Zucchini is one of those plants that offers more than I want sometimes. Do you ever feel that way? Like you just have way too much that you don’t know how to use it all before it goes bad? You could take it to your neighbors but they just gave you some last week. So that’s probably not a good idea. You could try to sell it at a farmers market or fruit and veggie stand but that could be hit or miss unless you have a good relationship with the local fruit/veggie stand owner. Or you can figure out ways to preserve it for future use!
One of my favorite ways to preserve zucchini is by making melt in your mouth chocolate zucchini bread. Each year I try to make around 20 loaves to put in the freezer. Most of the time not all 20 loaves end up in the freezer, we just can’t help eating it fresh because it’s just so dang good! Plus, your house smells amazing after baking the chocolate zucchini bread so how could you not just eat it?!
Something else we do is shred the zucchini with our Kitchen aid & shredder attachment, and then we portion it, bag it, and freeze it. I like to do this because then I can pull a bag out of the freezer, let it thaw and make a FRESH loaf of zucchini bread in the middle of winter. As good as frozen zucchini bread is, fresh is always better. Plus then your house smells deliciously of chocolate and it gives you all the holiday vibes ya need to be happy.
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How to Freeze Zucchini
Step 1: Go harvest your zucchini – remember to do it as early as possible and not in the heat of the day. (Click HERE to learn why.)
Step 2: Wash your zucchini and cut off the ends.
Depending on how big the zucchini is you will want to cut it either in half the both ways in order for it to fit in the kitchen aid attachment. (if you don’t have the attachment you can do it by hand, but I highly recommend investing in it. Put it on your Christmas or Birthday wish list! Or just go pamper yourself, you know you deserve it!)
Step 3: Place attachment on and in kitchen aid and start shredding. Make sure you have a bowl underneath to catch all the zucchini.
Step 4: Measure and bag it.
I like to do a little over 3 cups because that’s how much my bread recipe calls for, but you can do whatever you want. Then toss it all in the freezer. Make sure to label your bag and put the date so you use the oldest ones first!
While you’re at it, you might as well make a batch of chocolate zucchini bread as a reward for all your hard work!
Need a refresher?
Here is a list of ways to preserve your zucchini harvest
- make lots of zucchini bread
- freeze it
- sell it at a farmers market or the produce stand
- share it with neighbors
- come up with some new meals
Do you have other ways you like to preserve your harvest?
~ Architect students wife
