Brown butter sautéed zucchini is hands down one of my favorite ways to eat zucchini. It is such an easy zucchini recipe to make and it is as uncomplicated as it gets. Sautéing the zucchini with brown butter in a pan until it gets a beautiful brown crust takes only minutes and it is so good. It is finished with minced garlic at the end for the best tasting zucchini.
Whether you are looking for a new zucchini recipe to use up the zucchini in your garden or you're trying to get a picky eater to try a new vegetable, this zucchini recipe really delivers. This sautéed zucchini makes a great quick snack (which I love making in the summer when I have lots of zucchini) or an amazing zucchini side dish.
Here are the ingredients you will need to make the best sautéed zucchini:
- Fresh zucchini. You will need to work with fresh zucchini if you want to make sautéed zucchini because the frozen stuff will not hold together.
- Butter. This is the brown butter portion of this brown butter zucchini recipe and it will give you that beautiful golden crust!
- Fresh garlic. I like to add this at the very end of cooking the sautéed zucchini so the garlic does not burn. Everything tastes better with garlic!
- Red pepper flakes. I almost always add red pepper flakes to my cooked veggies. It does not make the zucchini spicy but instead adds a little more depth of flavor.
- Kosher salt and pepper.
Can I use less butter for this zucchini recipe?
You can half the amount of butter in this zucchini recipe and replace it with extra virgin olive oil. You will need some butter since it is a brown butter zucchini recipe!
Can I make this Sautéed zucchini with squash?
You absolutely can swap out zucchini for squash. You can also mix the two and make brown butter sautéed zucchini and squash. Both will cook up the same and will taste delicious cooked this way.
More Zucchini Recipe Ideas:
- Italian Baked Zucchini
- Zucchini Pancakes
- Chorizo and Zucchini Galette
- Mexican Zucchini Pudding
- Zucchini and Tomatoes
- Grilled Zucchini and Squash
- Pasta Nerano (Pasta and Zucchini)
Brown Butter Sautéed Zucchini
Tried the Recipe? We Would Love To Hear From You In The Comments Below!
Equipment
- large flat bottom pan
Ingredients
- 3 medium zucchini cut into ¼ inch slices
- 3 tablespoon unsalted butter
- pinch of red pepper flakes
- 3 cloves of garlic finely minced
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pre-heat a large flat bottom pan over medium heat for a few minutes.
- Add the butter and red pepper flakes and allow the butter to melt.3 tablespoon unsalted butter, pinch of red pepper flakes
- Once the butter begins to foam a little bit, add the zucchini slices making sure they do not overlap.3 medium zucchini
- Once in the pan, sprinkle the zucchini with half the salt and pepper.¼ teaspoon kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper
- Cook the first side of the zucchini for 5 minutes making sure not to turn them.
- After 5 minutes, flip each zucchini slice over and sprinkle on the minced garlic and the remaining salt.¼ teaspoon kosher salt, 3 cloves of garlic
- Cook the second side for one minute.
- Remove from heat and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition Values are estimates only.
See full nutrition disclaimer here
Dan says
This was very easy and very delicious