Grilled Stuffed Squash Blossoms

These delicious grilled-not-fried Stuffed Squash Blossoms are filled with a velvety mixture of sweet potato, mascarpone, and fresh rosemary browned butter. Makes a delicious seasonal side. 

Stuffed squash blossoms may sound complicated and tedious, but they are just the opposite: down-to-earth and quite easy to make. The fragrant, velvety filling in this stuffed squash blossoms recipe is a simple but elegant mixture of sweet potatoes, mascarpone, and rosemary brown butter – a perfect complement to the mild, slightly floral squash blossoms.

Jump to:

• What is a Squash Blossom?
• Sweet Potato Filling Ingredients
• How to Make this Stuffed Squash Blossoms Recipe
• Variations
• Equipment
• FAQ
• More Summer Squash Recipes
• Serving & Pairing
• Beyond Squash Blossoms
• Grilled Stuffed Squash Blossoms with Sweet Potato Browned Butter Filling

What is a Squash Blossom?

Squash blossoms are edible flowers from squashes such as zucchini (courgette), spaghetti squash, pumpkins, spaghetti squash, and many other types of summer and fall squashes.

Squash blossoms are typically out from late spring through early fall. If you grow your own squashes, you can simply pick them as they emerge, before they begin to ripen as you thin your plants. 

But does it matter which blossoms you pick to make this grilled squash blossom recipe? It may. 

All squashes produce male and female flowers. If you look inside the flower, the male ones will have a little stamen in the middle. If preserving your squash harvest is a concern, try to pick the male flowers for your squash flower recipes. (Just don't pick all of them!) 

Sweet Potato Filling Ingredients

For this recipe, all you need is a batch of sweet potato filling and a handful of fresh squash blossoms. Enjoy! 

• Sweet potatoes: Use orange-fleshed sweet potatoes.
• Mascarpone: This fresh, creamy Italian cheese is what gives the filling it's richness and depth.
• Butter: This recipe was developed using salted butter, but you can use unsalted butter.
• Rosemary: Use fresh rosemary!
• Squash blossoms: Any variety of edible squash blossoms will work.
• Kosher salt
• Olive oil

How to Make this Stuffed Squash Blossoms Recipe

Sweet Potato Filling

In a small skillet over medium-high heat, heat butter and rosemary until the butter melts and begins to foam.

Continue cooking, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter turns a golden brown and gives off a nutty aroma. Be careful not to burn the butter. Remove from the heat immediately and allow to cool slightly. (Click through for more on how to make browned butter.)

Remove rosemary sprigs from browned butter and set aside.

Place cubed sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan and add enough water to cover them, plus an extra inch.

Bring the water to a boil and cook the cubed sweet potatoes for about 15 minutes, or until they are very tender. Drain the sweet potatoes, and place them back in the pot.

Add mascarpone, salt, and 2 tablespoons of the prepared Rosemary Brown Butter, reserving the remaining browned butter for the final step.

Use an immersion blender to puree the filling ingredients until everything is smooth and creamy, with no lumps remaining. (You can do this step in a food processor if you don’t have an immersion blender.)

Season with kosher salt to taste.

Stuffed Squash Blossoms

Once you prepare the filling, there are just two more easy steps to completing this beautiful, delicious grilled squash blossom recipe: stuffing and grilling the squash blossoms.

Use tweezers to remove the stamen from the male blossoms before you fill them (optional).

Fill a resealable plastic bag with the sweet potato filling. Trim one comer of the bag, and use it to pipe filling into each blossom. Do not overfill.

Gently twist the petals closed at the top as shown. Spray or brush the stuffed blossoms very lightly with with olive oil.

There are a number of ways to prepare stuffed blossoms once you fill them; deep-frying being the most popular. However, grilling seems to be the best option to me: not only is it healthier than the traditional deep-fry method, but it also preserves the delicate flavor of the squash blossoms without covering it up.

To Grill Stuffed Squash Blossoms: Preheat a grill (indoor or outdoor) over medium-high heat. Place the filled squash blossoms on the hot grill for 3-4 minutes. Use tongs to turn the squash blossoms over, and grill another 3-4 minutes. Remove from grill.

Using a spoon, skim the clear browned butter from the top of what remains after making the filling. (Leave the dark brown remains at the bottom of the bowl.) Drizzle the clear browned butter over the grilled squash blossoms.

Garnish with fresh rosemary sprigs and serve warm.

I cannot tell you how much we love the sweet potato filling in these squash blossoms. The nutty, fragrant rosemary brown butter is a perfect complement to the sweet potatoes, and the mascarpone gives it a velvety smooth, rich texture.

Variations

We recommend grilling these stuffed squash blossoms; however, you can also bake them in the oven.

Oven-baked Squash Blossoms: Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Place prepared blossoms on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Equipment

Stuffed squash blossoms can be grilled outside on a barbecue grill, but we find it just as easy to use a stovetop cast iron grill. A stovetop grill comes in very handy when you want to grill on cold days, or in the off-season.

FAQ

More Summer Squash Recipes

If this Grilled Squash Blossoms recipe sounds tasty to you, you might also like our recipe for Spaghetti Squash with Garlic and Almonds. 

Did you know that rosemary is very easy to grow? It's a hardy evergreen, and the fresh herbs can be used year round.

Serving & Pairing

Squash blossoms make an excellent side dish for pasta; the simpler the better. (We get double duty prep by serving them with browned butter angel hair pasta!) They also pair well with robust green salads, and surprisingly, savory peach dishes.

Beyond Squash Blossoms

We made a lot of sweet potato filling during the development of this recipe, and in the process, we decided that this savory-sweet blend of deliciousness isn't just for squash blossoms! We came up with a long list of recipes we could create using the filling as a base. There's the obvious: sweet potato browned butter pie. Then there's sweet potato cookies, ice cream, fudge - just consider the possibilities! Food bloggers are always raving about how delicious their own creations are; but honestly, this sweet potato filling is good. Really good.

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Originally published September 9, 2015. This post has been updated with new content, images, and recipe instructions to improve reader experience.