This year has not been a good year for me in the garden. Between the heat and smoky skies my plants are struggling. My squash plants particularly are a complete failure. They are stunted at the size I bought them at and have only produced male flowers.
It turns out that while they didn’t produce any squash, they were not a complete fail! Did you know that you can eat squash flowers? I turned what would have been useless male squash flowers into delicious Fried Squash Blossom Tacos with a Corn and Squash Salsa. And before you ask! Yes I did have to buy the squash for this recipe in shame from the store. Let’s pretend like I was a wizard in the garden though and I grew the squash myself.
Ingredients Needed
8 corn tortillas
1 avocado
Stuffed Squash Blossoms
8 large squash blossoms
1/2 cup jack cheese, shredded
1 Tablespoon pickled jalapeños, diced
Roasted Corn and Squash Salsa
1 medium yellow summer squash, cubed
1 cup corn kernels
1/4 red onion, diced
2 Tablespoons cilantro, hand torn
1 lime
Beer Batter
1/2 cup beer
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
How to Make Fried Squash Blossom Tacos
To make the squash blossom filling mix together the shredded cheese and diced jalapeños. Depending on your heat preference adjust the amount of jalapeños to your liking. Set this mixture aside for later.
Prepare the squash blossoms to be stuffed. If not already, shorten the flower stem to about an inch making sure you are still able to grab it.
Next, remove the spikes around the outside base of the flower.
To easily stuff the blossoms, cut a single slit down the petals to the base and gently open the flower. Remove the pollen stem and set aside until all blossoms are prepped.
Scoop about a tablespoon of the cheese mixture into your hand and compress it into a log. Lay the cheese log inside the blossom and close the petals together around it. Twist the top of the flower petals a few times to seal the cheese inside. Repeat these steps with all of the blossoms.
Twist the petals closed to fully cover the cheese filling. Otherwise you will lose your filling while frying.
To make the salsa preheat a pan over medium high heat. Once hot, add some oil to the pan along with the squash and corn. Leaving the vegetables alone let them pan fry for about 5 minutes until browned. Give them a stir and continue to cook the veggies for another 1-5 minutes until they just start to soften. When they are done transfer the veggies to another bowl and set aside for later.
To Fry
In a pan with tall sides, preheat the oil for frying to 375 degrees. You can either shallow fry or deep fry the squash blossoms. If you choose to shallow fry add enough oil to cover half of your blossoms. You will also need to add the extra step of flipping the blossoms when frying to fully cook all sides. If you are deep frying add enough oil to fully submerge the blossoms.
Before frying the blossoms, mix together the beer batter ingredients in a bowl until they just come together. Make sure to do this step at the last minute possible! The bubblier the beer, the crispier your crunch will be.
Once the oil is hot, dip the blossoms one at a time into the beer batter and gently drop them away from you into the hot oil. Fry for 2-4 minutes until golden brown. Since the filling is only cheese you just need to worry about the outside browning. Transfer the blossoms when done to a cooling rack until all are fried.
The last step is to finish off the corn and squash salsa. Add the diced red onion, cilantro and 1/2 of the lime juice to the veggies. Mix this all together with salt and pepper to taste and its time to build your taco!
Add a slice of avocado on top of a warmed tortilla. I warmed my tortilla over an open flame but you can warm them in the microwave or oven as well. Add the fried squash blossom and spoon over the corn and squash salsa. Enjoy!
Fried Squash Blossom Tacos with Corn and Squash Salsa
Ingredients
- 8 corn tortillas
- 1 avocado
Stuffed Squash Blossoms
- 8 large squash blossoms
- 1/2 cup jack cheese, shredded
- 1 Tablespoon pickled jalapeños, diced
Roasted Corn and Squash Salsa
- 1 medium yellow summer squash, cubed
- 1 cup corn kernels
- 1/4 red onion, diced
- 2 Tablespoons cilantro, hand torn
- 1 lime
Beer Batter
- 1/2 cup beer
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Mix together the shredded cheese and jalapeños and set aside. Next prepare your squash blossoms to be stuffed by shortening the stem to an inch and removing the outside spikes and pollen stem inside. To stuff, make a slit down to the base and gently open the flower. Grab about a tablespoon of the cheese mixture and compress it into a log. Lay the cheese log inside and close the flower around it. Twist the top of the flower a few times to seal the cheese inside. Repeat with all of the blossoms.
- Next preheat a pan over medium high heat. Once hot, add some oil to the pan along with the squash and corn. Leaving the vegetables alone let them pan fry for about 5 minutes. Stir when the bottoms are brown and cook for another 1-5 minutes until the veggies just start to soften. Transfer the veggies to another bowl and set aside for later.
- While your oil is preheating to 375 degrees, mix together the beer batter. Once the oil is hot, dip the blossoms one at a time into the beer batter and gently drop them into the hot oil. Fry for 2-4 minutes until brown. Transfer them to a cooling rack until all blossoms are fried.
- Lastly add the diced red onion, cilantro and 1/2 lime juice to the roasted squash and corn. Mix this all together with salt and pepper to taste and its time to build your taco! Add a slice of avocado on top of a warmed tortilla. Place the fried squash blossom and top with with the corn and squash salsa. Enjoy!
