18 Meals That Celebrate Summer's Mellow Yellow Squash

From juicy tomatoes and peaches to fresh corn and string beans, there ain’t no party like an August farmers' market. But the belle of the ball, the golden child of the season, is summer squash. Green, yellow, slender, and stout—waxy squash wait in piles for a passerby to pluck them out of the crowd.

You might buy a bundle without distinguishing between dark green and pale yellow, interchanging squash and zucchini just like recipes say to—and you aren’t wrong. The two varieties share similar textures and a mild, slightly sweet flavor. But while zucchini follows the straight and narrow, yellow squash varies in shape with a hefty bottom that tapers (and sometimes curves) at the neck. Maybe because of its predictable shape, there seem to be a lot more recipes calling for zucchini than its yellow counterpart.

It’s time to turn the spotlight on yellow squash. It’s ready to step up and show off its moves. Take it for a twirl in any of these 18 recipes.