Oven-Baked Butternut Squash Fritters with Sage Yogurt
Grated butternut squash and chickpea flour baked on a preheated sheet pan until the edges caramelize, served with a cool garlicky sage coconut yogurt.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 24 min
- Rest
- 10 min
- Serves
- 4
Oven-Baked Butternut Squash Fritters with Sage Yogurt is a vegan lunch recipe made with butternut squash, fine sea salt, yellow onion. It takes 49 minutes of hands-on time, plus 10 minutes resting, serves 4, and each serving has 301 calories, 6 g of protein and 6 g of fiber.
Butternut squash is far drier and sweeter than summer zucchini, so it needs a little water in the batter rather than a hard squeeze — chickpea flour hydrates into a batter that glues the shreds together without any egg. Baking on a preheated, oiled sheet pan mimics the sizzle of a skillet, so the underside sets and browns the moment the batter hits the metal instead of steaming. Warming chopped sage in olive oil before stirring it into coconut yogurt takes the dusty edge off the herb and gives you a sauce that tastes cooked, not raw.
A seasonal produce + cooking method (oven-baked winter squash fritters instead of pan-fried summer zucchini) take on our Crispy Zucchini Corn Fritters with Jalapeño & Cilantro-Lime Dip.
Ingredients
Fritters
- 1½ lb680 gbutternut squash, peeled, seeded and coarsely grated (about 5 cups)
- ¾ tsp4.5 gfine sea salt, for the squash
- 1 small70 gyellow onion, grated or very finely diced
- 2 cloves6 ggarlic, finely grated
- ¾ cup69 gchickpea flour
- 1 tsp4.6 gbaking powder
- 1½ tsp3.2 gground cumin
- ½ tsp0.9 gground coriander
- ½ tsp1.2 gfreshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup59 gcold water
- 3 tbsp41 golive oil, for the pan and brushing
Sage yogurt
- ¾ cup170 gunsweetened coconut yogurt
- 1 tbsp14 golive oil
- 1 tbsp2 gfresh sage leaves, finely chopped
- 1 clove3 ggarlic, finely grated
- 2 tsp10 glemon juice
- ¼ tsp1.5 gfine sea salt
To serve
- 2 tbsp16 gpumpkin seeds, toasted, for scattering (optional)
- 2 tbsp7.6 gflat-leaf parsley, chopped (optional)
Kit: box grater or food processor with shredding disc, rimmed sheet pan, parchment paper
Tips
- Grate the squash on the large holes of a box grater or with a food processor shredding disc — a fine grate turns to purée and the fritters bake up pasty.
- Use the neck of the squash rather than the bulb: it is solid flesh with no seed cavity and grates into long, even shreds.
- Resist crowding the pan. Twelve fritters fit a half-sheet with breathing room; two crowded pans brown less than one roomy one, so bake in batches if needed.
- Chickpea flour tastes raw and bitter if underbaked. Go by colour — deep gold, not pale tan — rather than by the clock.
Swap ideas
- Swap the butternut for delicata, kabocha or sweet potato, grated the same way
- Delicata needs no peeling and bakes slightly sweeter; sweet potato is starchier, so hold back 1 tbsp of the water.
- Use chopped rosemary or thyme in place of the sage
- A sharper, more resinous sauce; both take to the warm-oil treatment just as well.
- Stir 2 tbsp tahini into the yogurt
- Makes the sauce richer and nuttier, closer to a dressing that can also coat a side salad.
- Add 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes to the batter
- A gentle background heat that plays against the sweetness of the squash.
The numbers
Nutrition per serving
301kcal per serving
Everything else · 4 servings per recipe
- Saturated fat
- 3.3 g 16%
- Sugars
- 6.7 g
- Sodium
- 734 mg 32%
- Potassium
- 806 mg 17%
- Calcium
- 283 mg 22%
- Iron
- 3 mg 17%
- Vitamin C
- 39 mg 43%
- Vitamin B12
- 0.5 µg 21%
% Daily Value on a 2,000 calorie diet. Calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for each ingredient; optional ingredients are excluded. Estimates vary with brands and portions.
