Sweet and golden kabocha squash shines brightly in this Kabocha Salad (Japanese pumpkin) recipe with crispy bacon and crunchy cucumber. This beautiful salad could become a new classic on your holiday table.
One of my favorite fall ingredients is kabocha (sometimes called kabocha squash or Japanese pumpkin). I have many kabocha recipes that I want to share with you, but let’s start with this delicious and easy Kabocha Salad.
Kabocha Salad – The Japanese’s Fall Time Favorite
Have you tried kabocha before? Kabocha has a dull-finished, deep green skin with intense yellow-orange flesh. It has a sweet taste, even sweeter than butternut squash, while the texture and flavor are a cross between a pumpkin and a sweet potato.
Japanese love eating kabocha for its many health benefits. It’s high in beta carotene, vitamin C, vitamins B1 and B2, and more. Beta-carotene can be converted to vitamin A in the body and vitamin A is important for healthy white blood cells, good immunity, and vibrant eyes, skin, and hair. It’s really good stuff! Whenever kabocha is in season, I will rush to the farmers market to pick up one or two to make some of my favorite fall recipes.
A typical kabocha salad includes kabocha, sliced cucumbers, and raisins and that’s how my mom used to make it. Sometimes kabocha salad also includes diced onion. Since my husband is not a huge fan of raisins, I replaced raisins with bacon instead. I love the salty flavor of the bacon in the naturally sweet kabocha. The crispy bits of bacon definitely add another dimension to the typical kabocha salad. You can definitely leave it out for the vegetarian version.
To prepare this salad, the squash is boiled until soft; it is then mashed (some chunks are good) before combined with cucumber slices, bacon (if added), and seasoned with Japanese mayo, salt, and freshly ground pepper. Very simple, yet utterly flavorful.
The slightly creamy and sweet flavor of this Kabocha Salad makes it equally fitting to serve as a side dish for your holiday dinner.
Just a word of caution: Kabocha has really hard skin. It requires a razor-sharp knife and a strong force to cut it open. So just be extra careful when you cut the squash.
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Kabocha Salad
Video
Ingredients
- 1 lb kabocha squash
- 2 slices bacon
- 1 Japanese or Persian cucumber (or ½ English cucumber)
- ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 3 Tbsp Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds from 1 lb kabocha squash and discard them. Cut the kabocha into slices 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide.
- Peel the kabocha skin. Then, cut the kabocha into 1-inch (2.5-cm) cubes.
- Put the kabocha in a saucepan and cover with water. Boil the kabocha until soft.
- Drain the water and mash half of the kabocha. It’s better to leave some big chunks unmashed for texture.
- In a frying pan, cook 2 slices bacon over medium-high heat until crispy. Drain the excess oil on a paper towel and then cut the bacon into small pieces.
- Peel 1 Japanese or Persian cucumber lengthwise, alternating with unpeeled skin to make a striped pattern. Then, thinly slice the cucumber.
- Put the cucumber slices in a bowl and sprinkle with ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt. Rub the salt into the cucumber and let it stand for 5 minutes. Then, squeeze out the liquid.
- Combine the kabocha, bacon, and cucumber together in a bowl. Add 3 Tbsp Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise and freshly ground black pepper. Mix it all together. Serve it cool or at room temperature.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for 1–2 days or in the freezer for 2–3 weeks.
[…] If you are familiar with kabocha recipes on Just One Cookbook, yes, I did add bacon to the Kabocha Salad too! The flavor and texture of bacon goes well with mashed kabocha – much better than […]
How long can you keep the salad? Thx!
Hi Jack! Best to enjoy it on the same day, or within 24 hours. 🙂
[…] Boil peeled kabocha cubes and mash it to make this delicious Kabocha Salad. […]
This is just as if it is at home in Japan; Thank you Nami for sharing Japanese home cooking in the US.
