Zucchini is the unsung hero of the garden. This green, firm squash that is commonly misclassified as a vegetable (it’s a fruit!) has incredible versatility for cooks of all types. A few years ago, the zucchini gained some notoriety by the re-popularization of the zucchini chocolate cake, but that recipe has actually been in circulation for over forty years.
It is this writer’s opinion that one can never have enough zucchini recipes because home gardeners will often let their crop of zucchini grow very large (zucchini can grow over two feet in length) and can quickly find themselves in excess. This is usually when you’re given a few zucchini at work, and now are under the pressure to do something with them. You may have also noticed the large amount of zucchini available at the Market over the past few weeks.
So I’m here to offer you a few solutions to your abundance of this wonderfully versatile squash.
Zucchini Pancakes:
This recipe is so fast and easy to make I feel silly writing it out, but it’s also great when you’re in a time crunch or looking for a twist on your breakfast.
*Tip: save time and dump the ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix with your hand.
Makes 4–6 Pancakes
2 cups grated zucchini (or 1 ~8 inch zucchini)
1 egg, beaten
½ cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for cooking
Grate zucchini into mixing bowl. Fold in beaten egg and flour sifted with salt and baking powder.
Heat olive oil in skillet until hot. Add spoonfuls of batter to hot oil. Let cook for 30 seconds and flip. Press down on each pancake with spatula and cook for 2 minutes. These can be served with syrup, a soft cheese over the top (like brie), or plain!
Zucchini Frittata
I love to make this in my cast iron skillet! It’s very easy to put together, and you can substitute any of the vegetables for something else. Also, in the summer, I will grate any extra zucchini and freeze it to use for frittatas during the winter!
5 eggs
½ cup milk
1 medium tomato chopped
1 small onion, diced
1 (4 ounce) can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 cup grated zucchini
salt & pepper
1 tsp. butter, for cooking
In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and milk. In a cast iron skillet (or oven-safe skillet) drop tab of butter in and melt. Add tomatoes, onion, mushrooms, and zucchini and cook over medium-high until tender. Pour in egg mixture and cook for 4–5 minutes until eggs have set on bottom and top is beginning to set.
Place skillet in oven and broil for 3–4 minutes until top gets fluffy, sets, and starts to brown. Remove from oven and serve.
Zucchini Bread
This is a double recipe, but one 8-inch zucchini is approximately 2 cups grated, so it’s also a great opportunity to give the gift of good food to someone!
Makes 2 loaves
3 eggs, well beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 Tbsp. Vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
¼ tsp. baking powder
3 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
¼ cup chopped pecans (optional)
Add oil, sugar, zucchini, and vanilla to beaten eggs. Sift dry ingredients together.
Add sifted dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Stir in pecans. Pour into two greased loaf pans. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour.
Enjoy!