Summer zucchini highlights this zucchini noodle salad recipe. For this summer salad, the zucchini is served raw in the salad with a zesty tahini dressing with an umami flare!
I love zucchini, especially summer fresh zucchini. And this summer, my garden’s zucchini abundance forced me to create new recipes to enjoy this bountiful harvest. Although noodles replace noodles in pasta recipes, this zucchini noodle salad is served raw, and the combination of flavors is decadent.
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When summer gives you zucchini, you make zucchini noodle salad! Interestingly, most people don’t consider eating zucchini raw. People often ask me if I steamed the zucchini before adding it to a salad or entree. The skin of the zucchini tastes rather grassy and earthy, and it’s really the flesh of the fruit that contains most of the flavor. The inner part of the zucchini is slightly sweet with a relatively mild flavor, which makes it delicious raw!
What are Zoodles?
Raw zucchini noodles are made by spiralizing, slicing, or peeling fresh zucchini into thin strands or ribbons. Some zucchini pasta noodles are slender and thin like spaghetti; others may be flat, thin strips like fettuccine or broad like pappardelle, even lasagna.
Zucchini has a mild flavor, sweet and bitter, with a rich feel. The sweetness in zucchini becomes more evident when combined with other ingredients and enhanced with a salad dressing or sauce.
Small or medium zucchini are better for making zoodles. Large zucchini have watery cores filled with seeds.
How to Spiralize Zucchini Without a Spiralizer
Although a spiralizer is the easiest way to make zucchini noodles, other standard kitchen equipment works.
- Hand Spiralizer: A hand spiralizer is a smaller handheld version of a countertop spiralizer. Turn your favorite veggies into uniform, spaghetti-like strands with a few twists. Open-blade design accommodates long vegetables like zucchini and round vegetables like potatoes. When you reach the end of a vegetable, the food holder keeps your hands safe; it also acts as a storage cap.
- Mandoline: A mandoline is another appliance that doubles as a spiralizer. Set your mandolin to ⅛” thickness and insert the julienne blade facing up for thicker noodles. Cut off ends. Run zucchini down mandoline or rotate the zucchini as you push it down for longer, more spiralized noodles.
- Vegetable/Potato Peeler: A wide vegetable/potato peeler creates wide, thick flat noodles.
- Julienne Peeler: Think of a julienne peeler as the smaller, simpler alternative to a spiralizer. It’s just a peeler with serrated teeth. When dragged along, vegetables like carrots, kohlrabi, sweet potatoes, and squash leave you with a pile of ribbons and noodles.
- Box Grater: While the box grater does create 2- to 3-inch strands of zucchini, the noodles—or zoodles, as some call them—were thinner than angel hair pasta. It is recommended to cut the noodles by holding the zucchini sideways to make longer, thicker noodles.
Zucchini Noodle Salad Ingredients
- Zucchini Noodles: Zucchini noodles are made by spiralizing raw zucchini. For this recipe, the zucchini noodles are served raw.
- Pickled Red Onions: I make homemade pickled red onions, which are tangy and delicious.
- Carrots: The carrots are shredded for this zucchini noodle salad recipe for both texture and to add a sweet flavor and bright color to the salad.
- Broccolini: I used broccolini this time instead of broccoli. I prefer to cook the broccoli, but you can add it raw if desired.
- Grape Tomatoes: Grape tomatoes are sweet and have fewer seeds than other tomatoes.
- Red Bell Peppers: Red bell peppers are sweet and crunchy in this salad.
- Microgreens (Optional): I added arugula microgreens as a garnish, but this ingredient is optional. I love microgreens on everything.
Zucchini Noodle Salad Ingredient Substitutions
- Use summer squash instead of zucchini.
- Raw red onions replace pickled red onions in this recipe.
- Any parsnips replace carrots in recipes
- Broccoli or cauliflower works well in this recipe as a substitute for the broccolini. You can also use raw broccoli instead of cooked.
- Cherry tomatoes are similar in size and flavor to grape tomatoes.
- Sometimes, I use baby bell pepper instead of red bell pepper to give the salad even more color.
- Skip the microgreens or add chopped parsley as a garnish instead.
Tahini Dressing Ingredients
- Tahini: Tahini, sometimes called tahina, is a ground sesame butter or paste traditionally used in Middle Eastern cuisine.
- Soy Sauce: I used low-sodium soy sauce. This ingredient adds a salt umami flavor to the dressing.
- Rice Vinegar: Rice vinegar adds sweetness and acidity to the dressing.
- Ginger: I prefer using fresh ginger root whenever possible.
- Maple Syrup: Maple syrup adds a sweetener without adding refined sugar to the dressing.
- Hot Sauce: I used Cholula hot sauce
- Garlic: I prefer using fresh garlic cloves when making dressings.
- Water: Water thins the dressing and acts as an emulsifier.
- Pinch of Salt and Pepper: All you need is a pinch or salt and pepper to enhance the ingredients in the dressing.
Tahini Dressing Ingredient Substitutions
- Choose almond, cashew, or sunflower butter instead of tahini.
- Or, substitute vegan plain, unsweetened yogurt for the tahini and skip the water.
- Tamari or liquid aminos substitute soy sauce in recipes.
- Champagne vinegar is similar in flavor to rice vinegar, or you can use apple cider vinegar.
- Converting fresh ginger to ground ginger and vice versa is easy. You’ll need to use more because ground ginger is more concentrated. For every ¼ teaspoon of ground ginger, use 1 tablespoon of fresh-grated ginger in recipes.
