Buttercup Squash Delivery or Pickup

Instacart grocers deliver delicious and fresh buttercup squashes for those times when you're planning to make your favorite creamy soup or a delectable curry. Visit our website to find out what we offer and load a few buttercup squashes in your shopping cart from the comfort of your home.

Buttercup squash forms part of the Cucurbita Maxima species, which is a diverse domesticated species that originated in South America from a wild ancestor over 8,000 years ago. Other cultivars in this species include the Hubbard squash, Turban squash, the Boston marrow, and kabocha. All giant pumpkins, including the largest pumpkins ever recorded, are of this species.

You can distinguish the buttercup squash by its flattish, turban-shaped top, squat shape, and dark green rind with light stripes, which is thick and inedible. It typically weighs around three to five pounds. The flesh of the buttercup squash is yellow in color and, when it's uncooked, smells like a fragrant cucumber. When it's cooked, the flesh becomes dryish and has a nutty and sweet flavor. In fact, the buttercup squash is one of the sweetest varieties of winter squashes.

When you're shopping for a buttercup squash, there are a few things to consider. In general, you want to avoid squashes that have soft spots, blemishes, or dull skin. Another important thing to note is the coloring of the buttercup squash. You want to look out for dark green skin with subtle creamy stripes at the base, while the cap should ideally be a pale grayish-green color with dark stripes near the top. 

If you note pale yellowish patches at the top or base of the squash, don't select it as it's still immature. You can also test if a squash is ripe by rapping on it with your knuckle. If you hear a hollow sound, the squash is good to go. Look out for aged squashes by checking the cap. If you touch the cap and it has turned soft, you want to give that squash a pass as it's old. 

You'll typically find buttercup squashes throughout fall and winter at our grocers. You can store them in a cool, dry place for up to three months.

As the flesh of the buttercup squash can become dryish when cooked, it's best to steam, bake, or roast it. Buttercup squash is a firm favorite in curries and a popular vegetable to make a hearty, creamy base for soup. It is a great substitute for sweet potato, so you can use buttercup squash in sweet potato recipes that you like. You can also make a great variation of mashed potatoes with this squash.

To cut and clean a buttercup squash, take a sharp chef's knife and cut the squash in half right next to the stem. Remove the seeds with a spoon and then cut each section in half again. You then want to cut off the tops and bases from each quarter section, after which you can remove the skin with a vegetable peeler. You can then slice and cube the buttercup squash and use it in a delicious soup, curry, stew, or vegetable dish.