Southern Summer Squash Casserole

Am I the only one who was super picky about vegetables growing up? I pretty much only ate salad and broccoli until middle school. My salads consisted of iceberg with cheese, fake bacon bits, croutons and Italian dressing too so I’m not even sure that really constitutes as vegetables.

Until one day, a friend’s step dad made us dinner and served us summer squash sautéed with lots of butter, onions, and salt and pepper. To which my vegetable fearing self was like, “Um, no thanks.” He convinced me to try it though and I was converted!

So when my Mimi made a Southern Summer Squash Casserole during a visit in high school I eagerly tried it and probably ate about half the casserole dish. Ever since then, I’ve had a love affair with squash casserole and have to make it at least once a year to satisfy my craving.

This casserole is what comfort food is to me. Warm, creamy and kind of healthy because there’s a vegetable in it. Ok, so the cheese and the sour cream cancel out any nutritional value but just go with it.

Let’s also place this in the category of things that photographs terribly. It looks like mush. But I promise you the flavor will not disappoint!

Southern Summer Squash Casserole

Ingredients:

• 5-6 yellow summer squash, sliced into bite-sized pieces
• 1 cup sour scream
• 1 large vidalia onion, diced
• 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 stick butter, divided
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 sleeve buttery crackers, crushed
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter and swirl to melt and coat your pan. Add the squash and onion, season well with salt and pepper and sautée for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover the pot with a lid and continue cooking for 10 minutes or so, stirring every few minutes, or until the squash is tender.
3. Grease a 9.5 x 15 inch casserole dish with butter.
4. Transfer cooked squash to a bowl and combine with sour cream, cheddar cheese and parmesan cheese. Mix well until all ingredients are well combined. Add more salt and pepper if needed.
5. Place squash mixture into greased casserole dish and top with cracker crumbs.
6. Put in oven and cook for 30-40 minutes until golden and bubbly.

Note: I have made this with plain potato chips in place of the buttery crackers to make it gluten free and it turned out great!

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