Growing up, fall trips to Silver Dollar City were kind of a big deal. I mean, the Ozarks are just stunning in the autumn as it is– beautiful orange and red leaves, rolling hills, and just the smells of fall. One of those scents that I’ve tucked away in my memory is the wafting fragrance of the giant cast iron skillets of succotash… delicious squash, corn, chicken, and okra, all sauteed in the skillet with plenty of butter and served in bowls. It’s just one of those fall must-haves, and I was dying to replicate it at home when this year didn’t have a trip to Silver Dollar City in the cards.
This is an incredibly easy recipe, but I’ll be honest: the most time consuming part is chopping the vegetables. A good succotash is packed with plenty of autumn produce. You’ll want to start with a yellow squash and a zucchini. If you have another favorite type of squash, feel free to chop it into bite-sized pieces and toss it in also. The beauty of this recipe is that it’s incredibly versatile– you basically cook like-type produce together to get it just right in terms of done-ness, then toss it all in together and stir.
In addition to dicing your squash and zucchini, you’ll want to chop up a bell pepper (we use green but you can use any of your favorite colors of pepper) and an onion. You’ll also need to dice chicken into bite sized pieces.
When it’s time to cook, start by melting a good amount of butter in a large skillet. If you want to swap in coconut oil or a butter flavored oil, that’ll work too, but I really love butter for this particular recipe.
Cook your peppers and onions until the onions are translucent and both ingredients are nice and tender, then remove them from the skillet. Place your chicken in next, cooking it until it’s done (I like to do the chicken after the onions and peppers for best flavor). Remove the cooked chicken and add the squash and zucchini, as well as a bag of frozen corn (or any fresh corn you have on hand) and cook until they’re tender and done.
Finally, remove the zucchini and corn and cook a bag of breaded okra. Make sure you have adequate butter in your skillet now and add more butter or oil as needed in each round of cooking. Once all of the ingredients are cooked tender, simply add everything back into the skillet to re-heat it all together and help those flavors mesh. Also add salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste– I use about a teaspoon of each, plus a few extra shakes of the garlic.
Boom. Super simple dinner with tons of harvest flavor. Trust me, the name sounds weird but the flavor is unbeatable, and I know you’re going to love this dish at home. It’s a great way to use any extra produce you have from fall, and it’s just all-around flavorful.
- 1 yellow squash, chopped into bite sized pieces
- 1 zucchini, chopped into bite sized pieces
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- 1 lb chicken, diced
- 1 bag frozen corn
- 1 bag breaded okra
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp garlic salt
- Butter
- Melt butter in large skillet. Add onions and peppers, sauteeing until onions are translucent and ingredients are tender. Remove onions and peppers from skillet and set aside.
- Add chicken to skillet and cook until done. Allow some chicken to "stick" to the pan to get that brown crust. Remove from skillet and set aside.
- Add zucchini, squash, and corn to the skillet, cooking until tender. Remove from skillet and set aside.
- Add okra to skillet, with more butter as needed, and fry.
- Once okra is thoroughly cooked, add ingredients back into skillet, cooking until they're warm and seasoning to taste.
- Substituting turkey for chicken, or substituting ingredients for vegetables you have on hand, makes this a great way to use Thanksgiving leftovers!
What’s your favorite fall meal to use up fall produce? Let me know in the comments below!
