Southern Yellow Squash Casserole

If you've got tons of fresh summer squash try this pineapple zucchini bread, too.

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
• 🧾 Ingredients
• 🔪 Instructions
• 🥫 Storage
• 💭 Tips
• 👩🏻‍🍳 Frequently asked questions
• 📞 The last word
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe

Sometimes it's the simplest foods that just taste the best. This easy side dish recipe doesn't have a lot of ingredients but it does have a generous amount of delicious flavor!

Adding sour cream turns bland yellow summer squash into a creamy, comforting side dish that most everyone loves. The crunchy buttery cracker topping just takes it over the top.

You can add cooked chicken breast, ham, or cooked ground beef and make it a main dish, too!

During the summer months when you've got a lot of squash on hand this simple recipe is a must!

🧾 Ingredients

Super simple ingredients here.

I've also used zucchini or a combination of zucchini and yellow squash for this summer side dish - it's always just as good!

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• Cheddar cheese
• sour cream
• large egg
• Ritz crackers (or other butter crackers) - you could also use seasoned bread crumbs
• yellow squash
• butter
• bell pepper
• sweet onion

🔪 Instructions

Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a baking dish.
2. Grease an 8x8 inch baking dish or a 1 ½ quart casserole dish.
3. Melt 2 tablespoons or so of the butter and the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and saute the squash, onions, and peppers until very soft and mushy.
4. Remove from heat. Let the squash and onion mixture drain in a colander for a few minutes to remove excess water.
5. Add to a large bowl.
6. Mix in the sour cream, Cheddar cheese, and egg.
7. Spoon the squash mixture into the greased casserole.
8. Top with cracker crumbs and cheese then dot with butter.
9. Dot with remaining butter.
10. Bake for 30 -35 minutes.

🥫 Storage

You can assemble this ahead of time, but leave off the cracker crumbs, cover with plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days before baking. Add the crumbs just before you bake it.

Leftover squash casserole can be put in an airtight container and kept in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You'll need to crisp the buttery cracker crumb topping back up in the oven - just heat at 375F until heated through.

Freezing instructions

You can also freeze this for up to 3 months unbaked. Mix it up and transfer the mixture to a greased casserole dish. Don't add the cracker crumbs. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze.

When you're ready to bake just thaw overnight in the refrigerator, add the crumb topping and bake as directed.

💭 Tips

Expert Tip: Use smaller, tender squash for this easy squash casserole. They don't have to be tiny but make sure the skin is soft and tender.

• Grate the Cheddar cheese from a block don't buy pre-shredded. If you'll look at the images above you'll see how the pre-shredded doesn't melt properly. I tried to save time and it was a mistake.
• Slice the squash in even slices.
• You can use zucchini, or a mixture of crookneck squash and zucchini, if you like.
• Add the sour cream to the squash mixture to cool it off before adding other ingredients so the egg doesn't curdle.
• Cream cheese is a nice variation for the sour cream. It's a little more dense than when made with sour cream. Have it at room temperature or warm it slightly so that it stirs in easily.
• Some people use mayonnaise instead of sour cream. I don't care for it that way but you might like it.
• Some people use a can of cream of mushroom soup instead of sour cream in this.
• Don't use frozen veggies in a yellow squash casserole because it has too much liquid and makes the finished dish watery.
• You can add diced ham or cooked, diced chicken to the squash mixture to make this squash recipe more of a main dish.
• Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to three days.

👩🏻‍🍳 Frequently asked questions

📞 The last word

I usually think of this southern yellow squash casserole as a main dish because that's how it was generally served when I was growing up.

As a side dish it goes really well with just about any grilled meat and I love it with meatloaf!

It's so easy to make and really budget friendly - especially in the summer when your neighbors are leaving bags of summer squash and zucchini on your porch!

Southern yellow squash casserole is also a great side dish for Thanksgiving so keep that in mind!

If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!

If you love this recipe please give it a 5 star rating. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖 Recipe

First published July 21, 2020. Last updated June 30, 2021 to add more helpful tips.