30 Best Zucchini Recipes – Love and Lemons

Not sure how to use that whole summer squash? These easy zucchini recipes will help you! This includes delicious ideas for dinner, dessert and more.

It’s zucchini season! Bring on the zucchini recipes!

Every summer in mid-July, I feel like I’ve tried every zucchini recipe out there. I’ve made zucchini bread and zucchini fritters, grilled zucchini, and baked zucchini chips. This week I looked at my market supply of summer squash and asked, “What’s next?” If you’re in a similar situation right now, I have good news: zucchini is a versatile vegetable. It tastes amazing in pasta, tacos, salads, and even chocolate cake! It can be grilled, baked, sautéed and even eaten raw. We may feel like we’ve made the zucchini every known way, but there are always more zucchini recipes to try.

Below are 30 easy zucchini recipes that I use every summer. This includes hearty entrees, fresh salads, decadent desserts, and everything in between. I hope they inspire you to try a new way of preparing zucchini. And if you have any favorite zucchini recipes to recommend, let me know in the comments!

Basic zucchini recipes

If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to use up plenty of zucchini, these recipes will quickly become your best friend. Each will show you an easy (and delicious!) way to prepare zucchini so you can serve it as a side dish or add it to a main dish like pasta or frittata.

Roasted zucchini
Juicy, tender, and beautifully caramelized, this roasted zucchini is so delicious you’ll want to eat it right out of the sheet pan.

Grilled zucchini
I make this side dish over and over again during the summer because it’s flavorful, healthy, and ready in 10 minutes. Leftovers are rare, but when we have them I happily add them to a sandwich or omelet the next day.

Zucchini Noodles
Learn how to make zucchini noodles in 5 fun shapes! They’re a wonderful addition to salads (see some of my favorites below!). I also like to use a 50/50 mix of zucchini noodles and regular noodles in summer pasta recipes.

Zucchini Recipes for Breakfast

Vegetables for breakfast? Yes, please! Add extra nutrition to your morning meal with these easy zucchini recipes.

zucchini bread
This zucchini bread recipe is the best I’ve ever tried – it’s moist, tender, and warmly flavored. I love tossing walnuts into the batter for a crunch, but a scoop of chocolate chips is awesome too.

Zucchini Muffins
Almond flour and grated zucchini make these cute little muffins insanely moist. Tip: keep a supply in your freezer for breakfast to go.

Zucchini smoothie
This zucchini smoothie tastes like a chocolate milkshake, but shhh! It’s made with healthy ingredients like almond butter, dates, and zucchini.

Easy zucchini appetizers and snacks

These delicious zucchini recipes will be a hit at any summer gathering. But don’t just keep them for entertainment! These snack pumpkin dishes are so tasty and delicious that we should be making them all season long.

zucchini pancakes
Loaded with spring onions, garlic and dill, these zucchini fritters are light and hearty. Serve them with a creamy sauce like tartar sauce or tzatziki to complement their crunchy texture.

Baked zucchini chips
These crispy, cheesy chips are a fantastic snack on their own, but a little marinara sauce or romesco sauce for dipping certainly couldn’t hurt. Don’t feel like turning on the oven? Try these Air Fryer Zucchini Chips instead!

Grilled ratatouille tartines
These bite-sized appetizers are an elegant addition to a summer meal. I smear crostini with hummus or soft goat cheese, then stack them with a mix of grilled veggies mixed with sherry vinegar and fresh herbs. If you love the taste of Provençal ratatouille, you’ll love these.

Summer squash salad recipes

If you ask me, raw zucchini recipes are seriously underrated. Thinly sliced, julienned or cut into strips, raw squash has a deliciously crispy, tender texture and absorbs flavor like a sponge. I love showing it off in vibrant summer salads like these.

Zucchini Salad
This gorgeous zucchini salad recipe comes from Simple beautiful food by Amanda Frederickson. Made from a handful of basic ingredients, it’s an easy, upscale summer side dish. Pine nuts provide the necessary crunch, basil and chives give it a fresh flavor and a simple lemon vinaigrette makes it tangy and bright.

Pesto Pasta Salad
If you have plenty of zucchini on hand, chances are you also have a good amount of basil. Mix up a batch of pesto, toss it with some curly pasta and add thinly sliced ​​summer squash for topping. It’s a lovely summer lunch!

