Yellow Squash Casserole from the Black Eyed Pea Restaurant

The Black Eyed Pea is a chain of restaurants featuring home-style cooking. There are no black-eyed peas in this yellow squash casserole recipe. It is buttery yellow summer squash and onions topped with breadcrumbs.

homemade Black Eyed Pea Yellow Squash Casserole in a baking dish and a bowl


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What makes the Black Eyed Pea Squash Casserole so good?

Classic home-style comfort food is hearty, filling, and tastes delicious!

This wonderful side dish is slightly sweet and has a crispy bread crumb crust, encouraging even the pickiest kids to try it. The casserole pairs well with chicken or turkey and is impressive enough for a holiday to get together yet easy enough for a midweek meal.

What is Yellow Squash?

Squash is confusing. There are so many different types; some markets sell them under similar or even the same name. For this Baked Yellow Squash Casserole recipe, you must buy the squash that looks like the yellow version of zucchini. You may even see them marketed as yellow zucchini in your local store.

If you can’t find yellow squash or happen to have a lot of regular, green zucchinis on hand, feel free to use them in addition to or instead of yellow squash.

How to Select the Best Yellow Squash or Zucchini

When there are so few ingredients in a recipe, each significantly influences how the dish turns out. If you don’t use yellow squash regularly, finding good ones can be a bit of a problem. You can use these hints to help:

  1. The best yellow squashes for this dish are small and tender, which tend to be sweet. Ones over 6 inches taste milder and are a better choice for recipes that don’t focus exclusively on squash.
  2. Look for a yellow squash without any nicks or scratches. Any naturally occurring bumps you find are okay and won’t affect the flavor of your dish.
  3. Firm and dense is ideal. If you pick up a yellow squash and it’s surprisingly heavier than you expected, you are holding a high-quality vegetable in your hand.
  4. Before buying a squash, take a look at both ends. Hard, cracking stops indicate the farmer harvested it too late. Please put it back and choose another one.

Ingredients

Here’s a list of what you need for this Black-eyed Pea squash casserole recipe:

  • Yellow Squash
  • Eggs
  • Breadcrumbs
  • Butter
  • Sugar
  • Onion
  • Black Pepper

How to Make Yellow Squash Casserole

  1. Cut the tips off the squash and cut each squash into pieces.
  2. Place squash into a large saucepan with enough water to cover.
  3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook until tender.
  4. Drain squash in a colander and mash to remove excess liquid. Return the squash to the pan.
cooked yellow squash in a saucepan
  1. Add beaten eggs, breadcrumbs, butter, sugar, salt, onion, and pepper. Stir to combine.
yellow squash casserole ingredient mixture in a pan
  1. Place the mixture into a greased casserole dish.
  2. Sprinkle a light layer of breadcrumbs on top.
  3. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned.
yellow squash casserole in a baking dish

This tasty baked yellow squash casserole goes great with ham, roast beef, fried chicken, and turkey.

yellow squash casserole in a bowl and in a baking dish

Tips for Making and Reheating a Yellow Squash Casserole

  • Avoid overcooking the squash. Don’t keep the water boiling throughout the entire cooking process. Add the squash to cold water and rapidly bring the water to a hard boil before immediately turning down the temperature to a simmer. Remove the squash from the pot when the pieces are fork-tender, approximately 8 – 10 minutes.
  • Mash carefully. Use a potato masher or the back of a serving fork to break up the squash lightly. You aren’t trying for the smoothness of mashed potatoes but rather the consistency of mashed potatoes.
  • Reheat in the oven. One of the best parts of this casserole is the crusty topping, and warming up leftovers in the microwave results in soggy cracker crumbs. Instead, take the Yellow Squash Casserole out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature while preheating your oven to 325 degrees. Cover the casserole with aluminum foil and put it in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes.

Wow, our recipes look so beautiful on Pinterest!

yellow squash casserole in a bowl and baking dish

Favorite Side Dish Recipes

Check out more of my easy vegetable side dish recipes and the best casserole recipes here on CopyKat!

homemade Black Eyed Pea Yellow Squash Casserole in a baking dish and a bowl

Yellow Squash Casserole from the Black Eyed Pea Restaurant

The Black Eyed Pea may not be around anymore, but you can make their baked yellow squash casserole at home.
4.89 from 9 votes
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Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Black Eyed Pea Baked Squash, Yellow Squash Casserole
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 8
Calories: 241kcal

Ingredients

  • 5 pounds yellow squash
  • 2 eggs beaten
  • 1 cup bread crumbs
  • 4 ounces butter
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons onion chopped
  • 1 dash black pepper

Instructions

  • Cut tips off the squash and cut each squash into 3 or 4 pieces.
  • Place squash into a large saucepan with enough water to cover.
  • Bring to a boil then reduce heat and cook until tender.
  • Drain in colander and mash. Return squash to the pan.
  • Add beaten eggs, 1 cup breadcrumbs, butter, sugar, salt, onion, and pepper. Stir to combine.
  • Spread mixture in a 3-quart casserole that has been lightly sprayed with a nonstick spray.
  • Cover top with a light layer of breadcrumbs.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

Nutrition

Calories: 241kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 71mg | Sodium: 221mg | Potassium: 784mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 980IU | Vitamin C: 48.3mg | Calcium: 77mg | Iron: 1.8mg

About Stephanie Manley

I recreate your favorite restaurant recipes, so you can prepare these dishes at home. I help you cook dinner, and serve up dishes you know your family will love. You can find most of the ingredients for all of the recipes in your local grocery store.

Stephanie is the author of CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home, and CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home 2.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. KENNETH C KNERR

    4 stars
    I seem to remember it being more orange and slightly stringy. Maybe they were using butternut squash at the time.

    • Stephanie Manley

      They might have been using older and larger squash to make it stringier. I don’t tend to see larger yellow squash in the grocery stores. I notice when I do to the restaurant supply store the vegetables are larger and look less pretty than fresh vegetables do in the grocery store.

  2. Sissy

    5 stars
    I have never been in a Blackeyed Pea but one our local restaurants serves it. I absolutely love it and this seems to be the same except it needs more butter and sugar than this recipe calls for.

  3. Barb Hyman

    5 stars
    i usually make a typical southern squash casserole with sour cream, cheese, etc. I decided to try this one this year and like it much better! It is delicious. It seemed to taste better too as the flavors meld when reheated.

  4. Jane Pate

    The Black Eyed Pea closed here in Tyler. Tx quite a few years ago. Now Cotton Patch is located where BEP used to be and serve the same squash as BEP did. So good. I have tried to make it before from another recipe and it was close but not quite the same. I will compare it to this one and make it again but not with the 5 lbs of squash.

  5. Jennifer

    I tried this recipe last night and it was very close to the Black eyed peas. My boyfriend loved it although he had not tried it at the resturant

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