These Patty Pan Squash Recipes Make the Perfect Fall Side Dish (2024)

FAQs

What is patty pan squash good for? ›

Yes, patty pan squash is a good vegetable to eat if you have diabetes or are trying to lose weight or avoid gaining weight. As a non-starchy vegetable, one cup of sliced patty pan squash before cooking has only 18 calories, 4 g of carbohydrates, and just over 1 gram of protein and fiber.

If planting in rows, space plants around 10 inches apart, with 3 feet between rows. Give your plants plenty of room to grow. Although pattypan squash is a bush variety, it still needs good air circulation between plants. They are fairly sturdy and won't need support.

Their thin skin is edible so no need to peel. By far the fastest way to cook them is on the grill.

Patty Pan Squash Varieties

Favored for its light green color, vigorous 'Benning's Green Tint' has been around for a century, and it is a favorite among seed savers. Also worth seeking out are old French varieties like 'Patisson Panache Verte et Blanc' (1856) or 'Jaun et Verte', which are white when young and tender.

Cucurbits contain a group of chemicals called cucubitacins. It is these cucurbitacins that are responsible for squash that is bitter tasting. The higher the levels of cucubitacin, the more bitter the squash will taste.

As a general guide, you can treat patty pan squash as similar to zucchini. The skin and seeds are edible (and in fact, a lot of the nutrients are concentrated in the skins). Small patty pan squash will have pretty thin and tender skin, so no peeling required, making them fairly easy to prepare!

You'll know your Patty Pan squash has gone bad if you see mold on it or if the skin appears wrinkled.

Patty pan squashes are also known as cymling's, custard marrows or custard squashes. The word cymling comes from old English term for a simnal cake, which is fluted.

Plant seeds ½ inches deep and six inches apart. Thin out after seedlings after they emerge, but will need at least two leaves to keep growing. Mature bush summer squash plants should be 20 inches apart in rows that are spaced 2 feet apart.

Pattypan squash will keep for a few days stored in the fridge, unwashed and sealed in plastic. The smaller the squash, the sooner it should be used.

Do you remove seeds from patty pan squash? ›

Patty pan squash are a variety of summer squash and like most summer squash (potentially all), the soft skin and seeds are edible. These squash taste mild like zucchini and like zucchini, they do not need to be peeled before eating.

Squash has many nutritional benefits and is typically low in starch. "Zucchini, yellow squash, patty pan — any thin-skinned squash— can be eaten raw," Chef Francine Marz, Dean of Culinary & Hospitality at The Culinary Institute of the South, says.

In France, scallop squash are called patisson, which in Provence is a word for a scallop-edged mold used to bake cakes. The rest of the name means “yellow and green plume” for the colorful variegated markings found on the mature rind. This bush-type variety is a prolific producer. The more you pick, the more it grows.

Certainly I know you can eat the skin on summer squashes, like zucchini, pattypan and yellow summer squash. With their thin skin and watery flesh, leaving the skins on helps give summer squash a pleasantly chewy texture.

Patty pan squash are ready to start harvesting 5-7 weeks after planting. These petite squash are best eaten when no larger than the palm of your hand.

We promise that not every alternative on this list is another squash, but they are such a good alternative for zucchini. Especially considering you can substitute either patty pan or summer squash for zucchini in virtually any dish.

Patty pan squash are a variety of summer squash and like most summer squash (potentially all), the soft skin and seeds are edible. These squash taste mild like zucchini and like zucchini, they do not need to be peeled before eating.

Much like zucchini, patty pan is a type of summer squash that's meant to be enjoyed while the skin is still soft and thin so there's no need to peel it. Its flying saucer-like shape is very distinctive and the scalloped edges of the fruits are the genesis of its other common name - the scallopini squash.