11 Sweetest Squash Varieties You Should Grow This Season

Sweet and buttery squashes bring long-awaited rewards after a summer spent developing. As the hefty fruits with thick skins form over a long growing period, their sugary starches reach peak ripeness in late summer and into fall.

Winter squashes, like butternuts, bring supreme sweetness that’s well worth the wait. They grow easily from seed sown in spring or early summer for autumn harvest and storage. In both bushy and sprawling torms, their vines grow along the ground, on vertical supports like trellises and arches, and in raised beds and containers. Dwarf varieties may mature earlier and suit small space gardens and those with short growing seasons.

The cucurbits grow best in full sun with six hours or more of daily sunlight. They prefer organically rich, moist, and well-draining soils. They boast a long storage life post-harvest, and the sweetest of the sweet squash varieties bring a meltaway flavor to savor on chilly evenings.

Honeynut Winter Squash

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Honeynut Winter Squash Seeds

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Red Kuri Winter Squash

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Lakota Winter Squash

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Lakota Winter Squash Seeds

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‘Honeynut’

	botanical name Cucurbita moschata ‘Honeynut’
	height 2-3’ vines

‘Honeynut’ is a hybrid from Cornell’s breeding program and crosses butternut and buttercup – two of the sweetest squash varieties – for superior sweetness and a smooth texture. The moschata selection has good squash vine borer and powdery mildew resistance. Their thick skins and smooth stems make them less accessible to the destructive pests.

‘Honeynut’ bears small fruits at only four to five inches long but packs the flavor. Dwarf, bushy vines make them ideal for growing vertically and in small spaces. Growing squash vertically saves space and staves off diseases. 

The fruits start mottled green and ripen to mellow orange-red. These butternuts are ready in 110 days and store for up to six months.

‘Sweet Meat’

	botanical name Cucurbita maxima ‘Sweet Meat’
	height 10’ vines

‘Sweet Meat’ is one of the sweetest squash varieties around. It brings the sugar with fleshy, 10 to 15-pound fruits. The vigorous 1940s heirloom has a fine-grained texture and exceptional flavor for fresh eating or baked into pies (some say they’re better than pumpkin pie). Their melt-in-your-mouth flesh doesn’t need butter or spices to make it more delectable. The large rounds are also prime for canning and freezing.

The unique fruits are cool, slate gray with dense orange flesh. The flattened rounds have a long shelf life post-harvest. To pick the fruits, clip them with two inches of stem attached to prolong storage.

‘Sweet Meat’ is prolific and reliable, producing even in cool climates. They mature in 95 to 110 days.

‘Delicata’

	botanical name Cucurbita maxima ‘Delicata’
	height 12’ vines

‘Delicata’ takes top billing in the realm of the sweetest squash varieties with a “sweet as honey” description. A historic favorite, ‘Delicata’ is from 1894 and brings a high sugar content with its fine-textured, golden interiors. Fruits are sweet right off the vine with a thin skin for easy work in the kitchen and on the plate. There’s no need for peeling, the skin is edible with a nutty taste.

The elongated loaves are creamy-white with orangey tones and dark green stripes and flecks. Each grows about eight inches long and four inches wide, weighing in at one to three pounds. With thin skins, storage time is only a few months, so enjoy this one closer to harvest to warm up chilly fall and winter evenings.

Look for Cornell’s ‘Bush Delicata’ with improved disease resistance. ‘Sugar Loaf’ and ‘Honey Boat’ are bred for sweetness.

‘Seminole’

	botanical name Cucurbita moschata ‘Seminole’
	height 25’ vines

‘Seminole’ pumpkins have large vines that produce six-inch bell fruits that weigh six to twelve pounds. Firm and with deep orange flesh, the flavor is sweeter than many butternuts and is a good, less fibrous substitute for traditional pumpkin.

Multiple tribes in Florida, including the Seminole, Creek, Miccosukee, Muscogee, and Calusa, cultivated the selection. They’re ideal for southern climates, and the cultivar features excellent mildew resistance and tough stems to defend against moths and caterpillars.

Harvest mature fruits in autumn or pick them early and young to enjoy as summer squash. ‘Seminole’ needs plenty of space for its long vines to run.

