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Squash Croquettes

Squash Croquettes are a simple country side dish that Southerners love. In it, fresh shredded yellow squash is mixed with ingredients that transform it into a fritter or a squash cake. Fried until golden, they can be served alongside your favorite entrees year-round.

Squash Croquettes

How to Make the Best Squash Croquettes Recipe

Squash croquettes are an old Southern country favorite. I love them, and typically make them most often when squash is in abundance but, why wait? We’re so fortunate to have access to fresh produce year-round and these golden crispy cakes are a fantastic way to get veggies into the kids.

  • Ingredients you’ll need to make homemade Squash Croquettes: Shredded yellow squash, diced onion, self rising flour, large eggs, grated Parmesan cheese, seasoned salt, granulated garlic, black pepper, ground cumin, cayenne pepper, panko breadcrumbs, melted butter and vegetable oil.
  • Kitchen tools you’ll need: Mixing bowls plus shallow bowl or plate for the panko breading, measuring cups and spoons, an ice cream scoop or similar for dividing the squash mixture, cheese grater, large silicone spatula or spoon, sharp knife and cutting board plus a large skillet for frying.
  • I recommend that you use an ice cream scoop or a tablespoon to divide the batter. If the batter is evenly divided, the croquettes will be uniform in size for even cooking.
  • Sprinkle with panko breadcrumbs for added crunch then drop the mixture into the hot pan sprinkling the other side with panko before turning.
  • Let one side brown, then turn and gently flatten. If you attempt to flatten them on the uncooked side, the batter will end up sticking to the spatula and the croquettes will break apart.
  • You may also use half shredded yellow squash and half shredded zucchini, if you have some on hand without any other adjustments needed.
  • Store leftover Squash Croquettes chilled in the refrigerator. Reheat over medium heat in a skillet on the stovetop or reheat in the microwave.
easy-squash-croquettes-pinterest

Easy Squash Croquettes Recipe

I definitely like to have a special sauce to serve on the side for dipping. One of the sauces I use is the Creamy Sriracha Dipping Sauce that I make for my onion strings. Homemade Yum Yum Sauce or marinara sauce both work beautifully as well. Then my go-to recipe for Comeback Sauce just may be the ticket. Squash croquettes serve-up that fresh from the garden goodness that I grew-up watching my Daddy grow. You just can’t beat straight from the vine to the plate. It simply doesn’t get any better than that. How to make Squash Croquettes: (Scroll down for full printable recipe.)

  • Squash – Shred the squash you’ll need around 4-5 medium squash. Blot the shredded squash with paper towels to remove excess moisture.
  • Binder- In a medium mixing bowl mix together the shredded squash, diced onion and egg.
  • Mix-ins – Add the self-rising flour, grated Parmesan, chopped chives, seasoned salt, garlic powder, cumin, black pepper and cayenne. Mix well.
  • Prepare Skillet – Heat oil and a butter in a non-stick skillet.
  • Divide and Cook – Using a Tbsp or a medium ice cream scoop to divide the mixture. Sprinkle with panko then, drop the mixture into the pan. Repeat sprinkling top side with panko before turning.
  • Fry – Fry in batches over medium-high, cooking until browned and cooked through. Around 3 minutes on each side.
  • Add additional oil and butter to the pan as needed between batches. Serve immediately.
Squash Croquettes

More Southern Style Squash Recipes to Make

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Squash Croquettes

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time6 minutes
Total Time21 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American, Southern
Keyword: squash-croquettes
Servings: 18 croquettes
Calories: 108kcal
Author: Melissa Sperka

Ingredients

  • 4 cup shredded yellow squash
  • 1 medium sweet onion finely diced
  • 2 large eggs beaten
  • 1 cup self-rising flour
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 Tbsp chopped chives or parsley
  • 1 tsp seasoned salt
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • dash of cayenne
  • 4 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 4 Tbsp salted butter
  • 2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs

Instructions

  • Shred the squash, you’ll need around 4-5 medium squash. Blot the shredded squash with paper towels to remove excess moisture.
  • In a medium mixing bowl mix together the shredded squash, diced onion and egg.
  • Add the self-rising flour, grated Parmesan, chopped chives, seasoned salt, garlic powder, cumin, black pepper and cayenne. Mix well.
  • Heat 1 Tbsp vegetable oil and a 1 Tbsp butter in a non-stick skillet.
  • Using a Tbsp or a medium ice cream scoop to divide the mixture. Sprinkle with panko then, drop the mixture into the pan. Repeat sprinkling top side with panko before turning.
  • Fry in batches over medium-high, cooking until browned and cooked through. Around 3 minutes on each side.
  • Add additional oil and butter to the pan as needed between batches. Serve immediately.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 108kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 199mg | Potassium: 113mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 178IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 33mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @melissassk or tag #melissassk!

78 Comments

  1. Thank you for this recipe! It shows in the nutrition information deyails for one serving. How much is one serving? Thanks.

  2. 5 stars
    We grow so much garlic that I used minced garlic. Recipe is even more tasty!! Don’t scrimp on the minced garlic…

  3. My batch came out wonderfully – bless you! I am vegan so used an egg substitute and vegan cheese. Curious – have you done this, or are there other recipes using other vegetables? Thinking of trying eggplant or black bean.
    Thank you again !

