Al’s Hungarian Recipe for Summer Squash

Al’s Hungarian Recipe for Summer Squash has sour cream, paprika, and dill, and my friend Al Church is an amazing Hungarian cook! And if you like the combo of sour cream and Hungarian paprika, you’ll love this Hungarian recipe.

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A few years ago I shared  Al’s Famous Hngarian Cucumber Salad, and that amazing recipe from my friend Al has been a hit with everyone who tries it. When I made the cucumber salad with Al, we talked about cooking together again, but I’m sorry that it’s taken us years to tackle another Hungarian recipe together.

Then I saw Al and his girlfriend Judy at a party and we made a plan for them to come over and make this Hungarian Recipe for Summer Squash.

This Hungarian dish uses a combination of  zucchini and yellow squash with with sour cream, paprika, and dill for those Hungarian flavors I like so much, and it turned out to be just as good as the cucumber salad. We had a great time making it, and if you have summer squash in the garden, you must try this recipe!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

• zucchini
• yellow summer squash
• salt
• Red Wine Vinegar (affiliate link)
• onion
• butter
• paprika, preferably Szeged Sweet Paprika (affiliate link)
• sour cream (see notes)
• flour
• dill pickle juice
• dried dill weed (affiliate link) (optional, for garnish)

What gives this recipe the Hungarian flavors?

It’s the Hungarian Paprika, sour cream, and dill in the recipe that gives this dish those Hungarian flavors I like so much. Al and I both use Szeged Sweet Paprika (affiliate link) for our Hungarian recipes, but any Hungarian paprika will be good.

Can you make the Hungarian Recipe for Summer Squash gluten-free?

This recipe does have one tablespoon of flour to thicken the mixture, which makes it not gluten-free if you use that. Truthfully, I wondered how much that flour was needed, and if you like the sound of this but need it to be gluten-free, it would be worth trying it without the flour, or replacing the flour with a gluten-free thickener.  I haven’t tried that but I’m confident it could work.

How low in carbs is this Hungarian Summer Squash Recipe?

This tasty idea for cooking zucchini and summer squash has about 9 net carbs per serving.

Who else loves those Hungarian Flavors?

I love Hungarian flavors and two of my favorite dishes on the blog are Hungarian Pot Roast and Pork with Paprika, Mushrooms, and Sour Cream. I’m not claiming either of those is an authentic Hungarian recipe, but they’re loaded with those great Hungarian flavor combinations.

How to make Al’s Hungarian Recipe for Summer Squash:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. This recipe has classic Hungarian flavors like dill, sour cream, and Paprika (Al highly recommends Szeged Paprika (affiliate link), and that’s the kind I also prefer.)
2. Al peels the squash completely, but I left some strips of peel on to add color to the dish. Your choice.
3. Use a sharp spoon to scrape out the seeds.
4. Then use a food processor or a large box grater to grate the squash. (I used my Cuisinart Food Processor (affiliate link) but Al prefers the large side of a Box Grater. (affiliate link)
5. Put the squash into a heavy pan with a tight-fitting lid, add the salt and red wine vinegar, and let it sit for 15 minutes to draw out some of the liquid.
6. While the squash sits, finely chop the onions and dill. (Great knife skills here by Al.)
7. The original recipe says to drain the liquid, but if there’s not a large amount, leave the liquid to help steam the squash. (This will depend on how watery your zucchini is.)
8. Turn on the heat to medium and quickly add the butter, chopped onion, and chopped dill.
9. Add the
10. Szeged Paprika (affiliate link) or other Hungarian paprika, and stir gently until the ingredients are well-combined.
11. Then cover with a tight lid and let the mixture cook 10-12 minutes, or until the zucchini is tender but not soft.
12. Add the flour to the sour cream and whisk together with 1-2 tablespoon pan liquid or dill pickle juice.
13. Stir the flour into the zucchini and cook 2-3 minutes more, just long enough for the flour to get cooked and the mixture to slightly thicken. Taste the finished squash and season to taste with more salt, paprika, or dill pickle juice.
14. Serve hot with a sprinkle of paprika and dried dill weed (affiliate link) and a generous dollop of sour cream if desired.

