Zucchini

Cucurbita pepo var. cylindricaAlso called courgette, baby marrow and Cucurbita pepo var. cylindrica

Zucchini is a summer squash whose fruit cooks treat as a vegetable. It can be eaten raw or baked, boiled, simmered, deep-fried, grilled, sautéed, steamed, stewed, or stuffed. It pairs with butter and olive oil.

Plant-based
Gluten-free
No listed allergens

About the plain ingredient, not packaged products; general information, not medical advice. Details

Category: Vegetables
Variety of: Summer squash
Part used: Fruit
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Cooked most in: Asia
Top country: Armenia
Dishes: 3 in the catalogue
Energy: 19 kcal per 100 g

Photo: Maksym Kozlenko · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

In the kitchen

How to use zucchini

Typical ways to cook or use it

Bake
Boil simmer
Deep fry
Grill
Raw
Saute
Steam
Stew
Stuff

Preparing it

Peel and remove the seeds from larger, mature zucchini. Pat cut pieces dry before frying to help them hold their shape. Use a spiralizer to cut zucchini into noodle-like strands.

Goes well with

Shopping

Choosing and storing zucchini

Choosing a good one

Zucchini with flowers attached are a sign of freshness and immaturity, and are prized for their sweeter flavor.

Nutrition

What 100 g of zucchini holds

Per 100 g, raw. Averages from USDA; real values vary by variety, season and growing conditions.

Protein 22%Fat 5%Carbohydrate 73%of the macronutrients by weight

Nutrition per 100 g of zucchini, raw
Energy	19 kcal · 70 kJ
Protein	0.98 g
Fat	0.21 g
of which saturated	0.08 g
Carbohydrate	3.3 g
of which sugars	2.5 g
Fibre	0.75 g
Sodium	0 mg
Cholesterol	0 mg

Nutrition per 100 g of zucchini, raw: minerals and vitamins
Potassium	226 mg
Calcium	21 mg
Iron	0.19 mg
Magnesium	15 mg
Zinc	0.26 mg
Vitamin C	15 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)	10 µg
Folate	71 µg

Source: USDA FoodData Central (foods 169291, 2685568), public domain. Minerals and vitamins are listed only where USDA measured a non-zero amount.

Around the world

Where zucchini is cooked

3 dishes in the catalogue use zucchini. Here is where they come from.

Dishes by continent

Asia2

Countries whose dishes use it most

Armenia 2

Counts are catalogued dishes from each country that list zucchini among their ingredients.

Origins

First cultivated: in Italy, the 1800s

1901 · Italy
A work published in Milan first described the variety under the name zucchini.
The 1920s · United States
The earliest US records of zucchini date to the early 1920s.

On the table

Dishes made with zucchini

2 of the 3 catalogued dishes that use it, spread across the countries they come from.

Tava
Armenia
Baked zucchini slices

Dish lists come from Wikidata; a dish counts when its recorded ingredients include zucchini.

Good to know

Diet and allergens: zucchini in detail

These notes describe the plain ingredient. Packaged and prepared products vary, so read the label; for allergies and medical diets ask a doctor or dietitian.

Allergens: None of the 15 listed allergens foundChecked and not found: soy, eggs, fish, milk, lupin, wheat, celery, sesame, mustard, peanuts, molluscs, sulphites, tree nuts, crustaceans, gluten cereals.
Animal origin: No animal ingredients foundChecked and not found: egg, fish, meat, dairy, honey, insect, gelatin, poultry, bone char, shellfish, other animal, animal fining, animal rennet.
Gluten: None
Alcohol: None
Caffeine: None
Pork: None

Family

Related forms

A kind of: summer squash
A variety of: summer squash