- Agave or date syrup are excellent substitutes for maple syrup.
- Any hot sauce works, or if you don’t like hot sauce, skip it. A sprinkle of red pepper flakes also works well.
- Use ¼ teaspoon of granulated garlic in place of each clove. Garlic powder: Use ⅛ teaspoon of garlic powder in place of each clove.
How to Make Zucchini Noodle Salad
- Preheat an oven to 425 degrees if roasting the broccolini (if not, skip this step)
- Add all the dressing ingredients a blender cup, and blend until smooth.
- Always add the tahini (or any sticky ingredient) last so it doesn’t stick in the bottom of the blender.
- Store in a sealed container until ready to use the dressing.
- I only use half the dressing in the salad, but you can add more if desired.
- Place the broccolini pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Cook for 15 minutes, and remove from the oven to allow to cool.
- Spiralize the zucchini, and cut the long strings into shorter pieces to make it easier to eat.
- Remove the pickled red onions from the jar and lay on a paper towel to remove any excess brine.
- Place the zucchini noodles, cooled broccolini, red bell peppers, pickled red onions, and carrots into a large bowl.
- Pour half the dressing over the ingredients, and use tongs to combine the ingredients and coat the salad in the dressing.
- Add more dressing if desired, or serve additional dressing on the side.
- To serve, add a serving to a bowl. Garnish with green onions, black sesame seeds, and microgreens if desired.
Recipe FAQs
- Because zucchini noodles are often 12 inches or longer when spiralized, I suggest cutting the noodles into smaller pieces to make it easier to eat as a salad.
- If cooking the broccolini, choose the method preferred, but make sure the broccolini is cool before adding to the salad.
- When using pickled red onions or any pickled vegetables, remove them from the jar and lay them on a paper towel to remove any excess brine. This prevents the salad from taking on the taste of the pickling brine.
- Although the dressing is thick, it is once added to the salad because of the natural water content in zucchini.
- The dressing recipe makes more dressing than needed, so you can add more dressing if desired, serve additional dressing on the side, or use the dressing for another salad during the week. However, the dressing can be frozen for up to three months.
- Even though the salad is dressing in advance, it stays fresh for 3-5 days in the refrigerator.
Tips
- If you love zoodles and have a lot of zucchini, try Zoodle Pad Thai, Stuffed Zucchini, Taco Skillet
- Since zucchini noodles are often very long when spiralized, I suggest cutting them into 1-2 inch pieces to make it easier to eat in the salad.
- This zucchini noodle salad recipe can also be made with yellow summer squash or a combination of both.
- The dressing is supposed to be thick. It spreads out in the salad because the zucchini noodles contain so much water.
- The dressing recipe makes more dressing than needed for the salad, so plan to use it for another salad during the week, and reserve additional dressing on the side for those who prefer more dressing.
- If you have extras, the salad stays fresh for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
For a quick and easy dinner in under 30 minutes, try this zucchini noodle salad recipe!
Suggested Vegan Recipes to Try!
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📖 Recipe
Zucchini Noodle Salad
Summer zucchini highlights this zucchini noodle salad recipe. For this summer salad, the zucchini is served raw in the salad with a zesty tahini dressing with an umami flare! Dinner in under 30 minutes!
Instructions
Dressing
Add all the dressing ingredients a blender cup, and blend until smooth.
Always add the tahini (or any sticky ingredient) last so it doesn’t stick in the bottom of the blender.
Store in a sealed container until ready to use the dressing.
I only use half the dressing in the salad, but you can add more if desired.
Noodle Salad
Preheat an oven to 425 degrees if cooking the broccolini, or skip this step if adding it raw.
Place the broccolini pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Cook for 15 minutes, and remove from the oven to allow to cool.
Spiralize the zucchini, and cut the long strings into shorter pieces to make it easier to eat.
Remove the pickled red onions from the jar and lay on a paper towel to remove any excess brine.
Place the zucchini noodles, cooled broccolini, red bell peppers, pickled red onions, and carrots into a large bowl.
Pour half the dressing over the ingredients, and use tongs to combine the ingredients and coat the salad in the dressing.
Add more dressing if desired, or serve additional dressing on the side.
To serve, add a serving to a bowl. Garnish with green onions, black sesame seeds, and microgreens if desired.
Notes
- Because zucchini noodles are often 12 inches or longer when spiralized, I suggest cutting the noodles into smaller pieces to make it easier to eat as a salad.
- If cooking the broccolini, choose the method preferred, but make sure the broccolini is cool before adding to the salad.
- When using pickled red onions or any pickled vegetables, remove them from the jar and lay them on a paper towel to remove any excess brine. This prevents the salad from taking on the taste of the pickling brine.
- Although the dressing is thick, it is once added to the salad because of the natural water content in zucchini.
- The dressing recipe makes more dressing than needed, so you can add more dressing if desired, serve additional dressing on the side, or use the dressing for another salad during the week. However, the dressing can be frozen for up to three months.
- Even though the salad is dressing in advance, it stays fresh for 3-5 days in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Calories: 333kcalCarbohydrates: 37gProtein: 17gFat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 346mgPotassium: 1336mgFiber: 11gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 8195IUVitamin C: 314mgCalcium: 211mgIron: 4mg
Hi! My name is Kathy, I am a retired high school English teacher & vegan enthusiast and blogger. My entire blog is fully plant-based vegan. I truly believe what we eat & how we live determines our health & the preservation of our planet! 🙂
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