How to Cook Zucchini
on Jul 19, 2019, Updated Jul 26, 2024
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When zucchini come into season, they hit like a vegetal tsunami, bursting from the garden by the dozen (“Wait, there were only about 6 of those when I went to bed last night!”). They’re also piled high at the farmers market, practically free at the supermarket, and omnipresent in your CSA at the end of the summer.
How can we use it all without feeling like zucchini bread is coming out of our ears? Not that there’s anything wrong with a plentitude of zucchini bread — and you probably have neighbors! I have plenty of zucchini recipes for you to explore. Also, know that summer squash can be cooked in the same way as zucchini, so feel free to swap in summer squash in any recipe. And yet, before you start cooking, a few tips about selecting, storing, and prepping zucchini are sure to help!
Table of Contents
How to Cook Zucchini: Everything you need to know about how to buying, stroing, preparing and cooking zucchini!
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What Is Zucchini?
Technically zucchini are in the fruit family, though they are most often treated as a vegetable. They are called courgettes throughout Europe. The yellow version is usually known as summer squash. You also might see striated summer squash.
Zucchini is used in many different cuisines, from the U.S. to Bulgaria to Egypt to Turkey and all throughout Europe.
What Does Zucchini Taste Like?
Zucchini has a very mild and delicate taste. Its high water content makes its flavor very subtle. When you cook them, you will notice that they lose a lot of water and shrink in size, making the flavor a bit more vegetal but still fairly delicate.
FAQs
The taste of each variety is similar, with the yellow versions being a bit more bland in flavor and sometimes a little less firm in texture. In most recipes, you can swap out one for the other without too much variation.
They range in size from babies the size of a finger to monster baseball bats. The longest zucchini clocked in at 8 feet 3.3 inches, grown by Mr. Giovanni Batista Scozzafava in Niagara Falls, Ontario, measured on August 28, 2014 (talk about a lot of zucchini bread). Zucchini grow pretty quickly — often, you can see that they get bigger overnight! They will continue to grow until you pick them (or a frost comes).
Zucchini and summer squash have a nice amount of folate, potassium, and vitamins A and C, and they are extremely low in calories, according to Healthline.
How to Choose Zucchini
Choose squash between 6 and 8 inches long, no more than 2 inches in diameter, firm to the touch, with smooth, taut skin.
The smaller squash tends to be less mealy and/or fibrous and more flavorful. However, the larger ones can be shredded and used in recipes like zucchini bread or hollowed out and stuffed. You may need to discard the spongy core of a very large squash and just use the outer portion of the squash — and the skin.
How to Store Zucchini
They can be stored in the fridge for several days, depending on how firm they were when you picked or bought them. Once they start to feel soft or mushy to the touch, it’s probably time to compost them.
How to Cook Zucchini
Since its flavor is quite delicate, zucchini takes well to all kinds of preparations and seasonings since they are quite like a blank slate. It is usually simply cooked in some way — sautéed or steamed, sometimes fried, though they also can be stuffed and baked. Zucchini can be used in soups, stews, chilis, and pastas to easily add bulk and a boost of nutrition.
Zucchini can also be used in raw preparations, like this Tomato, Zucchini, and Bulgur Salad. Uncooked squash is nicely crunchy, especially when they are on the smaller side. And, with the help of your vegetable peeler, you can get super thin strips of zucchini for a simple Zucchini Ribbon Salad.
While zucchini is often diced, sliced, or shredded for recipes, it’s worth mentioning that the popularity of the spiralizer put zucchini into the spotlight, with noodles (or zoodles) made from zucchini being used in place of pasta, either raw or lightly cooked. You can even buy pre-spiralized zoodles in lots of markets. You could substitute zoodles for pasta in almost any dish — they would be great with Marinara Sauce, Alfredo Sauce, or Puttanesca Sauce.
In any preparation, the smooth, brightly colored skin is usually left on, as it’s fully edible and quite pretty. The exception is when grating zucchini for bread recipes and other baked goods; if the skin is tough, you’ll want to peel it first.
Zucchini Recipes
From quick breads to fried zucchini and healthy salads to grilled kabobs, zucchini recipes are surprisingly diverse. There’s no chance you’ll get bored with this veggie (ahem, fruit), even when you’ think you’re trying to figure out what to do with too much zucchini!
What to Do With Zucchini Flowers
Zucchini and summer squash put forth a flower on each end of the vegetable, which is also edible. The squash blossoms are often stuffed and fried, and they are delicious. If you have them available, be sure to get tips about how to cook squash blossoms!
More Fresh Produce Cooking Tips
Still getting yourself up to speed on different produce? Aren’t we all!