More Recipes with Hungarian Flavors:

• Instant Pot Hungarian Pot Roast
• Vegetarian Mushroom Stew
• Al’s Famous Hungarian Cucumber Salad
• Paprika Chicken
• Pork with Paprika, Mushrooms, and Sour Cream

Continue to Content

Print

Yield: 4 servings

Al's Hungarian Recipe for Summer Squash

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

This Hungarian Recipe for Summer Squash has sour cream, paprika, and dill, and this is another great recipe from my friend Al!

Ingredients

• 2 medium zucchini
• 1 medium yellow summer squash (see notes)
• 3/4 tsp. salt (fine-grind salt is best)
• 2 T red wine vinegar
• 1 T finely chopped fresh dill
• 2 T finely chopped onion
• 2 T butter
• 2 tsp. paprika, plus more for garnish (see notes)
• 1/3 cup sour cream (see notes)
• 1 T flour
• 2 tablespoons dill pickle juice, as needed
• dried dill weed, for garnish
• additional sour cream, for garnish

Instructions

1. Peel strips off the summer squash, leaving some strips of peel for color.
2. Cut squash in half lengthwise and use a sharp spoon to scrape out the seeds.
3. Then coarsely grate the zucchini, using a food processor or the large side of a box grater.
4. Put the squash into a heavy pan with a tight fitting lid.  (I used an enamel-coated cast iron dutch oven.)
5. Sprinkle over the salt and add the vinegar, stir a couple of times, and let the zucchini sit 15 minutes to draw out some of the liquid.
6. While it sits, finely chop the dill and onion.
7. After 15 minutes push the squash to the sides of the pan to see that you have just a little liquid in the bottom.
8. Drain some off if there’s a lot of liquid or add a little water or dill pickle juice if you don’t see much liquid.
9. Turn on the heat under the pan to medium, add the butter, chopped onion, and chopped dill.
10. Sprinkle on the Paprika and stir a few times to combine, then cover the pan and steam the squash 10-12 minutes, or until it’s tender but not completely soft.
11. When the squash is done, combine the flour and sour cream and whisk in 1-2 tablespoons of liquid from the pan (or dill pickle juice if there is not enough liquid).
12. If you want a strong dill flavor, you can remove the liquid from the pan and use pickle juice in the sour cream.
13. Stir the flour mixture into the cooked zucchini and cook 2-3 minutes more, or just until the flour is cooked and the mixture is slightly thickened.
14. Taste and add more salt, paprika, or dill pickle juice as desired.
15. Serve hot, garnished with paprika, dill weed, and a dollop of sour cream.

Notes

This recipe could easily be doubled. You can use all zucchini or all summer squash if you prefer. Al and I both prefer Szeged Paprika (affiliate link). Al uses full-fat Daisy Sour Cream, but you can use light sour cream if desired.

Al’s recipe is adapted from The Art of Hungarian Cooking.

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 150Total Fat 11gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 28mgSodium 714mgCarbohydrates 12gFiber 3gSugar 7gProtein 3g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

Did you make this recipe?

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating (under the PRINT button in the recipe) or share a photo of your results on Instagram! THANKS!

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Even though there’s a tiny amount of flour used as a thickener, this Hungarian Recipe for Summer Squash is low in carbs, but probably not suitable for Keto. If you’re following the original South Beach Diet, the recipe also uses butter. If you’re more a “letter-of-the-law” person for South Beach (or if you need this recipe to be gluten-free) I would definitely experiment with using olive oil or omitting the flour. 

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Zucchini Recipes or Side Dishes to find more recipes like this one.Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe summer squash with Hungarian flavors was first posted in 2014 when I made it with Judy and Al. It was last updated with more information in 2024.

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