It’s zucchini season… which means one of two things is happening at your house: you planted it yourself and can no longer look at another squash without flinching, or your neighbour left three more on your porch without asking. Either way, the zucchini is winning right now and ignoring it just means more of it tomorrow ;)
So here are 9 zucchini recipes from the archive that’ll actually make a dent, and many of which involve cheese. Let’s use this stuff up.
boursin zucchini blossoms
serves 4 | 30 minutes
You stuff the flowers with herby Boursin, dredge and fry, and people think you went to culinary school. The Boursin saves time so don’t make your own herb cheese from scratch. If you’re already committing to deep frying, that’s not the place to save your energy.
zucchini coins with curry aioli
serves 4 | 30 minutes
Basically grown-up zucchini fries. Salt the coins first to pull the moisture out so the breading sticks, then run them through the dredge - flour, egg and panko with parm and sesame seeds mixed in. Fry until golden, about 30 seconds a side. The curry aioli is three ingredients and tastes way more complicated than the actual effort required.
zucchini with smoky romesco
serves 4 / 30 minutes
To get a really good char on zucchini, start with a score in a criss-cross, salt them, and squeeze out the water before it hits the pan. The romesco (toasted almonds, roasted red peppers, and smoked paprika) comes together in a food processor while the zucchini cooks. Make a double batch to use the leftover sauce on eggs, crackers, or really any grilled veg or meat!
hot honey butter zucchini over creamy feta
serves 4-6 | 30 minutes
Zucchini slightly charred, tossed with browned butter and hot honey and spooned over whipped feta-labneh. The PERFECT bbq side, and it’s just as good sitting out at room temp for a while, so timing pressure isn’t really a thing here.
chili crisp chickpeas, halloumi and marinated zucchini
serves 2 | 30 minutes
Thinly-sliced marinated zucchini, chickpeas fried until crisp and halloumi seared until deeply golden. Drizzled with honey and chili crisp. She’s spicy, salty, creamy, fresh, all in one bowl (and it’s mostly assembly, which is my favorite kind of cooking).
pineapple zucchini chicken skewers
serves 4-5 | 45 minutes
The trick here is the zucchini itself: peeled and folded into ribbons you thread it onto the skewer. You get this pleated, ruffled shape instead of a flat chunk, and it holds up well on the grill. The chicken is marinated in soy, rice wine vinegar and brown sugar and it’s all grilled with pineapple, then finished it with a sesame-chili-lime drizzle right off the heat.
crispy chicken & zucchini salad with salted apricot yogurt
serves 2-4 | 45 minutes
The secret is th greek yogurt marinate for these chicken cutlets. They are pan-fried to golden, with a raw zucchini salad for the bright, tangy contrast. And since the oil’s already hot anyway, a few zucchini rounds get fried too (almost spaghetti-alla-nerano vibes). The finishing move is the one you’ll steal for everything else: frozen goat cheese, grated straight over the hot cutlet so it melts just slightly instead of clumping.
zucchini lasagna
serves 2 | 1 hour (30 min prep, 30 min bake)
Thin zucchini planks stand in for pasta sheets, and here’s the part people skip and shouldn’t: bake the zucchini for 10 minutes before you assemble anything. Zucchini holds a ridiculous amount of water, and skipping that step is the difference between lasagna and soup. Layer it with a ground turkey marinara (fennel seed is the sneaky move, gives it an Italian sausage flavor) and ricotta, then bury it in mozzarella. No noodles means more room for cheese!!
caramelized zucchini spaghetti and herby meatballs
serves 2 | 45 minutes
A box grater turns your zucchini surplus into a caramelized pasta sauce that’s sneaky enough to fool anti-green eaters. Herby meatballs on the side, fancy enough for guests, easy enough for a Tuesday. Good to know: you can split this into two separate recipes if you only want the pasta or only want the meatballs and both hold up perfectly on their own.
That’s 9 ways to actually work through a zucchini surplus instead of just staring at it on the counter!
Let me know if you try any of these recipes in the comments!
One zucchini plant can feed a village. This is the time of year of the zucchini doorbell ditch!