Keto Summer Squash and Zucchini Gratin
There’s much to love about this dish, starting with layers of perfectly cooked squash intermingled with an irresistible herb-kissed cream cheese sauce. Adding flavor and crunch is a parmesan-pork panko topping. Together, they make an epic side dish that’s approachable for weeknight meals but worthy of special occasions (Hello, Thanksgiving!). With easy prep and just 10 minutes of cooking time, you can have a creamy, bubbly, golden-delicious meal or side in no time.
Ingredients List
- 2 Tbsp plus 2 tsp olive oil, divided
- 3 medium zucchini (about 6 ounces each), sliced into ¼-inch-thick disks
- 3 medium yellow squash (about 6 ounces each), sliced into ¼-inch-thick disks
- 1 tsp onion powder
- sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 tsp dried thyme, oregano, or basil
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 4 oz cream cheese, cut into small pieces
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
- 2 Tbsp pork panko
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C). Grease a 2-quart baking dish with 2 teaspoons of the olive oil.
- In a large skillet, heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat. Add the zucchini, squash, onion powder, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until zucchini and squash are crisp-tender, 6 to 8 minutes.
- Add the dried thyme, cream, and cream cheese and cook until thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove skillet from heat; stir in 1/4 cup of the Parmesan.
- Spoon the mixture into a shallow 2-quart baking dish.
- In a small bowl, combine the remaining Parmesan cheese with the pork panko and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
- Sprinkle the squash with the Parmesan-panko mixture and bake until the top is golden brown and bubbling, about 10 minutes. Serve right away.
My family is looking forward to this being on our Thanksgiving table for the second year in a row. Will become a permanent holiday dish. Simply delicious!
Wow!!! THIS IS SATISFYING!! Just found this recipe and have already made it 3 times. Made it for the family twice and they were all (21 people) just as excited about it as I was! I made it today using 2 cups of shredded spaghetti squash and 2 cups cooked shredded chicken. Didn’t change anything else and it made it a complete meal! My husband is just thrilled with the recipes I have found on this site and has made his journey so, so much easier! Thank you for caring about passing on recipes that truly are very, very good!
Kathy
Thanks so much for your very kind words, Kathy! We’re thrilled that you and your whole family loved the recipe 🙂
Oh my goodness, this is absolutely DELICIOUS and OH SO SATISFYING!!! I rarely give reviews but had to get up from the table just to let you know how MUCH I enjoyed this recipe!!! Super tasty, creamy, cheesy, everything satisfying! Thank you thank you!
This casserole is delicious! I don’t eat meat, so I left the pork panko off, and it was still crispy on top and rich and thick in the middle. I will definitely keep this in my meal rotation.
We are actually on WW and I made this for dinner. Any idea what WW points this should be? Thanks in advance.
Beth
Hi Beth, Unfortunately, we don’t know what the WW points for this recipe would be.
Love this recipe! Went searching online to make a squash zucchini bake as an alternative to the potatoes the rest of the family are having and found this delicious recipe. Made it with one zucchini and one squash each in a 8×8 pan. I reduced the other ingredients and only omitted the pork panko. I was out of the cream and used full fat grass whole milk and came out with a rich sauce and browned on top. This is a keeper. Will definitely try some other recipes.
So glad you and the family enjoyed this recipe.
This was easy and delicious. My husband loved it too. He is not on a Keto diet but with recipes like this he is without knowing it….lol
Just made this recipe for the first time . It is sooooo good . I used shredded cheddar instead of the Panko and I will definitely make again
Just plain awful.
Thank you for your feedback, we are sorry you didn’t enjoy it. Could you give us an idea of why? Was it the flavor or did the recipe just not work for you? We’d like to use your valuable feedback and would appreciate any further info you can provide. Please know that we carefully test all recipes and our team found this one to be delicious.
This was the perfect Thanksgiving side dish. We all loved it. The only change I made was using granulated onion instead of powder. My sister, who isn’t a veggie lover, thought it was great. The crunchy topping is wonderful.
Made this for my family. We had NO leftovers. My daughter even licked her plate. I agree with the previous reviewer — drain before adding the cream. Mine was just a tad soupy, but still excellent!
So very good, make sure you drain before adding the cream. I didn’t and was a little soupy but still sooo good. Also I didn’t care for so much thyme so will half that next time.
This was so delicious! I was in a hurry and used pre-minced onions and garlic and doubled the sauce. It was so so creamy and flavorful!
Love love love this recipe – soo good, and sooo simple! Awesome if you’ve got a lot of squash from the garden.. I typically use all zucchini and DOUBLE-the sauce, cuz it is so yummy. So for 2 of us, I make the recipe for 8 servings, but only use 3 zucchini — perfect sauce to squash ratio! Then we have leftovers for the next night,,. I throw jalapeno chicharrones in the cuisinart for the panko, which gives a little kick, and make sure to save a little of the panko parm blend to add on top of the leftovers before reheating for crunch… Superb!!