    1. Hi Alyssa, thanks so much for sharing your adaptations for making these Vegan. I think black bean or eggplant would be delicious. I bet broccoli would be good, too. I wonder if you’ve seen my recipe for corn cake fritters? That might be a good one to adapt! You can see that recipe here.

  4. 5 stars
    I used white pattypan squash – the mildest of mild! – and it was great! Can’t wait to try it with other varieties of squash.
    However, counting prep, it takes at least an hour and a half.

  5. 5 stars
    It’s that time of year again, when we are all drowning in squash and zucchini coming out of the garden. I have been know to drop a box full of it on some random person’s porch in the next town over, like a baby in a basket, hoping someone can give it a good home. People audibly groan when they see you coming with more of it and you can’t even pay them to take it because they have their own gardens overflowing with it. One minute it’s the reasonable size of a roll of quarters, then you turn your back for 24 hours and you’ve got mutant vegetables the size of a mama beaver (which make equally bad pets, by the way). Zucchini, at least, has it’s ways of hiding in bread and soup and other ways to extend it’s useful life, but its less employable cousin, Squash, is soon mouldering in the corner watching as more loveable vegetables pass it by to the kitchen for all the yummy summer recipes. Sadly, after lovingly planting and watering those innocent looking plant starts for a couple of months, the fruits of this labor, now despised by my human family, will be fed to goats and chickens. UNTIL THIS RECIPE! Hallelujah! This is the reprive Squash needs to make it back into the spotlight and leave them begging for more! We go heavy on the spices, we use sweet onions and add sweet corn, we vary the type of cheese and no matter how we play with the recipe, lots and lots of Squash gets consumed. Human family happy, chickens and goats wondering what happened to their big beloved yellow meals.

    1. Hi Mike, you get the award for the MOST descriptive comment ever! I love it, thanks so much for taking the time to write such an entertaining comment you made my day. (Btw, I love your adaptations, it’s true there’s room to personalize with the ingredient flavor combination. ☺)

      1. Ahhh, it’s only January and I am already craving squash again 😉 Good thing they also freeze REALLY WELL! Thanks for sharing The World’s Greatest Squash Recipe!

      2. 5 stars
        I can’t wait to try this recipe! Thanks for sharing and I love Mike’s description about squash.

  6. 5 stars
    I am a huge fan of anything in the squash family. My 77 year old dad was in the mood for eggplant parmesan, but my homegrown eggplant weren’t ripe enough to pick. My yellow squash and zucchini however, where perfect, so I hunted for a squash croquette recipe to make instead. After checking out a few online recipes, I decided that this recipe was definitely the one to try. The spices and method where exactly what I was looking for. They turned out great as a substitute for eggplant, as well as a stand alone dish! I’m making them for a second time less than a week later, as dad is raving about how delicious these are. Thank you for the recipe, Melissa! I’ll be making them again and again as I have a bumper crop of squash this year.

  7. Can these be cooked in the oven? I’ve done that with salmon croquettes before. If so, how long would you recommend baking them?

  8. I have made these using your recipe several times and they are a favorite of ours. Last time I added some fresh corn cut off the cob and they were beyond awesome! Thank you!

    1. If you mean could you use zucchini instead yes, you can. There are some varieties that wouldn’t work as well.

  9. Well I made these today, I’m not sure how big the scoop you used, but I think mine might have been a tad big! Even tho I cooked them the required time they seemed kind of mushy! So my question is how big of a scoop did you use I know the all are different sizes!

    1. Hi Connie, it may have been. I use a heaping 2 oz ice cream scoop and I’ve never had issues with them being mushy. That said, you could make these any size you like, using a regular 4 oz scoop adapting the cooking time to cook longer or shorter depending on the size.

  10. My dad loves squash croquettes, but he has always just used squash, onion, salt/pepper and an egg. He cooks his on his George Foreman grill. Delicious as they are I know he will love your recipe. I am going to surprise him in the next couple days with a bit of a different taste! Thanks for sharing.

  11. I’m picky when it comes to onion. Can they be shredded instead of diced or can onion powder be used instead?

  12. Will I need to adjust measurements if I leave out the parmesan cheese? Maybe more flour? These sound delicious, but I don’t like parmesan. Thank you.

    1. Hi Judie, I think I would be more apt to replace with the same amount of panko breadcrumbs instead of more flour. Since the Parm also adds saltiness you may need to adjust that too. Enjoy!

  13. Hi Melissa, this recipe looks delicious, can’t wait to try them. My question may seem silly, but do you peel the squash first before shredding? Thank you, Debbie

    1. HI Debbie, that’s not silly at all. I don’t, there’s no need to it’s delicious. I just trim the ends and shred with a box grater.

  14. Hi, this looks yummy. Sorry if this is a stupid question, but should we cook the squash first to get it to shred? Do you bake yours? I just started cooking, so I’m not sure about this stuff. Thanks.

    1. Hi Susan that’s not stupid at all. Use a box grater or a food processor to shred the raw squash. There’s no need to cook it first.

      1. I cut up smoked sausage link and added extra sriracha sauce to the top of them after they were cooked!! Yummy

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