Cracker Barrel's Squash Casserole Recipe: a Wholesome Comfort Meal

We are big fans of Southern food here at Blend of Bites. And when it comes to that, let’s admit it, a proper squash casserole is as iconic as it gets. We have realized that Cracker Barrel’s squash casserole recipe stands out among the others.

What exactly makes Cracker Barrel’s squash casserole so special? While most squash casserole recipes scare you with a long list of ingredients, this one has a minimal approach to the dish, allowing you to add your personality, mostly due to the different variations. We’ve tried them all, and each one was better than the last one. Let’s take a look.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Pro Tips
• Cracker Barrel's Squash Casserole Recipe
• Comments

Ingredients

• Yellow squash — 4 cups
• Garlic powder — 1 tsp.
• Onion — 1 pc., chopped
• Salt — ½ tsp.
• Olive oil — 2 tbsp.
• Black pepper — ½ tsp.
• Sour cream — 1 cup
• Cream cheese — 8 oz. (1 package)
• Ritz crackers — 2 cups, crushed
• Butter — 4 tbsp., melted

Instructions

1. Set your oven to 400 degrees.

2. Add the squash with the onions into your baking dish, along with some olive oil.

3. Season the mixture and cook for half an hour, to soften the squash.

4. Drain the excess moisture.

5. Add the other ingredients, except for the crackers and butter.

6. Transfer the mixture to your baking dish.

7. In the same bowl, combine the crackers with melted butter. Give the mixture a good stir.

8. Transfer the butter and cracker mixture on top of the squash mixture.

9. Bake for another half an hour.

Substitutions

• Sour cream — This recipe is best made using sour cream, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be replaced. To begin with, Greek yogurt is the ideal substitution for sour cream as it has a similar texture. Mayo will also work. We tried this recipe using cream cheese only, omitting the sour cream completely as the two are used interchangeably in most recipes. The results were just fine, but something was missing.

• Cream cheese — We’ve decided to replace cream cheese on our last try and used cottage cheese instead. The texture is quite different, so that created a small problem, but we’ve fixed that problem by adding just a bit of heavy cream into the mix. If you’d like to go with a vegan alternative, we recommend using silken tofu instead.

• Ritz crackers — This should be the fun part. Although Cracker Barrel’s squash casserole recipe is originally made with Ritz crackers, we’ve realized that it’s the easiest ingredient to replace. We’ve tried crushed cornflakes, breadcrumbs, and saltine crackers. All turned out to be perfect.

Variations

• Add more cheese — Cracker Barrel’s squash casserole recipe makes a fine dish as it is, but who’s to say it can’t get any better? If the original recipe doesn’t cut it for you, you can always add more cheese into the mix. While we’d still recommend using sour cream, we’ve omitted cream cheese and used parmesan and cheddar cheeses. A cup of each would be enough to get the job done if you are after some extra flair.

• Make it more filling — Well, you can’t go wrong with beans, especially when it comes to Cracker Barrel’s squash casserole recipe. 1 ½ cans of black beans drained would be enough to provide a fresh breath of air into your dish. If that’s not exactly your cup of tea, use ground beef instead! A cup of cooked ground beef would only improve the flavor.

• Increase the heat — As sweet and flavorful as it is, spicy wouldn’t be the word we’d use to describe Cracker Barrel’s squash casserole recipe. If you want to spice things up, add half a teaspoon of paprika to the mix. While you’re at it, why not top your casserole with some crushed red peppers as well?

Equipment

• Measuring cups and spoons

• Mixing bowl

• Baking dish

• Oven

Storage

• Let the squash casserole cool completely. Follow by tightly wrapping it with any kind of wrap.

• Once stored in your fridge, the leftovers will last for four days at most.

Pro Tips

• Salt the squash — We’ve realized that squash casserole can easily get watery. To avoid ending up with a liquid mess on our hands, we salted the slices first and rested them for half an hour, which was enough to drain the excess moisture. Give it a try!

• Seasoning matters — We’d recommend adding some more salt and pepper after transferring the mixture into your baking dish. Do the same after topping the squash mixture with the cracker-butter mixture, and you should be fine.