Find out how to store zucchini! Shredding and freezing it is the way to go! It’s easy, fast, and lets you enjoy it all winter long.
Today’s Farm Tip Friday is another gardening tip! I’m talking all about how to store zucchini. Zucchini is one of those veggies that is easy to grow, very prolific, and can be hard to cook with when you have a lot of it. I have grown to really love using in the kitchen, it’s super versatile and is a great veggie to “sneak” into lots of family favorite dishes. Although I don’t really sneak it in anywhere, Andy is pretty good at figuring out where the hidden veggies are, ha! But it really does blend in well with whatever it’s cooked with, so usually even picky eaters don’t notice or mind it being there. Zucchini is one of my favorite garden veggies to store through the winter, my method couldn’t be simpler.
First off, when I’m choosing which zucchini to use fresh and which to store, I always choose the smaller ones to use fresh. The smaller ones have less water and smaller seeds, which usually means they cook up better. They are also easier to cut into bite-sized pieces if you’re quickly sautéing it on the stovetop or breading it for a delicious appetizer! Plus, I always seem to end up with a few totally giant zucchini’s, I swear it can happen overnight! The larger sized ones {and giant ones!} are what store in my freezer.
The best way to store zucchini, I think, is to shred it and freeze it. It’s so easy and quick PLUS the zucchini is ready to go into whatever recipe you’re making {like this pasta dish I shared yesterday!}. Whole zucchini’s will last on the countertop or fridge for a few days to a week, so I usually wait until I have a few that need shredded and do a large batch all at once.
I use my food processor to shred the zucchini, but you can just grate it on a cheese grater if you don’t have a food processor. I really hate peeling veggies, so I don’t even peel the zucchini I shred, I just give it a good wash. Plus I just love the flecks of green in whatever I’m making, so pretty!
After the zucchini is all shredded, I like to cover it and let it sit for anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple hours. This allows some of the excess water to drain off. After it’s sat a while, I portion 2 cups into zipper top sandwich bags, and then put the sandwich bags into gallon size freezer bags. You can choose whatever portions you want, but I’ve found that 2 cups is a good amount for almost every recipe that calls for zucchini.
When you’d like to use your frozen zucchini, grab out one of your sandwich bags and let it thaw. I press mine flat before I freeze them, so this doesn’t take long, maybe 30 minutes. Since it isn’t meat, it’s ok to thaw your frozen zucchini on the countertop. If I’m putting it in a pasta dish or something similar, I don’t stress too much about if it’s totally thawed or how much water it’s holding onto.
If I’m baking, I let it thaw completely and then press it dry on a paper towel before using it in a recipe. Excess moisture from the zucchini can throw off the baking ratios in whatever you’re making and cause it to not turn out well. I also run a sharp knife over it roughly to break up any really long shreds, it’s a little more palatable in recipes that way.
See what I mean? Now you know how to store zucchini, this is the easiest way! It’s easy, quick, and gives you an excuse to incorporate it into recipes all winter long. How do you store your excess zucchini?!
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