I’m not going to call this a quick weeknight meal, but it is a squash blossom recipe worth preparing when you want to make something really special with your blossoms!

In my garden, squash blossoms start to really get prolific around June and July. I have found that the blossoms produced by winter squash varieties tend to be larger—-one of my best flower producers is the vigorous tromboncino squash. Below, I’m sharing all my tips for when and how to harvest squash blossoms to use for cooking.

Tips for Harvesting Squash Blossoms

I listed my top tips for picking squash blossoms in the Instagram post below. Regardless of what squash blossom recipe you are using, these tips will ne helpful! Always be wary of bees or bugs that might be inside. Don’t ask how I know!

Prep Your Blossoms

The first step for this squash blossom recipe is to remove the sepals (these are those green, tiny pointed-looking things at the base of the flower around the outside).

Next, you’ll need to remove the stamen/stigma from the inside. I found it easier to do this by taking scissors and inserting them into the flower to snip the stamen away. Everytime I tried with my fingers, I tore the petals.

Gently rinse out the flower and lay to dry on a paper towel.

Ingredients for Stuffed Squash Blossoms

*This squash blossom recipe makes  enough to fill approximately 12 blossoms.

For the filling:

4oz. of goat cheese, room temperature/softened. A small log of goat cheese is easier to work with than the crumbled kind, but you could probably make both work.

1/2 TBS honey

pepper to taste

For the frying batter:

3/4 C beer *a light lager

1/2 C flour

1/8 tsp kosher salt

How to Stuff Your Squash Blossoms

Mix all the filling ingredients together. Your filling should be creamy in consistency.

Transfer to a pastry bag (or ziploc with the corner cut off).

Whisk all the frying batter ingredients together in a medium shallow bowl that would be easy for dipping (like a pie pan). The consistency should be like a thin pancake batter,

Squeeze filling into each blossom. Because of variations in blossom sizes, you’ll have to use your judgement for how much to fill. Typically, stop before you reach the point where the petals separate.

Twist the petals together at the top to gently to “seal” the blossom for frying.

Repeat for all your blossoms.

Heat about 1/4 inch of frying oil (like canola) in a heavy saucepan until a deep-frying thermometer reads 350 Degrees F.  *IMPORTANT: make sure your oil is hot enough. This ensures a crisp blossom.

Gently immerse one blossom at a time into your beer batter. It helps to have a little bit of stem to hold on to for dipping.

Gently add to pan.

Continue to add dipped blossoms to pan, ensuring that you don’t add too many that the oil temperature drops. We fried about 3-4 at a time.

Fry only about 30 seconds and then turn blossoms over using tongs. Fry for another few seconds, or until golden brown.

Using tongs, remove from oil and let drain on a wire rack or plate with a paper towel.

Cool & ENJOY! Do be aware that these can be very hot inside, so definitely let cool enough.

Additional Tips for Success

Full confession, this squash blossom recipe is not one you make ahead and bring to a party. You need to enjoy these decadent fried blossoms soon after frying to enjoy the true crispy perfection! They don’t keep well. But please remeber, let them cool down enough so that the creamy interior doesn’t burn your mouth. Also:

• don’t over fill your blossoms. If the cheese leaks out during cooking, it will burn and create an odd taste.

• make sure your oil is hot enough. This ensures a crisp fry, instead of soggy blooms.

• have everything prepped and ready to go before frying. The blossoms fry very quickly.