13 Easy Zucchini Recipes for Summer
This collection of easy zucchini recipes is perfect for using up summer’s fresh harvest – everything from zucchini bread, muffins, cupcakes, scones, and more! Whether you’re harvesting from your garden, hauling in boxes from your local CSA, or just taking advantage of awesome deals at the grocery store, now is the time to cook and bake with that beautiful zucchini!
Once summer begins, one vegetable out there goes berserk – zucchini. If you’ve ever planted a garden, you know exactly what I’m talking about; even if you only have one or two zucchini plants in your garden, once they start growing, you can’t pick them fast enough, and they seem to quadruple in size overnight.
Now is the time to take advantage of all that beautiful produce and get baking! Sure, you can grill zucchini, saute it, or stuff it, but what if you want to do something different with it? Yes, there is zucchini bread, of course, and I’ve got a few variations of it (regular! banana! pineapple! chocolate!), but I’m also sharing a ton of unique recipes as well, like cupcakes, scones, pickles, and more.
Enjoy the recipes, and share your favorite way to eat or bake with zucchini in the comments below!
1. Zucchini-Chocolate Chip Muffins
These zucchini-chocolate chip muffins are super quick, insanely moist, and a great way to use up the late summer zucchini bounty!
2. Zesty Refrigerator Zucchini Pickles
Think bread and butter pickles, but with more of a kick and zucchini instead of cucumber. One of my most popular summer recipes!
3. Cheesy Zucchini & Sun-Dried Tomato Scones
These scones are super moist thanks to the zucchini and have loads of color and flavor from sun-dried tomatoes, and of course, there has to be cheese. Because, of course.
4. Spiced Zucchini Bread with Walnuts and Dried Cranberries
An all-time favorite! This zucchini bread bakes up nice and high, is warmly spiced and is loaded with chopped walnuts and dried cranberries. A step up from your “every day” zucchini bread.
5. Zucchini-Corn Fritters
Corn fritters are my jam, and I loved adding zucchini to them in this recipe; the flavors go together so well, and they’re delicious.
6. Zucchini-Banana Bread
Two of the most popular quick bread recipes out there get mashed up for one super-moist and super-flavorful bread. Make this ASAP!
7. Carrot-Zucchini Bars with Cream Cheese Icing
Carrot cake meets zucchini bread, and everything is better with cream cheese frosting, yes?
8. Beer-Battered Zucchini Fries
My family went nuts over these the first time I made them; the batter is super light and crispy, and these fries are just outright addicting.
9. Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread
There just HAD to be a chocolate recipe in here! The zucchini keeps the bread ultra moist while allowing the super chocolate flavor to shine.
10. Zucchini Cornbread
Making a bowl of chili soon? Add this zucchini cornbread on the side for something different!
11. Zucchini Squares
An old recipe from my grandma that is a family favorite! Super easy to throw together and makes a great appetizer or side dish.
12. Zucchini Pineapple Bread
More zucchini and pineapple love here; this is one of my favorite zucchini bread recipes.
13. Zucchini Bread
The original; good old zucchini bread. A classic. My family loves this recipe dearly.
TELL ME! What is YOUR favorite way to use zucchini when it’s in abundance?!
🙁 Unable to open/access the muffins with orange marmalade and 1or 2 other recipes. Tech glitch? They all sound amazing! (I’ve made a couple of these already in summers past!!)
Hi Jan, I’m so sorry, I’m working on figuring out why it’s not coming up, but in the meantime, here is the recipe for the muffins… if there is another recipe not working (the rest seem ok to me), let me know!
ZUCCHINI & ORANGE MARMALADE MUFFINS WITH CRANBERRIES & PECANS
INGREDIENTS:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggs
⅓ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup orange marmalade
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ of 1 small zucchini (4 ounces, shredded and drained dry)
¾ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup pecans(coarsely chopped)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a standard-size muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, orange marmalade and vanilla extract. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the shredded zucchini.
4. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, along with the cranberries and pecans and fold until completely combined and no dry pockets remain (the batter will be thick).
5. Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven, place the pan on a wire rack and allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. The muffins can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. (You can also freeze them by removing the paper liners, wrapping individually in plastic wrap and placing in a ziploc freezer bag.)
I’m trying to open the Zucchini and orange marmalade muffins with cranberries and pecans but it brings up the Zucchini chocolate chip muffins. It doesn’t matter if I click on the picture or “Get the recipe here”.
Hi Diane, My apologies for the inconvenience, trying to figure out why that page is not working. In the meantime, here is the recipe!
ZUCCHINI & ORANGE MARMALADE MUFFINS WITH CRANBERRIES & PECANS
INGREDIENTS:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggs
⅓ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup orange marmalade
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ of 1 small zucchini (4 ounces, shredded and drained dry)
¾ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup pecans(coarsely chopped)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a standard-size muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, orange marmalade and vanilla extract. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the shredded zucchini.
4. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, along with the cranberries and pecans and fold until completely combined and no dry pockets remain (the batter will be thick).
5. Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven, place the pan on a wire rack and allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. The muffins can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. (You can also freeze them by removing the paper liners, wrapping individually in plastic wrap and placing in a ziploc freezer bag.)
I knew I could count on you! Not only do you have a variety of zucchini recipes, but you’ve been so very kind to put many of them together right here.
We’re finally able to have a garden this year. I just harvested my first several zucchini and am just beginning to understand what I’ve gotten myself into with these things. With your list I’m feeling less overwhelmed about what to do with them. Thank you!
Never knew there were so many recipes for zucchini. Thanks so much much. Btw I was in Pittsburg on Thursday for the ELO concert. I was so impressed with your city. First time being there and I will definitely be back So clean and friendly.
I’m so thrilled to hear this! So glad you enjoyed your time in Pittsburgh :)
The zucchini is bursting here on the farm…thanks for sharing your recipes, I’m anxious to try the pickles!
Here’s one of my favorites…if you love chocolate, I think this zucchini-chocolate cake is one of the best.
https://windymeadowsfarm.blogspot.com/2013/08/when-garden-gives-you-zucchini.html
Zucchini Bread, of course, and Crisp Zucchini Bites with Garlic Aioli — delicious!
https://natashaskitchen.com/crisp-zucchini-bites-with-aioli-dip/
The Zucchini Bread recipe I use is very similar to the one used by Deb at Smitten Kitchen, though I think mine originally came from The Settlement Cookbook.
Such a wonderful collection of zucchini recipes! I can’t wait to try making zucchini pickles myself! They sound so easy to make.
There are so many nice recipe to try! Thank you so much for sharing!