with dark green spots and vertical lines, the carnival’s sweet yellow meat can be baked or steamed.

Delicata: This squash is also known as sweet potato squash because of its creamy, sweet potato-like flavor. It has a thin edible skin and a relatively short shelf life compared to other winter squashes.

Gold Nugget: With its orange skin and flesh and small pumpkin shape, the Gold Nugget is often referred to as an Oriental pumpkin. It can be cooked whole or halved.

Hubbard squash: A larger-sized squash that can be dark green, gray-blue or orange-red in color, the Hubbard has irregular shapes and extra hard skin. The Hubbard’s flavor is less sweet than many other varieties.

Kabocha: Also known as Hokkaido or Japanese pumpkin, Kabocha has sweet flavors and can be dry and flaky when cooked.

Spaghetti: A golden yellow watermelon-shaped variety that can range from 2 to 5 pounds, spaghetti squash has a mild nutty flavor. Its flesh separates into spaghetti-like strands when cooked.

Sweet dumpling: A small, pumpkin-shaped squash that only weighs about 7 ounces, the sweet dumpling has a mildly sweet flavor and is ideal for roasting whole and stuffing.

Turban squash: Green, orange or white in color, and either speckled or striped, this winter squash has a yellow flesh that tastes a bit like hazelnuts.