‘Waltham’

	botanical name Cucurbita moschata ‘Waltham’
	height 8’ vines

‘Waltham’ butternut boasts a traditional nutty flavor and tender orange flesh. A favorite since the 1970s, the variety is an All-America Selections winner out of Massachusetts. The semi-compact vines are high-yielding with four to five fruits per plant.

‘Waltham’s’ smooth interior isn’t stringy or fibrous, and the butternut has a months-long shelf life. The butternuts weigh three to six pounds and measure up to a foot long. Sturdy and classic, ‘Waltham’ is a highly popular baking squash. As a moschata, it has good squash vine borer resistance.

‘Lakota’

	botanical name Cucurbita maxima ‘Lakota’
	height 10-20’ vines

‘Lakota’ stems from over a century of hybridization, beginning with an unnamed variety that was cross-pollinated and shared through home gardens. The result was later crossed with a ‘Hubbard,’ and the University of Nebraska made it genetically stable.

‘Lakota’ is as decorative as it is ornamental. The pear-shaped fruits are deep crimson-orange with varied green mottling. Each weighs between four and eight pounds.

This sweet squash variety is a baking type that’s also smooth and nutty. Roast the seeds for a healthy, tasty snack. The vine performs in various conditions with ease. Harvest any remaining fruits before the first heavy freeze to preserve the frost-sensitive bounty.

‘Red Kuri’

	botanical name Cucurbita maxima ‘Red Kuri’
	height 4-6’

‘Red Kuri’, also called ‘Orange Hokkaido’ or ‘Baby Red Hubbard,’ is a Japanese variety popular for its creamy texture and chestnut flavor (kuri means “chestnut”). Melon-orange and sweet like pumpkins (some say better), they’re ideal for steaming, roasting, and baking.

‘Red Kuri’ is a fit for small gardens, trellising, and in containers. The vines produce two to five teardrop fruits that weigh three to four pounds.

They’re good options for short-growing seasons and cold climates, developing relatively quickly on compact forms. ‘Red Kuri’ is ready in about 95 days.

‘Galeux d’Eysines’

	botanical name Cucurbita maxima ‘Galeux d’Eysines’
	height 10’-15’ vines

‘Galeux d’Eysines’ is a beautiful and bumpy pumpkin with a high sugar content. In buff peach, the pastel gourds have warty outer skins that bring a unique texture. Sugars crystallize under the skin and causes the raised areas. The skin tells of a sugary interior.

‘Galeux’ goes by the moniker the “peanut” pumpkin because of its rough shell, though it has smooth, orange flesh. Each pumpkin may reach one foot in diameter and weigh 10 to 15 pounds. 

The French heirloom is rich in soups and sauces and is versatile in cuisine. They store for up to six months and make a showpiece in harvest displays in addition to cooking.

‘Table King’

	botanical name Cucurbita pepo ‘Table King’
	height 4’ vines

‘Table King’ is an early-maturing winter acorn squash from the University of Connecticut in 1974. The compact hybrid is an All-America Selections winner for its quality flavor, dwarf vines, and long storage life. ‘Table King’ is also the perfect serving size and matures in about 80 days.

‘Table King’s’ predecessor is ‘Table Queen’ from the Iowa Seed Company in Des Moines in 1913. The historic acorns have shiny, dark green skins and prominent ridging. The interior flesh is rich and creamy yellow-orange. With a sugary interior, both ‘King’ and ‘Queen’ acorns are perfect for baking. 

‘Pink Banana’

	botanical name Cucurbita maxima ‘Pink Banana’
	height 12-15’

‘Pink Banana’ is a head-turner in the harvest display. The large, salmon-pink variety reaches up to two feet long. The sugary and tender oblongs are made for pies or to be eaten all on their own.

Each ‘Pink Banana’ weighs 10 to 12 pounds and has a bright, golden-orange interior. The seed cavity is narrow, leaving more room for the “meat” and good eating.

Native to Argentina and Uruguay, ancient cultures utilized banana squash, as did American pioneers. The heirloom brings historic interest to the edible landscape and the kitchen.

‘Tromboncino’

	botanical name Cucurbita moschata ‘Tromboncino’
	height 15’ vines

‘Tromboncino,’ also called ‘Zucchino Rampicante,’ is an Italian heirloom with long fruits that mature in the fall. They add vertical interest as they grow to reach a curvy three feet long at maturity. Trellis or arch the vigorous vines to watch the spectacle unfold.