21 Grated Zucchini Recipes to Use Up Your Bumper Crop

You have a mountain of zucchini. We have the solution.

By
Robin Shreeves
Robin Shreeves
Robin Shreeves
Robin Shreeves is a food and beverage writer.
Learn about Simply Recipes' Editorial Process
Published July 30, 2023
Robin Shreeves
A stack of zucchini fritters being topped with sauce.
Cambrea Bakes

Home cooks, food writers, and backyard gardeners may joke about the abundance of zucchini each summer, but sometimes it's not so funny when you're staring at a mountain of squash on your kitchen counter and no new ideas for how to use them.

We're here to make zucchini fun again with these 21 recipes. Yes, there's zucchini bread and muffins. There's quiche and a gratin. But there are also unexpected recipes like turkey meatloaf and a creamy one-pot pasta you're going to want to make right away.

Each of these recipes starts with a good amount of shredded zucchini to help you use up the abundance, and maybe sneak some veggies into your meals as well.

  • Zucchini Fritters

    A bowl of zucchini fritters set on a white background.
    Cambrea Bakes

    Can any food with the word fritter in it not be enticing? We think not. These fritters are full of shredded zucchini, flour, green onion, herbs, and lemon, with an egg to bind them together. Gently fried, they come out crispy and oh-so-yummy. A sour cream and minced garlic dipping sauce ups that yum factor!

    Get Recipe

  • Cream Cheese Zucchini Muffins

    Cream Cheese Zucchini Muffins With One Cut in Half, All on a Cooling Rack

    Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

    Can you improve on the perfection that's a zucchini muffin, flavored with the warm spices of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger? It's tough, but adding a cream cheese center takes them up a delicious notch.

    Get Recipe

  • Zucchini Chocolate Chip Bread

    Platter of Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread With Slices Cut Out and Cascading onto the Platter With a Kitchen Towel Underneath

    Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

    Shred zucchini. Mix the shreds into a quick bread batter. Stir in tons of chocolate chips. Bake. No one will be able to resist this delightfully fluffy and moist chocolate chip zucchini bread that works for breakfast or as a snack.

    Get Recipe

  • Zucchini Tomato Quiche

    zucchini tomato quiche in a glass pie plate on a marble counter top
    Elise Bauer

    This quiche says summer, summer, summer. Zucchini, tomatoes, and basil are plentiful at the same time during the growing season. Use up what's in your garden, what you bought at the farmers market, or what was super fresh at the grocery store to make this quiche in an all-butter crust. (Or go ahead and use a pre-made crust. It will still be one of your fave quiches ever!)

    Get Recipe
    Continue to 5 of 21 below.

  • Turkey Zucchini Burger

    Turkey Zucchini Burger with Garlic Mayo
    Elise Bauer

    Make your turkey burger juicy by adding shredded zucchini. Give it some zing on a bun with the smear of garlic mayo that's so simple to make. Just add garlic to mayo!

    Get Recipe

  • Grandma's Zucchini Cake

    A plated square slice of zucchini cake with cream cheese frosting

    Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

    Grandmas make the best cakes, don't they? This sheet cake recipe, from a grandmother of course, is full of moist zucchini, warm spices, nuts, and raisins. It's topped with a hard-to-resist cream cheese frosting. Take it to your next potluck or BBQ and watch it disappear.

    Get Recipe

  • Zucchini-Feta Frittata

    zucchini frittata in a glass pie plate with a white cloth
    Sheryl Julian

    This frittata, made with shredded zucchini, potatoes, feta, and Monterey jack cheese, makes for great leftovers that you can eat cold. It's baked in the oven in a pie plate, eliminating the sometimes harrowing task of flipping over a hot pan to remove the frittata.

    Get Recipe

  • Turkey Meatloaf

    Turkey Meatloaf
    Sally Vargas

    Ground turkey can be a little dry, but the genius trick to making sure turkey meatloaf isn't dry is to add shredded zucchini (and carrots) to add plenty of moisture. Plus, you get some added vegetables that technically, you aren't just adding to sneakily get your family to eat more veggies. You could bake this in a loaf pan, but it works really well as a free form meatloaf, too.

    Get Recipe
    Continue to 9 of 21 below.

  • Creamy One-Pot Pasta With Zucchini

    Bowl of Creamy One Pot Pasta with Zucchini

    Simply Recipes / Alison Bickel

    Here's a way of using up zucchini that you may not have thought of, and it's all done in one pot. Sauté shredded zucchini until it caramelizes and has a jammy consistency. Cook pasta and cream cheese in boiling water (yes, both at the same time). Add the jammy zucchini and lemon to the pasta and what has become a creamy sauce. Top with walnuts.

