Cheesy Squash Bake

Back when our daughters were young, my husband and I planted a huge garden with corn, green beans, potatoes, broccoli, lettuce, radishes, spinach, tomatoes, cantaloupe, peppers, cucumbers. And yes, zucchini and squash! Once those little squash plants started putting on blossoms, we had squash coming out of our ears! We were always looking for ways to use them.

Now I buy squash at the grocery store or get some from our middle daughter, who has a large garden–and chickens! When shopping for specimens, opt for small ones, with no withering and as few marks as possible. Smaller means less seeds, which means less waste. It also means tender.

More Zucchini Recipes

Ingredients for Cheesy Squash Bake

(See the full recipe at the bottom of this post.)

Gather your ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a medium glass or porcelain baking dish with cooking spray.

Using a Chef’s knife and cutting board, slice the squash in half lengthwise and then cut into 1/2″ pieces. Dice the yellow onion, green bell pepper, and hot pepper. Mince the garlic.

I like to use a Poblano hot pepper in this dish, but if you prefer a bit more heat, you might want to use a Jalapeno pepper. 

Prepare the Topping

Place saltine crackers in a freezer bag and crush until it makes course crumbs.

A rolling pin works really well to crush crackers or cookies. Crush until the crackers have reached the desired consistency of a course crumb or to a fine meal.

The last time I made this dish, I used some leftover Cheddar Cheese Sourdough Crackers that I had in my pantry. These worked really well and added extra flavor to the dish. 

Heat the butter in a microwave-safe bowl at 10-15 second intervals, until melted.

Using a box grater, shred the cheddar cheese.

As mentioned in other recipes, I always recommend shredding your own cheese. I will buy chunk cheese in bulk when it’s on sale at the grocery store and then freeze the excess. Frozen cheese may not shred as well, but the taste of the cheese will not change. Chunk cheese melts better than pre shredded. And it has less additives, which is always better. Buy chunk.

Assemble the Casserole

Lay the sliced squash on the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Place the dish in the microwave and cook for 4-6 minutes until crisp-tender. Remove from microwave.

Meanwhile, heat a small skillet with olive oil. Sauté the diced yellow onion, green bell pepper, hot pepper, and minced garlic until tender.

Spoon this mixture over the par-cooked squash. Sprinkle with seasoned salt and freshly ground black pepper.

In a small bowl, combine the crushed saltines, melted butter, and dried parsley. Mix well and sprinkle over the sautéed vegetables.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle the shredded cheddar cheese over the casserole.

Return to the oven and continue baking for 10-15 minutes, until the cheese has melted and is bubbly brown.

This recipe will serve 4-6 people.

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