Costco's New Butternut Squash Cannelloni Defines Fall Comfort Food
As fall slowly turns to winter, Costco is encouraging customers to get cozy, bringing back fan favorites like its iconic pumpkin pie and pumpkin streusel muffins. Oh, and don't forget its brand-new butternut squash cannelloni.
By its most general definition, cannelloni is a type of rolled pasta that's often filled with ground meat, veggies, cheese, and/or sauce — it's essentially a cylindrical lasagna. Costco's new fall-inspired cannelloni contains ground Italian sausage, spinach, cubes of butternut squash, parmesan cheese, and a creamy gouda sauce.
Packages of this easy-to-make meal are selling for $5.99 per pound, or around $20 total, depending on the cannelloni's actual weight. To cook this dish, simply preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for up to 45 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Since this dish is premade, there's no need to measure ingredients or even transfer the cannelloni to a different pan for cooking.
Shoppers have mixed feelings about Costco's cozy cannelloni
Unfortunately, not even Costco can please everyone, as has become evident in the wake of the fall-forward butternut squash and sausage cannelloni's release. Several shoppers complained that the dish was underwhelming overall or that they didn't think the butternut squash's flavor paired well with the pasta. Others thought it was too sweet, with one person claiming it tasted like pumpkin pie.
That said, many customers who tried the cannelloni sing its praises. TikTok user @costcohotfinds said the dish made a "great last-minute lunch," as it didn't require any preparation. Others were sold immediately after seeing the cannelloni contained butternut squash. After all, who doesn't enjoy a butternut squash pasta recipe?
At the end of the day, whether or not you like the Costco cannelloni will likely depend on how you feel about pairing butternut squash with pasta. If that's a nonstarter for you, you'll probably be more satisfied with one of Costco's other ready-made, fall-inspired meals.