Are you sick of Zucchini yet? After you have baked, sautéed, stuffed, and grilled about as much as you can stand, here are several ways to preserve zucchini so you can enjoy the summer harvest bounty over the winter months.
Zucchini….It’s the crop that keeps on giving. It is easy to become overwhelmed by the harvest bounty collected from even a few plants in the vegetable garden.
Thankfully, zucchini is versatile and can be enjoyed grilled, fried, sautéed, stuffed, and made into zucchini garlic bites and zucchini lasagna.
By late summer, I stop trying to find new ways to use zucchini and summer squash and focus instead on methods to preserve zucchini to use over the winter months.
Here are three easy ways to preserve zucchini:
Freeze Zucchini
Freezing zucchini is one of the easiest ways to preserve an abundant harvest that comes in all at once. Having a supply of zucchini in your freezer will make it easy to grab and use in your favorite meals and baked goods.
Here are 5 ways you can freeze zucchini:
- Zucchini Slices or Pieces: Zucchini slices, cubes, or pieces come in handy for sautés, soups, stir-fry, and casseroles. Keep the zucchini slices frozen until you are ready to use and just toss them in.
- Shredded Zucchini: Shredded zucchini can be used to make frittatas, quiche, and baked goods such as zucchini bread and muffins. Thaw the frozen shredded zucchini first before adding to your recipes. Keep the liquid if you are using the shredded zucchini in baked goods, but drain it if you are making frittatas or quiche.
- Zoodles or Zucchini Noodles: Frozen zucchini noodles are a great addition to soups, stir-fry, and as a substitute for pasta topped with your favorite sauce. Use frozen and cook briefly, only about a minute.
- Zucchini Halves: Blanched and frozen zucchini halves are ready for filling with you favorite stuffing and baking in the oven. Thaw before using in your favorite zucchini boat recipe, or simply drizzle with garlic and roast in the oven until tender.
- Zucchini Purée: Zucchini purée is so handy to have in the freezer for using in smoothies, soups, sauces, and baked goods. Thaw before using and add to your recipes. You can also use zucchini puree in any baked goods recipe that calls for shredded zucchini.
Dehydrate Zucchini
Dried zucchini takes up very little space. Believe it or not, about four pounds of zucchini will shrink enough to fit into one pint sized jar. If you have a food dehydrator, put it to use to preserve zucchini by drying it.
Use dehydrated zucchini in your favorite soup and pasta dishes. For pasta, just add the dehydrated zucchini to the boiling water at the same time you add pasta. By the time the pasta is done, the zucchini will be rehydrated too and ready for your favorite sauce.
Can Zucchini Pickles and Relish
Zucchini can also be pickled and canned using a water bath canner. Preserve your enormous harvest of zucchini from your late-summer garden with these safe canning recipes:
Zucchini Relish
Combine zucchini with sweet bell peppers, onions, spices, and vinegar for a sweet and slightly tart flavored relish that will dress up your burgers, sandwiches, and picnic salads.
Zucchini Sweet and Sour Pickles
Line your storage shelves with home canned zucchini pickles, featuring zucchini, onions, turmeric, and other spices in the simple pickling brine.
I hope that knowing you can preserve zucchini and summer squash to enjoy during the winter months helps you deal with the abundant crop that just keeps on giving.
This article was originally published September 2, 2014. It has been updated with more information.
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Whether you are new to growing your own food or have been growing a vegetable garden for years, you will benefit from some planning each year. You will find everything you need to organize and plan your vegetable garden in my PDF eBook, Grow a Good Life Guide to Planning Your Vegetable Garden.
organic4greenlivings says
Our zucchini had barely started producing yet but they look real promising. I freeze zucchini but I don’t cook them at all – I just cut them or shred and put them in freezer bags and freeze, It seems to work real well for me. Visiting Wildcrafting Wednesdays! Twitted & pinned.
magknj72 says
Great information….thanks for sharing on Marvelous Monday Link Party
michele says
Juice them – make them into sweet jelly/jam – grow them big and toast the seeds 🙂
Rachel says
Michele, I love your unique ideas for using excess zucchini! Thanks for sharing.
Anissa says
Try chopping your pickled zucchini smaller for zucchini relish! Add peppers as well, it’s so good!
Rachel says
Anissa, I bet zucchini would make a great relish. Thanks for the suggestion! I have added zucchini relish canning recipe to the article.
Shirley says
Zucchini relish in glass pint jars, how to store and keep fresh
©Rachel Arsenault says
Shirley, The Zucchini Relish Canning Recipe can be found here: https://growagoodlife.com/zucchini-relish/
As long as zucchini relish made with a safe canning recipe and is canned properly, you can store the jars on a shelf in a cool location for up to a year.
daphnegould says
Freezing is my goto way of storing zukes. I usually just grate and freeze. I keep thinking of doing a few sliced ones though.
Jenny says
I think we’re all zucchinied-out by this point. Way too many of them. Thankfully local kitchen takes them anytime!
Margaret says
Like Norma, I had never thought of dehydrating – great idea!
Michelle says
I know the feeling! Last week I made two batches of Zucchini Sott’Olio which meant that I was able to stuff 10 pounds of zucchini into 6 1-pint jars. We’ve already gotten through 1 jar, but the stuff lasts forever in the fridge. I still have dried zucchini in the fridge from last year too…
Norma Chang says
Never thought of dehydrating zucchini, great idea, do not own a dehydrator but will use the oven method. Thanks for the instructions.
Amanda says
I never have pickled zuchinni Ill have to try that. Thanks!