What To Do With Yellow Squash From Garden

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Looking for a fun summer squash recipe ? Make these Yellow Squash Tots - perfect little veggie tots that use up a lot of yellow squash (or zucchini!).

They're so tasty, snackable, and are a great way to eat more veggies.

Yellow squash tots

These yellow squash tots are a GREAT way to use up summer squash (or I should say "a GRATE way" because I love me some food puns!). I used yellow squash for this recipe, but you can use zucchini or a combination of these two summer squash - they are totally interchangeable in this recipe.

I just like how the bright yellow tots look, and there is no green to scare my veggie-fearing toddler. 🙂

These squash tots are a GREAT way to get more vegetables into your day because they are fun to eat. They're so snacky and addicting.

Kids love them. Adults love them.

Everyone who tries this recipes loves them.

Serve these veggie tots as a snack or as a side dish (amazing with burgers, such as this venison burger, turkey burger, pork burger, chicken burger, or vegetarian chickpea and sweet potato burger).

I bet you will eat a LOT more squash in vegetable tot form than if you were to eat them in a salad or other vegetable side dish.

Although if you're looking for a good summer squash salad, I got a couple here:

Grilled vegetable salad
Zucchini and carrot spiralized salad with lemon garlic dressing and feta
Zucchini and carrot spiralized salad with sesame ginger dressing (vegan!)

Dips for vegetable tots

The best way to serve these squash tots is with a variety of dips. Try one of these (or all of these):

Ketchup
Sriracha ketchup (ketchup with a squeeze of sriracha, to taste)
Lemony garlic Greek yogurt dip (recipe is in the recipe card below!)

How to make yellow squash tots

Follow these easy steps with pictures here, or scroll down to the recipe card to read the full recipe or watch the video.

Start by grating your yellow squash (or zucchini) on a fine grater. I like using this box grater to do this because it's sturdy and much easier than a flat grater.

If you are lucky enough to have a food processor that does this, USE IT! It's not hard to grate the squash using a grater, but also not that much fun. This food processor is on my wish list.

Then season the grated squash with salt and let it sit in a large colander while you get the rest of the ingredients ready.

After a few minutes, use your hands to squeeze out as much liquid as you can from the grated squash. You should have about a cup of liquid for every pound of squash you use (if you're doubling this recipe and using 2 lbs or more).

Alternatively, you can place all the grated squash in a clean kitchen towel or a cheesecloth and roll the grated squash into a ball and squeeze it to get all the excess liquid out. I find this to be a little easier but less effective because it's hard to get the water out from the center of the grated squash.

DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP - it's crucial for getting the tots to stick together and come out nice and crispy around the edges.

Then combine the grated squash and the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Use your hands to form small little tots - either round balls or longer tot-shaped pieces. (Pro tip: dip your hands into a bowl of cold water in between the tots to prevent them from sticking to your hands)

Place on a large baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper (or greased, but the parchment paper is the less messy way to go!)

Bake at 400F for 25 minutes. Prepare the yogurt sauce (or whatever other dips you want) while the tots are baking.

Enjoy!

How to freeze vegetable tots / storing leftover squash tots

This recipe can totally be doubled (or tripled) if you want to make a small project out of it. You can store leftover squash tots in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.

Or you can freeze them! The best way to do this is to arrange them on a large plate, cutting board, or baking sheet and place them in the freezer to freeze individually. Then transfer them all to a freezer-safe zip lock bag or container. Doing it this way is an extra stop, but it will prevent the squash tots from sticking together while freezing together.

Reheating leftover vegetable tots or frozen vegetable tots

Reheat frozen or refrigerated tots in the oven. Preheat the oven to 350F and place on a baking sheet. Refrigerated squash tots will only need about 5 minutes of baking time. Frozen squash tots will need about 6-10 minutes to reheat all the way through.

I wouldn't use a microwave to reheat these because they don't crisp back up in the microwave.

I LOVE my Cuisinart Toaster Oven / Air Fryer combo because it reheats things like tots and French fries really well without having to preheat anything. Plus it's a toaster and an air fryer in one!

Looking for other fun vegetable recipes?

Cauliflower tots
Cauliflower fritters with garlic dill aioli
Corn fritters

Looking for other recipes to use zucchini or summer squash?

Balsamic grilled summer squash salad
Sheet pan shrimp and vegetable pasta
Veggie loaded creamy chicken fajita pasta
Bacon roasted vegetables
Roasted vegetable fettuccine

If you end up making these yellow squash tots, please take a picture and tag me on Instagram or Facebook . You can find me at @babaganoshblog on both. I love seeing your creations!

If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know with a comment and a star rating below. And don't forget to share it on Facebook and save it on Pinterest for later!

yellow squash tots pinterest graphic

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

For the tots:

3 small yellow squashes or zucchini - about 1-1.5 lb yellow squash
1 eggs
4 oz grated cheddar cheese or other meltable cheese (about 1/2 cup grated)
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Ground black pepper, to taste
Optional: 2 tablespoons - 1/4 cup finely minced parsley leaves

For the yogurt dip

⅓ cup unsweetened Greek yogurt
2 tsp lemon juice (from about 1/2 lemon, or to taste - see notes)
1 tsp finely minced parsley (or dill, or 1/2 tsp dried parsley or dill)
1/4 tsp garlic powder (or use 1 small clove garlic, minced)
¼ tsp salt, or to taste
¼ tsp pepper, or to taste

Instructions

Make the tots!

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (or grease the baking sheet with olive oil).
Grate the squash on a fine grater (or use a food processor). Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, and mix it together. Put the grated squash in a colander (or use a cheesecloth, see notes). Let sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Use your hands to squeeze all the extra liquid from the grated squash in the colander. You should have about 1 cup of liquid for every pound of squash you use. Discard the liquid.
Combine all the tot ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. The mixture should be sticky and wet, like a thick paste. If it is too wet, add extra breadcrumbs. Form small tots with your hands (about 1.5-2 tablespoons squash mixture per tot). Tip: dip your hands into a bowl of cold water in between every few tots - this will help keep the squash mixture from sticking to your hands!
Arrange the tots on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 400F for 25 minutes, or until golden on top and lightly browned on the bottom. Allow to rest 5 minutes before removing them from the baking sheet - this will help prevent them from sticking.

Make the dip!

In a small bowl combine all the ingredients for the yogurt sauce while the tots are baking. Serve as a dip for the warm tots!

Notes

If you want to use a cheesecloth instead of a colander to squeeze out the extra liquid from the tots, place the grated squash in a large doubled cheesecloth and make a tight ball. Squeeze the cheesecloth with your hands and twist it tighter to get the liquid out.

I recommend the colander method over the cheesecloth because you can really get in there with your hands and squeeze more liquid out.

A few readers said the yogurt dip is a little too sour for them when using 2 teaspoons lemon juice. I always make it with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice and I love it, so please start with less than 1 teaspoon and adjust to taste!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 290 Total Fat: 15g Saturated Fat: 7g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 5g Cholesterol: 82mg Sodium: 669mg Carbohydrates: 25g Fiber: 4g Sugar: 6g Protein: 15g

The nutritional information displayed is just an estimate and will vary depending on the actual ingredients and brands used and the exact amounts used. Please consult with a dietitian or nutritionist if you are actually tracking nutritional information for health reasons.