Name: Miso-Butter Roast Chicken With Acorn Squash Panzanella
Cook time: 40 minutes
Total time: 2 hours 10 minutes, includes resting time
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 (3½–4-lb.) whole chicken; 2¾ tsp. kosher salt, divided, plus more; 2 small acorn squash (about 3 lb. total); 2 Tbsp. finely chopped sage; 1 Tbsp. finely chopped rosemary; 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted, plus 3 Tbsp. room temperature; ¼ tsp. ground allspice; Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes; Freshly ground black pepper; ⅓ loaf good-quality sturdy white bread, torn into 1" pieces (about 2½ cups); 2 medium apples (such as Gala or Pink Lady; about 14 oz. total), cored, cut into 1" pieces; 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil; ½ small red onion, thinly sliced; 3 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar; 1 Tbsp. white miso; ¼ cup all-purpose flour; 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature; ¼ cup dry white wine; 2 cups unsalted chicken broth; 2 tsp. white miso; Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

Photo of a roasted chicken on a serving platter with butternut squash a bowl of gravy and serving utensils on the side.

Photo by Joseph De Leo, Prop Styling by Megan Hedgpeth, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich

If you’re doing chicken for Thanksgiving this year (and you absolutely should), you might as well pair it with a nontraditional stuffing. This squash-and-apple side is the move: It has all the buttery, herby flavor of classic stuffing, but in place of mushy bread it offers crispy, craggy croutons, which readily soak up the miso-spiked gravy. Thanksgiving brood closer to six or eight people rather than three or four? The recipe doubles easily: Simply roast two chickens on a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet; to make the gravy, scrape the drippings from the baking sheet into a large skillet and proceed as usual.

Recipe notes

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