Discover the Sweetest Squash Varieties for Your Garden & Kitchen

As a gardener and food enthusiast, exploring the vast world of squash is always a rewarding journey. With over 100 varieties spanning both summer and winter types, finding the ones that offer truly exceptional sweetness can elevate your culinary creations from simple sides to star dishes. While many people associate squash sweetness primarily with pumpkin pie, nature offers a surprising array of naturally sweet options perfect for roasting, baking, soups, and more. Let’s dive into some of the most delightful squash varieties known for their inherent sugary goodness.

Squash belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family, which also includes beloved cucumbers. Though often used and treated like a vegetable in the kitchen, botanically speaking, squash is a fruit. Originating from the diverse landscapes of the Andes and Mesoamerica, various edible species have been cultivated for their delicious flesh and nutritious seeds for centuries. They appear in many forms, often called squashes, gourds, or pumpkins. The key difference between summer and winter squash lies mainly in maturity at harvest and skin hardness, which impacts their storage life.

Understanding Squash Sweetness: Summer vs. Winter

Growing pumpkins for baking is a classic example of tapping into squash’s sweet potential for desserts like pies, quick breads, and cookies. But are pumpkins the only sweet option? Far from it! Winter squash, harvested when mature and characterized by a hard rind, often develops a deeper, richer sweetness during storage as starches convert to sugars. Many winter varieties boast names that hint at their flavor profile, such as ‘Bonbon’, ‘Buttercup’, ‘Carnival’, ‘Sweet Dumpling’, and ‘Tahiti Melon’.

Summer squash, on the other hand, is harvested when young and tender, with an edible skin. While some summer types are known for absorbing flavors rather than providing their own sweetness (like many zucchinis), certain varieties offer a surprisingly sweet and fresh taste. These can include types like ‘Cousa’, ‘Papaya Pear’, ‘Tatume’, ‘Tromboncino’, and ‘Zephyr’. Choosing the best-tasting squash ultimately comes down to personal preference and intended use, but exploring these particularly sweet varieties is a great place to start.

Exceptionally Sweet Winter Squash Varieties

If your experience with winter squash has been limited to the subtly sweet base of a heavily sugared pumpkin pie, prepare for a revelation. Some winter squash varieties are naturally so sweet and flavorful that they need very little, if any, added sugar to shine. Their unique characteristics make them versatile in both sweet and savory dishes.

Pink Banana

Large harvested Pink Banana winter squash with pale pink skin

This highly productive variety stands out as one of the largest non-pumpkin squash types, sometimes weighing over 50 pounds (23 kg). The ‘Pink Banana’ squash features tender, sweet flesh beneath its pale pink or pinkish-orange skin. Its large size makes it perfect for preparing in bulk, and its sweetness makes it particularly delicious in baked dishes.

Honeynut

Honeynut squash halved showing sweet orange flesh – a best tasting variety

Looking like a miniature butternut squash, the ‘Honeynut’ truly lives up to its name with an even sweeter, almost honeyed flavor compared to its larger cousin. Many gardeners and cooks consider this one of the best-tasting winter squash varieties. Its intense sweetness and creamy texture make it delightful when roasted, mashed, or used in seasonal soups.

Kabocha

Harvested Kabocha squash with textured green skin and sliced view – also known as Japanese squash

Known also as Japanese squash, ‘Kabocha’ offers a rich, creamy sweetness with a slightly nutty undertone. This squash is a staple in Japanese cuisine and is wonderfully versatile. Its sweet, dense flesh holds up well to roasting and stuffing, and it makes an exceptionally delicious tempura.

Beyond these, several other winter squash varieties are celebrated for their natural sweetness:

• Honey Bear: A notably sweet variety of acorn squash. It’s so naturally sugary when roasted that you might find yourself skipping the brown sugar topping traditionally used for acorn squash. It truly embodies its sweet name.
• Delicata: This squash has a thinner, edible rind, setting it apart from many winter varieties. It’s fabulous baked or sliced into hearty soups. Roasted with a touch of maple syrup, its sweetness is further enhanced.
• Butternut: A widely popular and justly celebrated squash, ‘Butternut’ varieties offer a rich, dense texture and a naturally sweet, slightly nutty flavor often compared to sweet potatoes. They are excellent in everything from soups to roasts.

Sweet & Flavorful Summer Squash Varieties

While many commonly grown summer squash, like traditional zucchini, are prized more for their texture and ability to absorb flavors, there are delightful summer varieties that offer a refreshing sweetness of their own. These are typically harvested young, when their skins are still tender and edible.

Patty Pans

Pile of vibrant yellow Patty Pan summer squash with fluted edges

Visually striking with their distinctive fluted, often vibrant yellow shape, ‘Patty Pans’ are more than just decorative. They possess a lovely, subtle sweetness complemented by a buttery and nutty flavor. Their firm texture makes them perfect for cooking methods that use relatively high heat, such as roasting or grilling, where their unique shape also adds visual appeal.

Ronde de Nice

Harvested small round Ronde de Nice zucchini with stem – a sweet French heirloom variety

This tender French heirloom variety is essentially a sweet, baby round zucchini. ‘Ronde de Nice’ offers a mellow, subtly sweet flavor profile combined with nutty and creamy notes. Its compact size and generous flesh-to-skin ratio make it particularly well-suited for stuffing or simply roasting whole for a delightful treat.

Cube of Butter

Pile of sunny-skinned Cube of Butter squash harvested from the garden

The aptly named ‘Cube of Butter’ squash features creamy white flesh with a distinctively buttery flavor. These sunny-skinned, cylindrical fruits can be harvested at various sizes, from small and tender to larger. They are exceptionally versatile, being excellent whether eaten raw in salads or cooked in numerous ways.

Choosing and Using the Sweetest Squash

When selecting the sweetest types of squash for your kitchen, maturity and seasonality play significant roles. Summer squash is harvested when the fruit is young and the rind is still tender; the skin is edible and often preferred. These are best enjoyed fresh soon after harvest or stored in the refrigerator for up to a week. Summer squash shines in quick-cooking applications like grills and stir-fries and tends to become soft and less appealing if overcooked.

Winter squash, conversely, is picked when fully mature, resulting in that characteristic hard rind which is typically discarded before or after cooking. The seeds of many winter squash varieties are also a delicious bonus when roasted. These varieties are usually ready for harvest in late summer through early fall. Thanks to their hard skins, they can be stored in a cool, dry place for two to four months, sometimes longer depending on the variety and storage conditions. Winter squash holds up beautifully to longer cooking times, making them ideal for baking, roasting, and simmering in soups and stews.

Don’t Forget the Sweet Surprise: Squash Blossoms

While exploring the sweetest flesh, don’t overlook the equally tasty blooms! Harvesting squash flowers offers a delicate and flavorful addition to your culinary repertoire, perfect for enhancing special meals or simply enjoying as a unique snack. The good news is you can eat the blossoms from virtually any type of squash plant, and they are absolutely delicious. They possess a subtle, slightly radish-like flavor and can be enjoyed fresh in salads or cooked. One of the most popular ways to prepare them is stuffing them with cheese or other fillings, or dipping them in a light batter and frying until golden brown and crispy.

This selection of sweet squash varieties opens up a world of flavor possibilities in your kitchen and garden. From the deep sweetness of winter keepers to the fresh sweetness of summer favorites, there’s a squash to satisfy every palate. We encourage you to try growing some of these varieties yourself or seek them out at local markets. Explore the potential of nature’s candy!

Discover seeds and supplies to grow these delicious varieties and much more at Biogarden.asia. Share your favorite sweet squash recipes and experiences with us!