A simple recipe for country-style fresh yellow squash stewed then pan-fried in a large skillet with onion and lots of black pepper.
JUMP TO RECIPEA few things are set in stone when you have a summer garden in the South:
- The child that gets into the most trouble when he’s bored does the weeding.
- You’ll wish you hadn’t planted so many butterbeans when it’s time to pick them.
- Before summer’s over you’ll get good with the .22 again.
- You’ll swear the corn’s taking longer this year.
- You will plant more bell peppers and squash than your family could ever possibly eat.
If you grew up with fresh yellow squash in your garden, you’ve eaten your weight in stewed squash and then some. When I was a kid I didn’t want anything to do with it. Especially not when the alternative was fried squash.
I should stop here and explain this bit of vernacular because it will get confusing if you aren’t familiar.
The two most common ways to prepare fresh yellow squash around here are to fry it and to fry it. Confused yet?
“Fried” squash can mean when it’s cooked like this OR when it’s breaded it in a cornmeal breader and deep fried. More often fried means breaded but not always, so you have to ask.
Making it this way is a two-part process. First you let it ‘stew’ to cook the majority of the moisture out, then you crank up the heat so the liquid cooks out and the squash starts to sizzle and fry in the grease or oil.
Maybe we should call this “stew-fried” squash. Heeeeeeeeyyy, that’s catchy! I wonder if we could make that a thing if we all started saying it?? Anybody else just hear Regina George say, "Stop trying to make fetch happen."?
Stewed Squash is usually cooked with a LOT of black pepper. I spent the first half of my life thinking yellow squash was spicy because of the amount of pepper used to prepare it this way. Ha! It wasn’t until I started cooking for my own family that I realized it isn’t.
NOTES ABOUT COOKING STEWED SQUASH
- You’ll need a verrrrry large skillet to cook this like I’ve written. If you don’t have anything oversized, simply pour most of the liquid out after the 5-minute covered cook time, add another tablespoon of bacon grease, then skip to Step 4.
- 4-5 average-sized squash weigh about 4 pounds.
- Use vegetable oil if you don’t have any bacon grease then have a stern conversation with whoever’s throwing out the bacon grease.
- Zucchini can be prepared the exact same way (or use a combo of the two).
Be sure to check out my recipe for SQUASH CASSEROLE too! It’s my all-time favorite side-dish at Thanksgiving!! Even more so than the Mac & Cheese and Cornbread Dressing!
Recipe for Stewed Squash
Stewed Squash
Ingredients
- 4 lbs fresh yellow squash
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3-4 tablespoons bacon grease
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Sauté onions in bacon grease over medium heat in a very large skillet until lightly browned.
- Meanwhile, wash squash well then cut into slices (about 1/4 inch thick). Add squash, salt and pepper to skillet then stir until well combined.
- Cover pan, reduce heat to medium-low then cook for 5 minutes or until tender.
- Remove lid, increase heat to medium-high then cook and stir until all liquid has cooked out and squash is starting to sizzle and brown (about 5-10 minutes depending on pan size).
- Taste for seasoning then add more salt and/or pepper if desired. This is usually cooked with a LOT of pepper (to the point it makes it spicy).
Notes:
- You’ll need a verrrrry large skillet to cook this like I’ve written. If you don’t have anything oversized, simply pour most of the liquid out after the 5-minute covered cook time, add another tablespoon of bacon grease, then skip to Step 4.
- 4-5 average-sized squash weigh about 4 pounds.
- Use vegetable oil if you don’t have any bacon grease then have a conversation with whoever’s throwing out the bacon grease.
- Zucchini can be prepared the exact same way (or use a combo of the two).
Have you ever tried freezing this dish after cooking? Curious to know if anyone has had success doing that and the specifics! Thank you for sharing your recipes!
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