These marinated zucchini are great as a snack on their own or as an accompaniment to grilled meats and many other dishes. Try them with mashed potatoes, it's a match made in heaven!
A little bit of oil, sugar, salt and acidity does wonders to vegetables, especially to bland ones like zucchini. They preserve longer, and, most importantly, they taste much better when marinated. I posted on my blog some of my most favorite marinated vegetable recipes, such as Marinated Shredded Carrots and Marinated Eggplant. They are always a hit at our house.
When we make marinated vegetables there is always a lot of tasting, sometimes to the point where there is almost nothing left to marinate.
Marinated zucchini is one of those recipes that are prone to excessive tasting while they are being made. The reason is that they are sliced so thinly that they absorb the marinade almost immediately which makes them very tasty practically as soon as they are made.
Try to resist the urge and let them marinate overnight. You will be rewarded handsomely. The zucchini will have enough time to soak in the flavorful marinade and each slice will be exploding with tasty goodness in your mouth.
Marinated Zucchini with Garlic and Fresh Herbs
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchini rinsed, ends trimmed off
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
For the marinade
- 1/3 cup sunflower oil
- 4 Tbsp white vinegar
- 2 tsp honey
- 3 cloves garlic pressed
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/3 tsp red pepper flakes plus more to taste
- 1/2 tsp black pepper freshly ground
- 1 tsp fresh basil finely chopped
- 1 tsp fresh parsley finely chopped
- 1 tsp fresh cilantro finely chopped
Instructions
- Slice the zucchini really thin, about 1/16-inch thick on a mandolin or a food processor. Place them in a bowl, toss with salt and let stand for 30 minutes.
- Prepare the marinade by mixing the sunflower oil with the rest of the ingredients.
- Drain the zucchini. Handful by handful, gently press with your hands to remove excess liquid. Place in a bowl. Add the marinade and mix well.
- Transfer to an air tight container and refrigerate overnight before serving.
- Marinated zucchini will keep in an air tight container in a fridge for up to 7 days.
Kae says
This sounds great. Sunflower oil is not available where I live. May I use olive or avocado oil?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Kae, certain oils get cloudy in the fridge and don't look appetizing. Thoase are the ones with relatively high freese/melt points. Avocado oil is one of those. Instead, if possible, try safflower, almond, corn or canola oil. If some cloudiness is not a problem, use olive or avocado oil. Olive being a better choice as avocado oil solidifies at a higher temp. Good luck!
Dawn says
OMG! This was so good! My garlic cloves were too big and thus made it extra garlicky. Will adjust for next time. However, I added the marinated zucchini and some roasted veggies to quinoa for a quinoa salad as well as adding some of the marinade. I also made a quick green salad adding the marinated zucchini and marinade. Will definitely make this again. I already bought some more zucchini.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Glad to hear it, Dawn. We love them here and even the kids enjoy them. Enjoy!
Antony Bartlett says
Absolutely fantastic, Made it for a vegan friend. She couldn't stop eating it.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Enjoy!
Pat Foster says
I made a batch of this the other day pretty much as written except I used about a fourth of a cup of chopped fresh dill and GOOD! Have yo ever tried doing this with cider vinegar? I'm about to try in a few minutes and will let you know how it comes out.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Pat, never tried it with cider vinegar but am curious about it. I do tend to prefer white vinegar over flavored vinegar though. Good luck!
Eva says
So, is it olive oil or sunflower oil?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
I recommend sunflower oil.
Gail keim says
Was wondering could you make this like cucumber salad dressing my husbands Aunt used to make a vinegar dressing only on cucumbers would put every thing in like this recipe but no basil and two other ingredients
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
I am sure that it will work just fine as a cucumerb salad dressing. I like it, it's very tasty.
Jenna says
Delicious elevation of a humble courgette
Kayla says
Hola puedo usar sal de mesa o de mar en vez de la sal kosher?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Yes, you can. Usually, you would want to use a little bit less of table salt or sea salt compared to coarse gridn kosher salt, but in this recipe the difference will be negligible. Enjoy!
Tara saddul says
Like it very much,will do it as soon as possible. Great 👍
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Enjoy!
Tonya says
So we rinse and drain the zucchini before putting it in marinade, or just squeeze out excess liquid and leave the salt?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Squeeze the excess liquid out, that's all. A lot of the salt will melt and mix with the released juices and will be left behind along with the squeezed liquid.
Jaime says
This looks delicious! Before I run to the store for Sunflower oil, I was wondering if the use of it is strictly for flavor and if there are other oils that you think may work well (that I might already have in my pantry!)
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Hi Jaime,
The main reason why I use sunflower oil is that it doesn't get cloudy and solidifies at fridge temps. I used to use olive oil to marinate vegetables and other things but it would get semi-solid and not very appetizing in the fridge. Then I looked at a jar of Italian anchovies with the oil in it that was perfectly fluid and looking very good. What gives? The ingredient list had sunflower oil. Google search confirmed that sunflower oil solidifies at 1F, while olive oil solidifies at common fridge temps. Oils that don't solidify at fridge terms also include safflower, flax seed, almond, soy bean. Corn and canola oils may work but they might still get a little cloudy.
Tina says
This recipe looks delicious. Would it work to reduce the amount of salt?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Definitely, you can reduce the amount of salt to your liking.
Georgie Schwartzenberger says
Can you can this once its marinated?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Georgie, USDA currently has no recommendation on how to safely can zucchini. However, Stanley Marianski the anything-cured-smoked-or-canned guru in his Home Canning Meat, Poultry, Fish and Vegetables book has a recipe for mixed vegetables that includes zucchini suggests canning them in a pressure canner at 10 PSI for 75 min for pints and 90 min for quarts. If I were to can them, I would can them this way even though they have vinegar.
Neila Smith-Dorfman says
Another winning recipe Victor! I confess I didn't wait for it to marinate overnight- had it the same evening for dinner and it was delicious!
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Happy to hear that, Neila. Enjoy!
Glagys says
I love it! I served the marinated zucchini for lunch and ... Nothing left! It was very good!
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Thank you for the feedback. I am glad that you liked my recipe.
BB says
Can you can these? If so, what changes would need to be made?
victor says
Simple answer is 'probably no'. Canning requires processing zucchini in boiling water before you can can them, but USDA has withdrawn their recommendation for canning squashes because, apparently, they are uncertain about the appropriate processing time – https://www.clemson.edu/extension/food/canning/canning-tips/01summer-squash.html. I’ve never canned zucchini myself, they will lose their crunch if you heat-process them.
Agnes says
Delicious 👍😍 Het smaakt verrukkelijk. Helemaal mijn smaaksensatie. Dat ga ik zeker weten vaak maken. Ook lekker op crostini als er eters komen. Ik heb het met olijfolie gemaakt. Ik ken iets dergelijks óók met aubergines.
Bedankt voor het recept.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
You are very welcome. Enjoy!
Rainah says
Made them. Loved them.
My family, who loved a lentil, mushrooms & green stew this evening, didn't care for this....
I can't figure out why... Too bad.
Will still make for myself!
Yum!
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Enjoy!