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Zucchini, and why most of them are watery

Also called courgette, baby marrow

Ninety-five percent water, which is the whole problem and the whole opportunity. Salt it and it browns; skip that and it steams.

17.9 mg vitamin c 2 recipes here use it

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Whole green zucchini
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The numbers

Nutrition per 100 g, raw, with skin
NutrientAmount% RI
Calories 17 kcal —
Water 94.8 g —
Protein 1.2 g 2%
Carbs 3.1 g —
Fibre 1 g 4%
Vitamin C 17.9 mg 22%
Potassium 261 mg 13%

Source: USDA FoodData Central · FDC ID 169291 · % RI against EU adult reference intakes.

Buying and keeping

What to look for at the shop, and how to make it last once it is home.

How to pick

  • Small and firm beats large and impressive. Past about 20 cm the seeds coarsen and the flesh turns spongy.
  • It should feel heavy for its size. A light one has already lost water and will collapse in the pan.
  • Skin taut and slightly matt. Glossy usually means waxed; dull and wrinkled means it has been sitting somewhere for a week.
  • Press gently near the stem. Any give there is the first sign of age, and it shows up before the far end goes soft.
  • The flowers, if you can get them still attached, mean it was picked that morning. That is as fresh as a courgette gets outside a garden.

How to store

  • Fridge drawer, unwashed, in a loosely open bag. Four to five days.
  • Never in a sealed bag. Trapped moisture turns the skin slimy within two days and there is no rescuing it.
  • Do not freeze it raw and whole. Grate it, salt it, squeeze it dry, then freeze in portions and it is ready for fritters months later.
  • Keep it away from apples and bananas. Ethylene from those makes courgette go soft noticeably faster.
  • A cut half keeps two days with the cut face pressed against clingfilm rather than loosely covered.

Best months

If you have none

Swaps that hold up, with what changes when you use them.

Yellow summer squash One for one. Slightly sweeter, otherwise identical behaviour.
Cucumber (raw dishes only) Fine in a raw ribbon salad. Falls apart if you cook it.
Aubergine Works in stews and traybakes, but needs more oil and about ten minutes longer.
Chayote Holds its shape better in long cooking. Blander, so season harder.

The salting question

Zucchini is 94.8 per cent water by weight. That single number explains almost every zucchini failure.

Put it in a hot pan and the water comes out faster than it can evaporate, the pan temperature crashes, and you get grey steamed batons instead of browned ones. The vegetable has not done anything wrong; there is simply more water in it than a domestic hob can deal with.

Salting first fixes it. Twenty minutes with a teaspoon of salt per 500 g pulls out a surprising amount of liquid, enough to see pooling in the bowl. Squeeze that out and what is left browns properly.

Large ones are not a lost cause

A marrow-sized courgette from someone’s garden is watery and bland in the middle and perfectly good around the outside.

Halve it lengthways, scoop out the seedy core with a spoon, and treat what is left as you would a smaller one. Stuffed and baked is the other honest answer, because a filling supplies the flavour the vegetable has stopped providing.

Grated, sliced, ribboned

  • Grated for fritters and cakes. Always salt and squeeze first.
  • Thick slices or batons for the grill and the oven, where high dry heat does the work.
  • Ribbons for eating raw, shaved thin enough to see light through, salted for ten minutes.
  • Chunks for stews, added in the last fifteen minutes so they hold their shape.

Questions

Should I peel zucchini?
No. The skin holds most of the colour and a meaningful share of the fibre, and it is what stops slices disintegrating. Peel only if it is large and the skin has gone tough.
Why is my zucchini bitter?
Cucurbitacins, a natural compound that spikes when the plant is stressed by heat or drought. It is more common in home-grown fruit than shop-bought. If a raw slice tastes properly bitter, throw it out rather than cooking it; heat does not remove it.
Can I eat zucchini raw?
Yes, and it is better than most people expect. Shave it thin, dress it with acid and salt, and let it sit for ten minutes before serving.
What is the difference between zucchini and courgette?
Nothing. Zucchini is the Italian name and the one American shops use; courgette is the French name used across Britain and Ireland. Same plant, same fruit.
Can I substitute zucchini for cucumber?
In raw dishes, at a push, and only if you are eating within minutes. Cooked, no: cucumber falls apart completely.

Recipes using zucchini

2 on the site so far.

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