    Get Recipe

  • Zucchini Walnut Pancakes

    Stack of pancakes with butter and maple syrup.

    Simply Recipes / Shilpa Uskokovic

    Zucchini bread meats pancakes in this recipe for sweet, zucchini walnut pancakes made with whole wheat flour, tangy buttermilk, cinnamon, and lemon. Real maple syrup or a drizzle of thin honey is a must.

    Get Recipe

  • Greek Chicken Meatballs

    Greek Chicken Meatballs

    We've already established that zucchini adds moisture to breads and meatloaf. It also adds moisture to meatballs. These Greek meatballs made with ground chicken might dry out without the addition of shredded zucchini, but with it, they become tender morsels that are perfect with a side of tangy yogurt sauce.

    Get Recipe

  • Chocolate Zucchini Bread

    Best Chocolate Zucchini Bread
    Elise Bauer

    If fresh garden zucchini is piling up in your kitchen, this bread is a life saver because it uses a whole four cups of grated zucchini. The addition of natural unsweetened cocoa takes it from yum to YUM, and instant coffee and almond extract intensify its flavors.

    Get Recipe
    Continue to 13 of 21 below.

  • Zucchini and Spinach Gratin

    zucchini gratin in a white baking dish with a spoon
    Elise Bauer

    This classic French gratin is bursting with grated zucchini, spinach, and onions sautéed with bacon, parsley, and garlic, all bound together with eggs and Parmesan. It's a great side dish for baked ham.

    Get Recipe

  • Cheesy Zucchini Bites

    Cheesy Zucchini Bites
    Elise Bauer

    These are kind of like tater tots, with no potatoes. Or broccoli cheddar bites, without the broccoli. Made in a mini muffin pan, these little zucchini and cheese-filled bites are perfect for breakfast, a quick snack, or a school lunch.

    Get Recipe

  • Zucchini Carrot Bread

    Slices of Zucchini Carrot Bread on Round Wood Board Next to Small Bowl of Coconut Flakes

    Simply Recipes / Lori Rice

    Take regular zucchini bread up a notch with the addition of shredded carrots for sweetness, freshly grated orange zest for brightness, warm baking spices, and a powdered sugar glaze. Top it all with grated coconut.

    Get Recipe

  • Easy Zucchini Bread

    Easy Zucchini Bread

    Simply Recipes / Sally Vargas

    Zucchini bread is so versatile, and this easy recipe has plenty of ideas for customizing this quick bread. Use gluten-free flour, if you want. Add nuts, or not. Add raisins, or not. Add dried cranberries, or not. You get the gist.

    Get Recipe
    Continue to 17 of 21 below.

  • Spicy Turkey and Zucchini Burger

    Spicy Turkey and Zucchini Burger
    Elise Bauer

    Turkey burgers get moist (and kinda fancy pants) with the addition of shredded zucchini plus fresh herbs and dried herbs cumin and cayenne. Serve with a side of lemony sour cream sauce.

    Get Recipe

  • Chocolate Cranberry Zucchini Muffins

    cranberry chocolate pistachio zucchini muffins
    Emma Christensen

    Tart cranberries complement sweet chocolate. A sprinkling of chopped green pistachios and some almond flour bring nuttiness. Zucchini keeps it all from getting dry. This is the unexpected muffin you didn't know you needed for breakfast or a midday snack.

    Get Recipe

  • Black Bean Burgers With Spicy Mayonnaise

    Easy Black Bean Burgers Recipe
    Sally Vargas

    This vegetarian alternative to the standard beef burgers of summer is full of black beans, veggies (including shredded zucchini), and breadcrumbs, bound together with an egg. They're super simple to make in the food processor and fry up quickly in a pan.

    Get Recipe

  • Chocolate Zucchini Cake

    chocolate zucchini cake with sugar glaze on a white cake pedastal
    Elise Bauer

    When you're asked to bring a cake to the next summer gathering, this is the one to take. Made in a Bundt pan, it's flavored with chocolate, shredded zucchini, orange peel, and pecans, then drizzled with a sweet sugar glaze.

    Get Recipe
    Continue to 21 of 21 below.

  • Zucchini Bread With Pineapple

    Zucchini Bread with Pineapple
    Elise Bauer

    The options for adding flavor to zucchini bread seem endless. In this version, crushed pineapple adds sweetness and more moistness. This recipe makes two loaves. One for eating now, and one for freezing for later.

    Get Recipe