Sources: Squash, winter, butternut, raw, Salt, table, Onions, raw, Garlic, raw, Chickpea flour (besan), Leavening agents, baking powder, double-acting, sodium aluminum sulfate, Spices, cumin seed, Spices, coriander seed, Spices, pepper, black, Beverages, water, tap, drinking, Oil, olive, salad or cooking, So Delicious Dairy Free Unsweetened Plain Coconutmilk Yogurt (manufacturer label; serving 3/4 cup = 170 g, converted to per 100 g), Sauge, fraîche (values from the Anses Ciqual 2017 table, as reproduced by laurentberta.com). No fresh sage entry exists in USDA FoodData Central., Lemon juice, raw
Method
Toss the grated squash with 3/4 tsp salt in a colander set over a bowl and leave for 10 minutes. Squeeze it gently in handfuls — you want it damp, not bone dry, since butternut holds much less water than zucchini. Discard the liquid.
Slide a rimmed sheet pan into the oven and heat to 425°F (220°C). Letting the pan heat with the oven is what gives the fritters a browned, skillet-like underside.
In a large bowl, combine the squeezed squash, onion, 2 grated garlic cloves, chickpea flour, baking powder, cumin, coriander and black pepper. Add the water and mix hard with a spoon for about a minute until no dry flour remains and the batter clings to the shreds. If it still looks powdery, add water 1 tbsp at a time.
Pull out the hot pan, lay a sheet of parchment on it and brush the parchment generously with 2 tbsp of the olive oil — it will shimmer immediately. Drop 12 mounds of batter (about 1/4 cup each) onto the pan and flatten each to a 3-inch disc, roughly 1/2 inch thick. Brush the tops with the remaining 1 tbsp oil.
Bake for 15 minutes, until the undersides are deep golden and release easily from the parchment. Flip each fritter with a thin spatula and bake another 8–9 minutes, until both sides are browned and the edges are crisp and lacy.
While they bake, warm 1 tbsp olive oil with the chopped sage in a small pan over low heat for 30–45 seconds, just until fragrant and the sage darkens slightly. Do not let it brown. Scrape it into a bowl with the coconut yogurt, grated garlic, lemon juice and 1/4 tsp salt and stir to combine.
Let the fritters sit on the pan for 2 minutes to firm up, then serve warm with the sage yogurt, scattered with toasted pumpkin seeds and parsley.
Storage: Keep cooled fritters in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days; reheat on a rack or sheet pan at 400°F for 6–8 minutes to bring back the crisp edges (the microwave makes them limp). The sage yogurt keeps separately for 4 days. Baked fritters also freeze for up to 2 months — reheat from frozen at 400°F for 12–14 minutes.
Questions
- How much protein is in oven-baked butternut squash fritters with sage yogurt?
- Each of the 4 servings has 6 g of protein, 6 g of fiber and 301 calories, calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for every ingredient.
- Is oven-baked butternut squash fritters with sage yogurt vegan?
- Yes. It contains no dairy, eggs, honey or other animal products.
- How long does oven-baked butternut squash fritters with sage yogurt take to make?
- 25 minutes of prep and 24 minutes of cooking, so 49 minutes of hands-on time, plus 10 minutes of unattended resting.
- Can you make oven-baked butternut squash fritters with sage yogurt ahead?
- Keep cooled fritters in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days; reheat on a rack or sheet pan at 400°F for 6–8 minutes to bring back the crisp edges (the microwave makes them limp). The sage yogurt keeps separately for 4 days. Baked fritters also freeze for up to 2 months — reheat from frozen at 400°F for 12–14 minutes.
- What can I substitute in oven-baked butternut squash fritters with sage yogurt?
- Swap the butternut for delicata, kabocha or sweet potato, grated the same way — delicata needs no peeling and bakes slightly sweeter; sweet potato is starchier, so hold back 1 tbsp of the water.. Use chopped rosemary or thyme in place of the sage — a sharper, more resinous sauce; both take to the warm-oil treatment just as well.. Stir 2 tbsp tahini into the yogurt — makes the sauce richer and nuttier, closer to a dressing that can also coat a side salad.. Add 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes to the batter — a gentle background heat that plays against the sweetness of the squash..
- Does oven-baked butternut squash fritters with sage yogurt contain gluten or nuts?
- None of the ingredients are a source of gluten, tree nuts or peanuts. That is a statement about the ingredient list, not a guarantee about the brands you buy — always read the labels if you're cooking for an allergy.
Nutrition is calculated from USDA data for every ingredient — how we work it out.
Published September 20, 2026 ·Mediterranean
