Table of Contents
- Why is My Butternut Squash Green?
- How to Tell if Butternut Squash Is Ripe
- When to Harvest Butternut Squash
- Harvesting Butternut Squash Too Early
- Can You Eat Green Butternut Squash?
- Most-Asked Butternut Questions
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It's still very edible, and I won't let this one go to waste!
Why is My Butternut Squash Green?
Butternut squash is green before it turns the orange-beige color we know and love.
If your squash is still on the vine and you can leave it on for longer, do so. Given enough time, green butternut squash will blush and then eventually cure on the vine for better storage.

If your squash broke off the vine, a frost is approaching, or a new crop needs to go in and you're stuck with green butternuts - keep reading to find out what you can do with it.
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How to Tell if Butternut Squash Is Ripe
Ripe vs Unripe Butternut Squash

Ripe Butternut Squash
Unripe Butternut Squash

When to Harvest Butternut Squash
Let's look at how you'll know when it's time to harvest your butternut squash:
Butternut Squash Ripening
Butternut squash ripen when their green color fades and they blush tan.
If they're still green, they're not yet ripe.

When Are Butternut Squash Ready to Pick?
Ideally, butternut squash should be left on the vine for a couple weeks after their tan color fills in and the vine starts to die back.
This allows them to cure on the vine, an important process for storage as well as for the best flavor.
Check out our Butternut Squash Curing Guide to learn all about the curing process - and when to harvest your cured squash.
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Harvesting Butternut Squash Too Early

For any number of reasons you may end up harvesting your butternut squash too early. These can include:
- Coming frost
- Hail, flooding, or bad storms
- Accidental early harvesting
- Squash broke off the vine
- Pest pressure
- Need to harvest before vacation or commitments
- Only have time for 1 harvest, and some of the squash are not quite ripe
In any of these cases (and more) you may end up with unripe butternut squash and wonder what to do about it.
Will Butternut Squash Ripen Off the Vine?
Unfortunately not, winter squash will generally not continue to ripen once it comes off the vine.

Winter squash needs to be left on the vine if you want it to ripen fully (and then cure), and you're usually better off leaving it on the vine the longer than you think you need to, rather than picking too soon.
That said, you can still eat butternut squash when it's partially green, so keep reading to find out how to cook green butternut squash if that's what you've got.
Can You Eat Green Butternut Squash?
Yeah green unripe butternut squash is totally edible for humans!
If you've got some squash that broke off the vine or didn't finish ripening up before the frost hit, you can absolutely still eat it.
Just remember to cook it first!

You could eat this now if it broke off the vine early, though the seeds likely wouldn't be viable for saving at this point
A small warning though: If on the off-chance the squash is super bitter after cooking, it's best to avoid it. This isn't common, though, and I've never experienced it personally - and I grow a lot of butternut squash.
What Does Unripe Butternut Squash Taste Like?
Green (unripe) butternut squash will be less sweet than what you're used to. The flavors and sugars have often not yet developed, so you should expect a more savory and bland taste from butternut that's still green.

I definitely won't promise that it will taste as good as a ripe butternut squash, it won't.
Will it be edible and give you some calories, though? Absolutely!
And if they're very small still, they may be softer and resemble summer squash more. Some folks even report being able to fry or sautee these small butternuts instead of roasting or baking.
How to Cook Green Butternut Squash
Just bake it or stew it like you normally would with ripe butternut squash.
Try 400F for around 30-40 minutes, turning occasionally. Hit it with a couple minutes of broiler if you'd like a little caramelization (though the flavor won't be as sweet as fully-ripe butternut).
You can always blend the baked or stewed butternut into a soup, too! That's a favorite of mine, and goes great with homemade bread & toasted butternut seeds from the same squash.

The seeds might not be full-sized yet in unripe butternut, but you can still toast them and eat them at any size.
Of course if the seeds are big enough you can toast them for other stuff too, such as granola.
I would not, however, recommend saving seeds from underripe butternut, as the viability of the seeds will be questionable. If your butternuts didn't fully ripen, you'll want to start over with a new packet of seeds for next year and try again if you intend to save seeds.

What if I Don't Like It?
If you really don't like it, don't eat it.
Dig Cool Merch?
Remember that as long as you compost or have some way to recycle the nutrients back into your garden, you don't need to feel guilty about not eating everthing you grow. It's oq, just return the nutrients to your soil and try again.
Sometimes squash snap off the vine early, or a frost comes too soon and you're forced to harvest them before they're ready.
You might just be stuck with too much of something you really don't enjoy at all.
That's ok, compost them!
Or feed those green butternuts to your chickens or goats. They'll have a fabulous time turning your problem into fresh manure to be composted for your garden.
Most-Asked Butternut Questions
Are Butternut Seeds Edible?
Yes! Just like pumpkin seeds, you can also roast and eat butternut squash seeds.
Just as delicious as pumpkin seeds, I like to add mine to my homemade granola mix 😋
Can Dogs Eat Unripe Butternut Squash?
I couldn't find much info about this online, but as I understand it dogs will need their squash cooked and probably in small amounts.
They can likely tolerate a bit of cooked unripe butternut squash just like we can, but introduce it slowly into their diets if you try it.
Can Chickens Eat Unripe Butternut Squash?
Chickens are a great animal for recycling your green butternut squash, they'll happily eat it and turn it into eggs or meat for you.
Can Rabbits Eat Unripe Butternut Squash?
Rabbits probably shouldn't eat unripe squash.
They've got sensitive digestive systems and don't do well with more than a little ripe squash as it is.
You could experiment, but there's limited information online about how they do with green squash. If you do try it, give them just a little.
Can Goats Eat Unripe Butternut Squash?
Goats can eat practically anything, and green butternut squash is no exception. It's perfectly safe to give your unripe butternut squash to your goats, they'll love it.
They'll even eat squash leaves, vines, and gobble up the fruit raw whether it's green or not.
That's all for now, thanks for reading!
If you have any questions, comments, or would like to connect with fellow gardeners, head on over to the forum and post there.