Baked Italian Zucchini • Keeping It Simple Blog

Name: Baked Italian Zucchini Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 5 small zucchini (or 3 large ones); 8 oz fresh mozzarella (Try to use fresh if you can but shredded will work too); 24 ounces marinara sauce (homemade (see below for recipe) or jarred sauce ); 3 tbsp olive oil; 1 tsp kosher salt and pepper; 1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan; 28 ounces San marzano tomatoes; 1 1/2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil; 1/2 Yellow onion (Finely diced); 2 cloves Garlic (Finely chopped); 2 Fresh basil leaves; 1 tsp Kosher salt; 1/8 tsp Dried oregano

Jump to Recipe

This baked Italian zucchini is baked in the oven with the most delicious tomato sauce and cheese until bubbly and delicious. It is a quick meal that anyone can make and a zucchini recipe that everyone will love.

Italian Baked Zucchini is a delicious way to make zucchini as a main dish (or side dish) and definitely a zucchini recipe to keep in your repertoire. This Italian zucchini is basically a baked zucchini parmesan but without the breading and my favorite zucchini recipe to make.

I actually began making this recipe as a way to use up zucchini in my garden which I do grow a lot of. Since my family grew tired of eating so much zucchini, I needed to figure out a recipe that would get them excited to eat it so I turned to my Italian background and made came up with this recipe.

This Italian zucchini recipe is a great main dish because it gives zucchini a star role on your table. Italians like myself, love making baked vegetables with tomatoes and cheese and this baked zucchini is no exception.

What You Will Need

There are only a few ingredients you need to make this recipe (full list below):

Zucchini
Fresh mozzarella: Try to use fresh if you can but shredded will work too
Marinara sauce: This is my homemade quick marinara (see below for the recipe) or you can use jarred sauce.
Olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper
Parmesan

How To Make Baked Italian Zucchini

Making this recipe is mostly assembling and a little prep. Here are the steps:

Preparing the Italian baked zucchini from pre-cooking the zucchini, layering it in a pan with marinara and cheese and baking it until golden brown on top.

Pre-cook zucchini: This starts the cooking process for this zucchini since it doesn't spend too much time in the oven later on. You can grill (or pan-fry) your zucchini strips in a little extra virgin olive oil. You also want to preheat the oven.
Add zucchini to baking dish: Once you have cooked your zucchini, the next step is placing it in a baking dish or baking sheet. Only one layer!

Add marinara: Now you start adding your marinara sauce. Remember, this is not lasagna so you are only making a single layer of zucchini as the base.

Top with cheese: Once you get your marinara sauce on the zucchini, you are going to add your mozzarella and grated Parmesan cheese. It looks like a mess but it will come out beautiful once all the cheese has melted during baking.

Bake: After all of your ingredients are added to your zucchini, just place it in a preheated oven until the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 5 minutes. You can also bake it for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

baked zucchini recipe in pan — Italian Baked Zucchini

As you can see from the pictures above, this baked zucchini will start off looking a little messy when you are prepping and assembling everything. Once this goes into the oven, the cheese that melts over everything will bring it all together and it ends up looking beautiful and delicious.

For me, that makes this meal a great one for entertaining or for a special dinner for family. It is also great for those who are looking for those on a gluten-free diet. Really, any dish that is served with hot bubbling cheese will always be a winner and popular with almost everyone.

Variations

This Italian zucchini can be made just as is (my favorite) or jazzed up with different ingredients. Here are some ideas for you:

Add meat: If you have meat eaters in your house go ahead and add ground beef, Italian sausage or even ground turkey to the sauce. Pepperoni on top is really good too!
Add in more veggies: sliced eggplant, yellow squash, and bell peppers are all good additions to this baked zucchini.

Faqs

Do you need to salt zucchini before cooking it?

No, zucchini is not bitter like eggplant that many people are familiar with salting before cooking with it. Just prepare your zucchini the same way you would other vegetables. No special treatment is needed.

