Need a few fresh ideas for zucchini? I’m sharing 10 of our family’s favorite recipes, along with a few cooking techniques that bring out new flavors and textures.
For our family, the month of July means a few very specific things:
- Fun 4th of July and birthday festivities.
- “Dekkerfest” with Dave’s family.
- School supplies!
- Brown grass (no matter how much we water).
- Zucchini, zucchini, and more zucchini.
Even though I only plant 2 zucchini plants each spring, we always end up with significantly more squash than we can ever eat or bake with come summer and fall.
Of course, we give some of our garden goodies to friends and neighbors, and I shred a bunch for the freezer; but I also get creative with different ways to work zucchini into many of our meals and baked goods.
Most of the time, my family doesn’t even realize I put 2 or 3 heaping cups of zucchini into their favorite brownies, cakes, muffins, pasta dishes, or casseroles — win-win!!
If you’d like a few EASY, family-friendly recipes to use up some of your garden (or farmer’s market) haul, I’ve got you covered!
Keep reading for some of our family’s favorite sweet, savory, salty, and scrumptious ways to eat zucchini.
5 Simple Methods to Cook Zucchini
When I’m short on time, my go-to method to cook up a bunch of zucchini is to quarter them lengthwise, cut out the seeds, and sauté them in my cast iron pans with a healthy amount of butter, garlic, and salt/pepper.
Sautéd zucchini is the perfect seasonal side dish for almost any meal. In fact, I often eat it for breakfast or lunch — topped with feta cheese, fried eggs, and bacon. Yum!
Here are a few more simple methods we regularly use to prepare zucchini.
(Click on the links below for full recipes and tutorials.)
- Sautéd in a frying pan (as detailed above)
- Grilled (in long strips or sliced rounds placed directly onto grill grates)
- Grilled (in a grill pan with other veggies)
- Oven-roasted (with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper)
- Zoodles (zucchini noodles — made with a spiralizer)
And now, for a variety of VERY simple, easy-to-make, family-friendly recipes that have been staples in our summer menu plans for years…
5 Easy Main Dish Zucchini Recipes:
If you’re looking for a few ways to sneak extra veggies into your next family dinner, these recipes will do the trick — your kids might not even realize it!
Cheesy Zucchini Rice Casserole
This is one of my personal favorite ways to use up a whole bunch of zucchini. I often make this recipe as a side dish for grilled meat, but I've also had great luck adding a pound of ground (cooked) sausage and turning it into more of a breakfast entree (like a quiche).
Chicken, Zucchini, and Corn Pasta Bake
Zucchini and sweet corn are 2 late-summer treats here in West Michigan. I love pairing them together in this yummy pasta dish with leftover grilled chicken and a delicious creamy sauce.
Three Cheese Zucchini Lasagna Roll-ups
All the goodness of homemade lasagna, with some extra veggies snuck in (I promise, no one will notice!)
10-Minute Zucchini Noddles
If you're short on time, zoodles are a fun way to use up a bunch of zucchini in one meal. You could also do part pasta noodles, part zoodles if you're not confident your family will approve of the switch!
Vegetable Chowder
We love vegetable chowder all year long -- but it's a refreshingly light meal for warm summer nights when you can throw in all sorts of seasonal veggies.
5 Easy Baked Good Zucchini Recipes
Looking for a sweet treat that is slightly more nutritious? Try adding 1 to 2 cups of shredded zucchini to your next batch of brownies or your next cake — no one will know, and you’ll be amazed at how moist it is!
Zucchini (Apple) Crisp
Your family will NEVER believe you substituted sliced zucchini for sliced apples in this apple-less apple crisp -- in fact, you might not believe it yourself until you try it!
Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins (or bread)
Chocolate muffins with the addition of mini chocolate chips are a sure-fire way to get little mouths to gobble up zucchini. Both bread and muffins work wonderfully with this recipe.
Chocolate Zucchini Brownies
More chocolate... this time as a super-rich, super moist brownie, packed with shredded zucchini.
Zucchini Banana Sheet Cake
This recipe is great for a big crowd... and also an easy way to use up BOTH zucchini and over-ripe bananas. I've never brought this sheet cake anywhere and NOT been asked for the recipe!
Apple Cinnamon Zucchini Bread
When the summer zucchini season overlaps the early apple crop here in West Michigan, I know it’s time for a loaf (or 6) of our favorite Apple Cinnamon Zucchini Bread -- with the most delicious crumble topping.
There you go — 10 of our family’s favorite zucchini recipes that are simple enough for busy weeknights and delicious enough for company too.
I hope this list gives you a few new ways to use up all that delicious summer zucchini!
And don’t forget to shred a bunch and freeze it for later this winter.
What are your favorite ways to cook or bake with zucchini?
Carrie says
Thank you for the terrific zucchini recipes. Sadly our plants are not producing much so far but I am hopeful…
I wanted to also comment on regrowing green onions. We recently have tried cutting the green onions while they are still in the ground leaving the roots behind as I read they will regrow. This is new to us so hasn’t been proven yet but will save some time eliminating the putting in water step.
Andrea says
thanks Carrie! and yes, I guess I should have mentioned that we only cut the tops off (we don’t actually pull the green onions out either). Thanks for clarifying that in the comments!
Sandy says
I’m very intrigued by the “non” apple crisp and wonder if I ca pass if off on my family! I might have to give it a whirl. I have two recipes to share that you might want to check out….nothing I’ve tried yet so I can’t give rave reviews but they seem to be well received!
One is for a simple Zucchini soup: https://www.skinnytaste.com/cream-of-zucchini-soup-1-ww-point/
And the other is a Zucchini Crumb Cake: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2018/07/30/zucchini-crumb-cake/
Andrea says
I have a feeling the Zucchini Crumb Cake will be similar to the apple crisp — in that it tastes like apple/cinnamon but is really zucchini! NO ONE noticed when I made the apple-less apple crisp!
Michele M says
My whole family loves these cookies!
https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/chocolate-fudge-zucchini-cookies/
Andrea says
Thanks Michele! I’ve actually never made zucchini cookies before, so I will most definitely try this recipe!
Johanna says
I half my zucchini lengthwise, fill them with some flavored cream cheese and wrap them in bacon. Then I throw them on the grill or in a superhot oven to crisp the bacon, and it’s done (careful not to overcook the zucchini, it should have a little bite left to it). This is either eaten with a salad as a stand alone meal, or as a side to grillen meat, chicken or fish.
Andrea says
oh wow — that sounds AMAZING! thanks!
Rachael Thiele says
What is/are your favourite zoodle maker/s and where do you get them?
Thanks Rachael
Andrea says
I believe all that information is linked to in this post: https://andreadekker.com/zucchini-noodles-101/
Jackie says
Skinnytaste has a recipe for these amazing zucchini tots. I make a ton of them and keep them for snacks the rest of the week.
https://www.skinnytaste.com/zucchini-tots/
Andrea says
yum… I’ll have to look these up!
Miranda says
I have an over abundance of zucchini this year and i love the sound of simply sauteing them. do you eat them with any dip/ketchup? or just plain?
Andrea says
I put olive oil in the pan and sprinkle the zucchini with salt, pepper, garlic, and sometimes a few other spices!
Linda Tenhage says
Zucchini pizza boats!
Andrea says
yum!