Parmesan Roasted Yellow Squash with Hot Honey

on May 09, 2025

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Savory, sweet and just a little spicy, this roasted yellow squash delivers big flavor with simple ingredients. I toss sliced summer squash with olive oil and pantry spices and sprinkle them with parmesan before roasting them. To give the squash a little something extra, I stir together chili crisp and honey for a quick homemade hot honey. Finished with toasted walnuts and fresh herbs, this is easy side dish pairs perfectly with Mediterranean main dishes.

Also, try this easy roasted zucchini for another recipe with summer squash.

Parmesan roasted yellow squash drizzled with hot honey on a plate.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe
The Ingredients
How To Make this Roasted Yellow Squash Recipe
Serving
Leftovers & Storage
Recipe Tips
Recipe FAQs
More Summer Squash Recipes
Parmesan Roasted Yellow Squash with Hot Honey Recipe

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

You can make a healthy side dish that’s special even if it’s with just one vegetable. The oven always works its magic roasting veggies. The yellow squash ends up with those caramelized brown edges.

With pantry seasonings, parmesan and hot honey, this easy squash recipe is a perfect balance of savory and sweet. To get an exciting combination of flavors, I season the vegetables with onion powder and garlic powder. Parmesan adds a bit of umami, and the hot honey gives it that final touch of heat.

Together chili crisp and honey are hot and sweet. This is a shortcut to making hot honey. Chili crisp is wonderful because it has more to it than just spiciness.

The Ingredients

Ingredients including sliced yellow squash, parmesan, walnuts, parsley, honey, chili crisp, olive oil and dried spices.

This is what you need:

Yellow squash is a type of summer squash. Technically it is a fruit, but we cook it like a vegetable. You can swap it with zucchini. Yellow squash is available year-round at the grocery or in-season at the farmers market.
Parmesan: The hot oven melts freshly grated parmesan cheese right into the squash and helps it brown.
Spices: I season the squash with dried oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, kosher salt and black pepper.
Walnuts: To bring out their nutty flavor, I toast the walnuts on a sheet pan in a 350-degree F oven for 5-7 minutes.
Parsley: Besides walnuts, I also sprinkle the roasted yellow squash with fresh herbs. You also can use basil or chives.
Chili crisp is a great condiment to keep in your pantry. It instantly brings heat to roasted or grilled vegetables, eggs, noodles and so much more. It’s a crunchy mix of garlic, onions, chili peppers, spices and oil. This is a helpful roundup of different chili crisp brands.
Honey: I typically keep light amber or amber honey in my pantry, but any kind of pure honey will work for this recipe.
Olive oil: I use high quality extra virgin olive oil for the best taste.

How To Make this Roasted Yellow Squash Recipe

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F with a sheet pan inside.

1. Make the spice mix. Stir the oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and oil in a small bowl.

2. Toss the squash rounds in the spiced olive oil in a large bowl, making sure they are all well coated.

Dried spices and oil stirred in a small bowl. Squash tossed with spiced oil in a bowl.

3. Arrange the squash on the preheat baking sheet. The slices should be in a single layer, not overlapping. Then sprinkle them with parmesan.

4. Roast the summer squash. Give it 30-35 minutes to turn golden brown in spots.

Yellow squash on a sheet pan before and after you roast it.

5. Make the hot honey. You can do this while the yellow squash is in the oven. Microwave the honey for 10 seconds, so it is more runny. Then stir in the chili crisp. It should be a consistency that you can drizzle.

6. Arrange the squash on a serving plate. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and walnuts and drizzle with hot honey.

Serving

Even with the hot honey, this roasted summer squash is a side that works with lots of other main dishes, especially if they have Mediterranean flavors. Pair it with pastas like fresh herb pappardelle or burst tomato pasta. I also like this squash side with mixed veggie skewers and zucchini corn fritters. You can also serve it with proteins such as roasted or grilled chicken, salmon or shrimp.

Leftovers & Storage

Roasted yellow squash will taste best when you eat it warm. You can keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat them for a few minutes in a 350-degree F oven. I also eat them cold tossed in a salad. Store extra hot honey in a jar at room temperature. It will stay good for a couple months.

Recipe Tips

Cut the yellow squash the same thickness It doesn’t matter if they are different diameters. How thick they are will effect the roasting time.
You don’t have to make the hot honey. While I love the heat and flavor that it adds to the roasted squash, you still get enough flavor with the dried spices and the parmesan cheese.
Preheating the sheet pan gives the squash a head start roasting. It helps with browning. Don’t use a shallow baking dish. You want that yellow summer squash on hot metal and not overlapping in a shallow baking dish.

Recipe FAQs

Do you have to buy hot honey?

I totally understand not wanting to invest in another pantry ingredient especially if you are’t sure you’re going to use it. You can stir 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes into the honey. It won’t have all the flavor and depth you get from chili crisp, but red pepper flakes will give you heat.

Can you substitute with zucchini?

Absolutely! They are interchangeable or you can use a mix of both.

How do you make the recipe vegan?

You can leave out the parmesan and sprinkle the roasted squash with nutritional yeast when it is out of the oven. Or use a dairy-free, plant-based Parmesan.