Hi Tsuneko-san! I’m happy to hear you enjoy my recipes. Thank you for reading my blog! 🙂 xo
Hi, the recipe sounds great, but I tried it and ended up with a lot of water without having added any mayonnaise yet.. wonder if it makes a difference that it is an Australian japanese pumpkin? 🙁
Hi Yun! From what you wrote, it seems like either kabocha was overcooked (was it mushy?) or didn’t drain well at Step 4. It shouldn’t be that watery, although I don’t know how’s Australian kabocha is… I wish I can pin point what went wrong, but it’s hard to do so without being there in your kitchen…
I just tried this recipe and loved it. I didn’t’t have bacon, but I did have raisins. The raisins brought sweetness, but I will try this again with bacon. Thank you for sharing. The flavor and texture of the squash was perfect as a salad 🙂
Hi Oko! So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. Hope you enjoy the salad with bacon next time. 🙂
Dear Nami,
Thank you for sharing such a simple recipe! I’m challenging myself to try a new vegetable a week and kabocha was on sale at the local store. 😉
I’m going to try this out tomorrow for dinner! Thanks so much for sharing! <3
Hi Ellie! You’re welcome! I like your challenge! I hope you like kabocha. It’s naturally sweet and delicious! Hope you enjoy(ed) the kabocha salad!
Hello Nami – Greetings from Singapore!
I just made the Kabocha Salad today and thoroughly enjoyed it as well as a couple of the other recipes on your blog. I just want to let you know that I have been tremendously blessed by your generous heart to share your yummy recipes. The steps and directions on your recipes are also very easy to follow for a beginner like me.
Do keep up with the good work! You have made many people (me, my family and my friends) smiling with their satisfied stomachs.
Hello Alana! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed this salad and other recipes from my site. Thank you for trying all the dishes! I’m also happy to hear my step-by-step pictures are helpful. It does take extra time and effort o take pictures while cooking, but feedback from readers like you are always so positive that I can’t stop. 🙂 Thank you for your kind feedback! xo 🙂
Hi Nami,
I tried this salad last week but the kabocha mash turned out to be rather ‘wet’ (before I add any other ingredients). Could it be possible I boil the kabocha too long?
Hi Po! I think I know why. You might have overcooked and didn’t drain enough, so the extra moisture carried into the bowl when you mash the kabocha. It’s only my best guess, but hope you will try to take out kabocha when a skewer goes through (if it’s not cooked enough it doesn’t even go in). Hope that helps. 🙂
Love the taste and texture of kabocha. My kind of salad as who can resist bacon 🙂
Thank you Kit! Yeah bacon in kabocha salad is good one! 🙂
I make Japanese Potato Salad all the time and can’t wait to try this Kabocha version! Can we substitute ham for bacon? Or omit it all together? I love the color of the salad!
Hi Donna! Yes, you can use ham or omit completely. Usually raisin is used. You can also replace with yogurt or use half yogurt and half mayo, too. Hope you enjoy this salad! 🙂
I should try this! They only sell pumpkins around Halloween where i live, so its now or next year^_^
Hi Lava! I hope you still find kabocha to try this! 🙂
This looks delicious. I love kabocha tempura!!
Thank you Linsey! I love kabocha and sweet potato (satsumaimo) tempura! I fight for the last piece! 😀 Thank you for your comment!
Aloha, Nami~
Have had similar kabocha salads at breakfast buffets in Japan, without the bacon, and loved it! Thank you for this recipe to add to the many lovely ones you share. Wish kabocha wasn’t so difficult to cut. . .
Aloha Ryuko! Yeah usually kabocha salad doesn’t include bacon… most recipes uses raisins and I grew up eating that version. Bacon is just my thing. 😀 I know…I can’t help imagining my finger getting chopped off while I cut. 😀
Hey, it’s got bacon–I’m in!! 🙂
Hi Linda! Yep, it’s good! Nice savory touch to the sweet potato. 🙂 Thanks for your comment!