Quick Pickled Yellow Squash Slices

These quick pickled yellow squash slices are tangy and delightful! Summer squash is quick pickled with ground turmeric and mustard seeds, which lend a hint of mustardy flavor—and an amazing golden color—to the pickles. Use the slices as a zesty and colorful addition to salads and sandwiches.

A clear Weck mason jar has been filled with pickled yellow squash slices.

Yellow squash may be a vegetable that you’re used to sautéing. Perhaps you’ve added it to a succotash recipe in the past, or incorporated it into a pasta.

But what about turning summer squash into pickles?

I’m now accustomed to making batch after batch of quick pickled cucumber slices, carrot ribbons, and pickled red cabbage.

But pickled yellow squash—a vegetable that I’ve never thought to make pickles with—has been a revelation lately.

Pickled…squash?

I got the inspiration for this recipe in July, when I was visiting a friend upstate. We stopped into a casual lunch spot that offered a bunch of prepared cold salads.

One of the offerings was pickled yellow squash, cut into round slices. I’d never seen this before, so I asked one of the people who worked at the eatery about it. “Oh, they’re good!” she exclaimed to me.

I shrugged and figured I’d give them a try. I like most pickled veggies, and yellow squash is a summer produce favorite.

But wow, I wasn’t prepared for how much I’d like the slices! They were so tart and pleasantly tender, but with a little crunch.

I noticed mustard seeds among the slices, which I liked. I usually add a teaspoon of mustard seeds to my pickled cucumbers at home.

To play up the mustardy notes, I’ve added a big pinch of turmeric to my batch.

Turmeric always

This is not the only recipe to which I add that pinch of turmeric, a flowering plant in the ginger family that can be dried into a golden, versatile spice for cooking.

I add turmeric to so many dishes. Not only soups or stewed legumes, but also dressings and seed-based pâtés, rice and oats, plant milk and granola.

Famously, the active compound in turmeric, curcumin, has anti-inflammatory properties. Anti-inflammatory foods can be a powerful ally in feeling better and helping to reduce the likelihood of some illnesses.

So, while turmeric is a fun ingredient for its ability to turn anything the most electric yellow shade, it’s also a nutritionally powerfully spice to work with.

One quick note: curcumin works synergistically and becomes more bioavailable in the presence of piperine, a compound in black pepper.

For this reason, I recommend having turmeric-spiced foods along with some source of black pepper. I don’t include black peppercorns in this pickle recipe, but you can add a pinch of black pepper to whatever dish you enjoy the pickled yellow squash slices with.

Summer squash vs yellow squash

Summer squash, yellow squash: you may have seen the long, tubular summer vegetable go by both names.

And in fact, both names are correct. I tend to use them interchangeably. For the purpose of this recipe, you’ll need two medium-sized yellow (summer) squashes.

Can I use zucchini instead?

Another one of my favorite vegetables, zucchini, belongs to the same family as summer squash. (That family also includes crookneck and pattypan squashes.)

You can definitely use zucchini in this pickled squash recipe. Just be aware that the green colored skin won’t have quite the same pretty, bold yellow visual effect as yellow squash.

This is only an aesthetic matter—the taste will be the same.

What are quick pickles, again?

I make a lot of quick pickles, and I publish a lot of recipes to that effect, so it’s worth giving a super quick refresher on what makes a quick pickle quick. (Or a pickle, for that matter!)

Quick pickles are sometimes called refrigerator pickles. They’re not made with a canning bath and sterilization, which means they aren’t shelf-stable.

Instead, they’re made with a quick brine—usually water, vinegar, salt, and sugar—and then allowed to marinate in the fridge. The longer they sit, the more “pickle-y” they become.

That brine can be cold or hot. I nearly always warm mine, and I think it’s especially useful to bring the brine to a boil for pickled yellow squash.

The slices are firmer than thinly sliced red onion or cucumber, so they benefit from the tenderizing effect of hot liquid.

How to make quick pickled yellow squash slices

With all that said, let’s walk through the super quick steps in making pickled yellow squash.

Step 1: slice the yellow squash

Your squash should be sliced crosswise into 1/4-inch / 6mm rounds. I use my trusty handheld slicer for this job.

Once the squash is sliced, transfer it to a 1-pint / 480ml mason jar. Be sure to leave some room at the top.

Add the turmeric and mustard seeds to the jar with the yellow squash slices.

A Weck glass mason jar is filled with thin, round yellow squash slices. — You can add your ground turmeric and mustard seeds directly to the jar with your squash slices, prior to adding the hot liquid brine.

Step 2: Make the brine

The brine for these pickles consists of:

water
distilled white vinegar
sugar
salt

I’ve made my extensive collection of homemade quick pickles with several vinegars: white wine, red wine, rice vinegar, and distilled white.

Increasingly, distilled white vinegar is my favorite for pickling, due to its mildness and neutral flavor. Both apple cider and wine vinegar can be very, very assertive.

That said, any of the vinegars I mentioned can be a substitute in this recipe.

As for the sugar, I think it’s really essential to a balanced quick pickle. But you can change the proportion or omit if you feel very strongly about it.

Heat the water and vinegar in a saucepot, or just nuke them, covered, for about 5 minutes, or until piping hot. Then, stir in the salt and sugar.

A saucepan has been filled with a mixture of water and vinegar. — Quick pickle brine can be heated over the stovetop, in a saucepan, or in the microwave.

Step 3: pour the brine over the squash slices

Finally, pour your pickle brine over the squash slices and seasonings. Push the slices down a little, so that everything gets submerged in the hot liquid.

Let the squash slices sit at room temperature for about thirty minutes, then cover them and transfer them to the fridge. They can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Pickled vegetables will rarely last a whole two weeks in my home. These pickled yellow squash slices have been finding their way into a lot of dishes around here.

I’ve added them to my vegan tandoori spiced cauliflower bowls, pickled vegetable and smoky tofu sandwiches, quinoa beet bowls, and fresh spinach pasta salad.

And I’m just getting started.