How can I prevent the zucchini from getting soggy?

To prevent the zucchini from getting soggy, make sure to not overcook it. Cooking the zucchini on a medium-high for a shorter time will cook the zucchini until golden brown on the outside and ensure the zucchini will stay firm.

Storage & Reheating Instructions

This baked Italian zucchini stores really well. After cooking, allow the zucchini to completely cool then place in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. To reheat, place the zucchini in an oven-safe dish and heat in a preheated 350-degree oven for 10-15 minutes or until heated all the way through.

More Zucchini Recipes

If you want more zucchini recipes, when we are not making this Italian zucchini, we love making Brown Butter Zucchini, or Spaghetti with Zucchini, or Mexican Zucchini, or Zucchini and Squash, and our Zucchini with Tomatoes.

Print Recipe

5 from 43 votes

Baked Italian Zucchini Recipe

This baked Italian zucchini is baked in the oven with marinara and cheese until bubbly and delicious. It is a quick meal that anyone can make and a zucchini recipe that everyone will love.

Prep Time5

Cook Time20

Assembling the dish5

Total Time30

Servings: people

Author: Melissa Oleary

Ingredients

5 small zucchini or 3 large ones
8 oz fresh mozzarella Try to use fresh if you can but shredded will work too
24 ounces marinara sauce homemade (see below for recipe) or jarred sauce
3 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt and pepper
¼ cup fresh grated Parmesan

Marinara

28 ounces San marzano tomatoes
1 ½ tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
½ Yellow onion Finely diced
2 cloves Garlic Finely chopped
2 Fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
⅛ teaspoon Dried oregano

Instructions

Making The Marinara

Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat.
Add your olive oil and onion and cook until the onions are translucent.
1 ½ tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil, ½ Yellow onion
Now add your garlic and cook for one more minute.
2 cloves Garlic
Add your whole canned tomatoes to the pan and with a potato masher (or bottom of a mug) mash down the tomatoes gently until they are mostly broken down and stir the tomatoes into the olive oil mixture well.
28 ounces San marzano tomatoes
Add your salt, oregano and basil and stir then bring to a simmer then reduce heat to low and let simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.
2 Fresh basil leaves, 1 teaspoon Kosher salt, ⅛ teaspoon Dried oregano
Taste the sauce for any additional salt.

Making The Italian Zucchini

Clean and wash your zucchini
5 small zucchini
Pre-heat a grill pan or a grill to medium heat. If you do not have either than pre-heat a large heavy bottom skillet
Cut your zucchini lengthwise into ½ inch strips
Drizzle the zucchini with olive oil.
3 tablespoon olive oil
Sprinkle the zucchini with salt and pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt and pepper
Once your grill or pan is ready, add your zucchini and cook for about 3 minutes per side.
Remove your zucchini from the pan and set aside
Gently heat your marinara sauce on low heat.
Pre-heat your broiler on high heat
Grab a large oven safe baking dish
Scoop ½ cup of your marinara sauce into the baking dish and spread it out evenly
24 ounces marinara sauce
Next, Add your zucchini slices into the dish side by side but not overlapping. You may need 2 baking dishes if your zucchini are larger.
Now take a tablespoon of your marinara and place on each slice of zucchini and spread it out. Keep doing this until all the zucchini has sauce
Now cut your mozzarella into thin strips and place over the zucchini. Don't worry too much about neatness here since it all melts
8 oz fresh mozzarella
Next, sprinkle your freshly grated parmesan evenly over top of this
¼ cup fresh grated Parmesan
Once your zucchini are all dressed with sauce and cheese, place the zucchini under the broiler until the cheese melts and is bubbly and just turning brown (about 3-4 minutes).
Remove from the oven and serve with a side of pasta and the remaining marinara sauce

Notes

Leftovers: This Italian zucchini makes great leftovers. I like to store it in the fridge for up to 2 days. To reheat it just allow the dish it is in to come to room temperature then bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 10-15 minutes or until warmed through.

Nutrition