These days, when I walk into my local vegetable market, the bin holding zucchini is just a sea of deep green freshness. Sometimes, in the winter, you’ll see some sad-looking specimens. But not in the summer. I have a hard time resisting them, even though I usually still have a small supply at home. I can’t help it—fresh vegetables are my weakness. Especially since I’ve given up trying to grow anything in my backyard. (The deer and groundhogs won that battle.)
Whether you are fortunate enough to have zucchini plants in your garden, or like me, want to bring home way too much zucchini every time you head to the market, there’s no denying it: there’s zucchini everywhere. So let’s put that abundance to good use, shall we? Tell us:
What’s your favorite way to use zucchini?
I love grilled vegetables, like Ree’s Grilled Zucchini with Lemon Salt that you see in the photo above. Zucchini bread is another favorite, and I’ll sometimes add shredded zucchini to other baking recipes because I’m sneaky like that. As a bonus, the zucchini makes the end product moist, so I think that’s a win-win!
How about you? Do you have any favorite ways to use zucchini? Share your ideas with us below! And, as always, if you have a recipe link, share away!
20 Comments
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Elise on 7.27.2014
If you grow your own courgettes (zucchini) pick the flowers first thing in the morning when they are wide open, dip in egg and lightly fry. Totally yummy and a really fast breakfast.
Barb on 7.24.2014
I have two favs- carrot,apple,zucchini cake with cream cheese frosting or zucchini bites.
mnheather on 7.24.2014
oh man, we layer slices of it with finely diced onion, drained diced tomatoes, canned mushroom slices, parmesan and cheddar cheese, and bake the heck out of it. So, so yummy!
Cathy B on 7.24.2014
My new favorite toy is my vegetti, which makes “noodles” out of a zucchini. You can use these noodles in place of regular spaghetti – or add them to the water about two minutes before your spaghetti is ready and bulk up the pasta. You can also use a spiralizer or even a mandoline to make zucchini noodles. Either way, they’re pretty neat!
idruskin on 7.24.2014
I make a chocolate zucchini bread that everyone loves.
Kathryn on 7.24.2014
My favorite is a simple pasta dish:
1-2 zucchinis
5-6 garlic cloves
1/2 cup olive oil
Optional: 1/2 cup Blue cheese
pasta
salt
pepper
Mince garlic, and dice zucchini. Cook together in a pan with olive oil until soft (can do this while pasta is cooking). Once pasta is ready, mix together, and, if desired, crumble in blue cheese. (Otherwise, serve with freshly grated Pecorino or Parmesan.)
Diloy on 7.23.2014
Tihis is a recipe my aunt Adele called Simple Summer Supper
2-3 zucchini, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
3-4 tomatoes, sliced
1 large sweet onion sliced
1 tsp. each of dried basil and oregano, one clove garlic, minced, 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper.
Layer zucchini in casserole dish, sprinkle with 1/3 spice mixture, repeat with tomato layer, then onion layer. Cover tightly with foil, bake @350 for 45 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle on 1-2 cups grated cheese of your choice….Jarlsberg Swiss is my favorite. Bake for 10-15 minutes more uncovered.
Jessica M on 7.23.2014
Google Irresistible zucchini brownies. ..heaven in a pan! Zucchini muffins were made tonight. I also bought a julienne peeler and make noodles out of our zucchini, so tasty and filling!
Yanica on 7.23.2014
I know this is more of a winter time staple, but shred zucchini and add to a batch of spaghetti sauce as a way to sneak in more veggie!
Cathey on 7.23.2014
I love to grill in the summer, drizzle with evoo and sprinkle with fresh herbs. In the colder months I to saute like Patricia. But ,nothing beats a hot pancake served with a pork dish, better then a potato pancake any day.
Carol on 7.23.2014
Our zucchini is coming in like CRAZY the past few days. We love Oven Fried Zucchini with Horseradish Dipping Sauce and all kinds of zucchini bread. Every year I create at least 3 new varieties of it…..don’t ask me to pick a favorite because I sure couldn’t! I am partial to Crumb Topped Biscoff Swirl Zucchini Bread…..and Cookies ‘n Cream Zucchini Bread is mighty good too. I’ve got a Zucchini Brownie recipe on tap to try-can’t wait!
Patricia @ ButterYum on 7.23.2014
I really love to bake zucchini bread when I have a lot one hand. On a more savory note, I sautee zucchini and summer squash together in a bit of butter and olive oil, sprinkled with a touch of marjoram at the end. It’s one of my family’s favorite side dishes.
http://www.butteryum.org/blog/2014/7/9/sauteed-zucchini-and-summer-squash
JB on 7.23.2014
My kids LOVE the baked zucchini fries from Alaska from Scratch’s site. I can’t seem to plant enough zucchini to keep up with the requests for that!
Pat E on 7.23.2014
I like zucchini grilled with yellow squash and mushrooms. We also enjoy fried zucchini patties.
Nadine on 7.23.2014
Cold cream of zucchini soup is the best. Just blend sautéed zucchini with whatever fresh herbs you have on hand and a little cream.
lauren coley on 7.23.2014
I love it all year ’round, roasted with other vegetables or by itself. So good
Allyn on 7.23.2014
I use it in just about everything this time of year, but I recently did fried polenta topped with a zucchini relish and it was CRAZY good (http://girlnamedallyn.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/fried-polenta-with-zucchini-relish/)
C. L. ( Cheryl ) "Cheffie Cooks" Wiser on 7.23.2014
Such a versatile vegetable to use! I think I like grating it into recipes best my family just has no clue, not that I need to disguise any one ingredient, they love zucchini. I do not have a favorite recipe for zucchini because I can never claim any one recipe my favorite. I have too many recipes I just love. So, I will just say I love zucchini a lot it ranks high on my fresh produce market shopping list! CLW
Juliana on 7.23.2014
I would have to say there really isn’t a wrong way to go with zucchini. I have so many favorite ways to fix it, bread, muffins, cakes, cookies & grilled. You just can’t go wrong.
Helena Mouta on 7.23.2014
Definitely zucchini pancakes! I got this fabulous recipe from Smitten Kitchen and it’s my favorite way to sneak vegetables into breakfast. We have them with greek yogurt and fruit and they’re the perfect Saturday morning treat. Not that I actually need to sneak zucchini into the food around here, everybody loves it in our house, including my not-at-all-picky 4-year-old boy. Thank God!