5 Best Cooking Methods for Watery Squash

For concentrating and coaxing flavor from summer squash, the best cooking methods are 1) sautéing, 2) stir-frying, 3) grilling and 4) roasting. All do a great job of quickly zapping out water while leaving behind flavorfully browned, relatively firm pieces of squash.

Microwaving is a close second. It doesn’t require additional water and of course, cooks the squash very quickly, producing a surprisingly good result. It just can’t add the second element of browning to coax out additional flavor.

As explained in “6 Tricks to Take the Bland Out of Summer Squash,” water-based cooking methods (like boiling and steaming) are not recommended for already water-logged summer squash.

Plump, water-filled yellow zucchini . . .

Disappearing Act

. . . shrinks and shrivels to half its size once cooked. That’s not only normal but good. Losing close to half of its volume condenses and concentrates its flavor.

Stir-Frying

Grilling and Roasting

Microwaving

Sauteing

Check out the 5 best cooking methods for summer squash:

3 Big Things to Know About Cooking Squash

When cooking summer squash, keep in mind that it’s low on flavor, largely because it’s mostly water (up to 95 percent!) So cooking summer squash is all about working around and with its high water content. The first two Big Things to know about working with this watery vegetable are:

1) Concentrate whatever flavor there is within its water-logged flesh, and then

2) Coax out that flavor even more with “flavor boosters.”

These secrets are explained in “6 Tricks to Take the Bland Out of Summer Squash.” That leaves the third Big Thing to remember when cooking squash:

3) Large Amounts Required Summer squash loses a lot of volume when cooked, as all its water evaporates or dissipates, leaving behind a mere remnant of the starting vegetable. To end up with a worthwhile amount in a finished dish, you must start with an amount that seems overwhelming. So don’t be alarmed when a recipe calls for 2, 3 or even 4 pounds of squash. It will cook down by about half, in much the way as spinach, another water-filled vegetable.

Pattypan squash are the one exception to this general rule. As explained in “Making Heads and Tails of the Squash Kingdom,” patty pan’s flesh is much denser than other summer varieties, so it stays firmer and doesn’t lose as much volume when cooked. Accordingly, more normal-looking amounts can be used for this variety.