Southern Zucchini Squash Casserole (2024)

FAQs

How do you make Paula Deen's squash casserole? ›

In separate medium size skillet, sauté the sliced onion in butter for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and, using a large bowl, add squash, onions, sour cream, Paula Deen's House Seasoning and sharp cheddar cheese. Pour mixture into a buttered casserole dish and top with cracker crumbs. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

It's important to salt, par-cook, and drain the squash before assembling the casserole to prevent it from being watery. The mixture of eggs, sour cream, mayonnaise, and cheese also acts as a binder to thicken.

Yellow squash can be eaten cooked or raw -- either way provides you with lots of nutrition. (Although you'll lose some of the water content when you cook the squash.) It's low-calorie, low-sugar, and its fiber and water content can help you stay fuller, longer.

Both zucchini and younger yellow squash can be used interchangeably in recipes and in combination with each other. Try swapping in yellow squash in your favorite zucchini bread recipe or spiralizing both for a colorful bowl of vegetable noodles.

Roasting zucchini at a high temperature instead of baking or sautéing helps develop browning and a slight char on the outside, which keeps it from getting soggy. It also concentrates the flavors, giving this subtle veg a little more oomph.

Butternut squash

A great, nearly all-purpose squash, this supermarket staple boasts a high moisture content, making the flesh slightly watery, but it remains very sturdy, keeping its shape even when thoroughly cooked.

Slice and salt zucchini in advance of cooking to draw out some of the vegetable's excess moisture (while also seasoning it more thoroughly). To do this, cut up a pound of zucchini and toss it with ½ teaspoon of table salt. Let it drain in a colander for about 30 minutes before patting it dry and cooking it.

Covering a casserole helps the dish cook evenly, stay moist, and prevents burning. Uncovering helps with browning, crisping and allowing for steam to release.

Is yellow squash as nutritious as zucchini? The two are very similar in terms of their nutrition content and health perks. For example, both are about 95% water, making them low in both calories and carbs, and are decent sources of vitamins A and C, potassium, and fiber.

Is squash good for losing belly fat? ›

Reduces fat accumulation in the body. Therefore, obese people who want to lose weight can use squash as a green vegetable. In particular, it is recommended to increase the frequency of the appearance of squash in meals to improve the effectiveness of weight loss.

One cup of cooked butternut squash has only 83 calories and provides 7 grams of filling fiber — making it an excellent choice to lose excess weight and body fat. It contains both insoluble and soluble fiber. Soluble fiber has been associated with fat loss and decreased appetite.

Zucchini is actually a part of the summer squash family, which also includes crookneck, pattypan, and yellow squash. All zucchini are summer squash, but summer squash defines a larger group of seasonal gourds with edible skin and tender flesh.

What Does Zucchini Replace in Baking? Zucchini acts as a wet ingredient in baking. It doesn't necessarily replace a fat like oil or a binding ingredient like eggs, but it does add moisture and volume.

Certainly I know you can eat the skin on summer squashes, like zucchini, pattypan and yellow summer squash. With their thin skin and watery flesh, leaving the skins on helps give summer squash a pleasantly chewy texture.

The Southern classic combines fresh squash and onion with a creamy sauce and a crunchy cracker-Cheddar cheese topping. Whether you serve this squash casserole as a flavorful side or a veggie-centric main dish, everyone will be begging you to make it again and again for family gatherings, potlucks, and holidays.

Depending on what type of squash you are using you might not need to peel it, with thinner skinned squash such as butternut squash you can eat the skin. For thicker skinned squash it is often easier to cut the squash into large wedges, roast, and then peel the skin off after it's cooked when it's softer and easier.

Safely canning any low acid food requires a pressure canner to ensure temperatures high enough to destroy Clostridium botulinum spores that produce a dangerous toxin. However, processing squash and zucchini at such high temperatures in a pressure canner would compact them and create an undesirable mush.

We do not recommend canning summer squash or zucchini. We recommend preserving summer squash or zucchini by pickling or freezing. Summer squash is good for you. It is low in calories and many varieties provide vitamin C, potassium and, if the skin is eaten, beta carotene.