Vegan pasta salad
This salad *technically* doesn’t fall into the zucchini recipe category. Oops! Instead of zucchini, in addition to pasta, there are also spiral-shaped yellow squash. You can also swap in zucchini noodles if you like, or use a mix of zucchini and yellow squash for an extra colorful twist.

Broccoli Pasta Salad
Zucchini noodles replace some of the regular noodles in this dish, which is perfect for a picnic. When you eat it, you feel like you’re stuffing yourself with noodles, but it’s actually mostly vegetables!

Zucchini recipes as a side dish

If you’ve been eating roasted zucchini or grilled zucchini repeatedly, it’s time to switch up the order of your side dishes! Try one of these easy zucchini recipes instead.

grilled vegetables
Bring a touch of color to your summer table with these colorful grilled vegetables! I love them with a spicy sauce as a side. Tzatziki, pesto and chimichurri are all fantastic.

Crispy zucchini casserole
This easy casserole has a crunchy panko and parmesan topping and a savory center peppered with pesto and marinara. Yes, you will need seconds.

Main Course Zucchini Recipes

I’ve shared many zucchini recipes for side dishes and appetizers above, but sometimes this summer vegetable deserves to be the center of attention! Here are a few flavorful ways to turn it into a meal:

Stuffed zucchini boats
Don’t waste, don’t want! Instead of throwing away the hollowed-out squash in this zucchini boat recipe, mix it into the savory filling with breadcrumbs, parmesan, tomato, lemon and thyme. Put some pesto on top.

Ratatouille
This humble French stew is late summer in a bowl! For even more durability, top with a poached egg and serve with crusty bread.

Herb Garden Zucchini Pizza
If you love zucchini, you’ll love this raw and roasted summer squash pizza! Refined with pesto, thyme, fresh basil and a pinch of red pepper flakes, it ensures an unforgettable pizza evening.

Vegetarian tacos with avocado sauce
30 Minute Vegetable Tacos, Coming Soon! Roast a mix of summer vegetables like zucchini, eggplant, and peppers. Then stuff them in tortillas filled with black beans, avocado, and a flavorful tomatillo sauce.

Pasta recipes with zucchini

Whether roasted, grilled, or sautéed, zucchini makes a perfect partner for pasta. Thin slices of zucchini will soften and become jam by folding around the noodles, while larger pieces will retain a juicy bite. Each of these recipes is a staple in my kitchen throughout the summer and early fall.

Pasta Primavera
Simple, flavorful and packed with fresh veggies, this colorful pasta deserves a spot on every weeknight dinner.

Best Vegetarian Lasagna
A variety of summer veggies make this hearty lasagna fresh and flavorful. In addition to zucchini, you’ll find fennel, carrots, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, leeks, and kale.

Zucchini Lasagna with Zucchini Ricotta
In this very vegetarian version of the classic lasagna, I replace half the regular pasta with thin strips of zucchini. Then I mix more zucchini into a creamy vegan “ricotta” filling. Serve with garlic bread for a fresh yet comforting meal.

Roasted vegetable noodles
This flexible pasta is my favorite meal after a trip to the farmers market! The photo above shows a version with cherry tomatoes, squash, onions, and carrots, but any mix of summer vegetables will work in this dish.

Creamy Pasta Pomodoro
I could eat this creamy vegan pasta any night of the week! A velvety tomato sauce coats chewy noodles and easy sautéed veggies like spinach, cherry tomatoes, and zucchini.

Summer squash soup recipes

A lot of vegetables can disappear in a large pot of soup. Zucchini is no exception!

Many vegetarian vegetable soup
This soup is a great recipe that’s easy to take out of the fridge. It includes bits and pieces of all kinds of veggies — tomatoes, sweet potatoes, kale, carrots, and of course, zucchini.

Basil Zucchini Soup
Mixed raw zucchini—no nuts or dairy—give this cool, refreshing soup its delicious, creamy texture. It’s the perfect light meal for a hot day.

Easy zucchini recipes for dessert

You can barely see the zucchini in these simple baked goods, but it gives them all a deliciously juicy texture.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread
This easy recipe makes two loaves of ultra moist, ultra chocolatey bread. Gift one to a friend or keep in the freezer for a treat later. Your future self will thank you!

Zucchini Brownies
2 WHOLE CUPS of shredded zucchini disappear into these gooey brownies. Any chocolate lover would agree that veggies have never tasted better.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake
You can decorate this vegan chocolate cake with any frosting you like, but I love the delicious matcha frosting pictured here. What’s more fun than green frosting on zucchini pie?!