This zucchini au gratin recipe will quickly become your go-to for a zucchini vegetable side dish recipe! It’s a wonderful way to use zucchini and summer squash in a casserole-type dish. Think zucchini covered in bread crumbs and cheese then cooked to perfection!
Are you familiar with au gratin? Well, if not, the definition of au gratin is ‘covered with bread crumbs or grated cheese and browned (as under a broiler)’ – sounds pretty good to me! This dish is a recipe for an au gratin made with zucchini and summer squash.
And did you know? The difference between an au gratin dish and a scalloped dish is simply cheese! Scalloped zucchini or potato dishes are made in a very similar way, but made with cream or milk. I was talking to a few of my friends and they didn’t know the difference so I thought I’d share. This dish has tasty cheese in it and those crunchy breadcrumbs to give it a wonderful texture, so it’s definitely an au gratin dish.
What ingredients do I need to make a zucchini side dish?
- Butter
- Shallots – you can also use half of a sweet yellow onion if you prefer
- Garlic cloves
- Green zucchini*
- Yellow summer squash/zucchini*
- Heavy cream
- Salt
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Panko bread crumbs
- Shredded Italian blend cheese
*Summer squash and zucchini can be used interchangeably so if you have 6 zucchini use those, or likewise with the summer squash.
I don’t know about you, but I always seem to have an excess of zucchini in my vegetable garden (on good years when I actually have a vegetable garden). So much so, that I rounded up all of my favorite ways to cook with zucchini and will be adding this recipe to the list right away!
I love making this vegetable side dish in a disposable pan so I can bring it to a summer picnic and not have to worry about having to take a pan back home. If you have the storage space, I would definitely purchase this 30-pack so you always have one on hand for recipes like this.
This zucchini au gratin is the perfect summer side dish. Filling and delicious; perfect for any occasion.
Zucchini au Gratin Recipe
Equipment
- The Always Pan
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 Tbs. butter divided
- 2 large shallots thinly sliced (or half of a small sweet yellow onion)
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 3 medium-large green zucchini thinly sliced (¼ inch) (or you can do 6 zucchini or 6 summer squash)
- 3 medium-large yellow summer squash/zucchini thinly sliced (¼ inch)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp. onion powder
- 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 1 cup Italian blend cheese shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking dish (13x9) with cooking spray and set aside.
- Melt 2 Tbs. butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, add shallots and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, until just starting to turn translucent. Garlic starts to brown and shallots become fragrant.
- Add zucchini and squash and cook for 10 minutes, or until slightly softened (but not cooked through.)
- Add salt, garlic powder and onion powder.
- Add in heavy cream, cook for 1 minute, stirring gently.
- Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and Italian cheese blend. Cube remaining 1 ½ tbs butter thinly and sprinkle on top of cheese.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until bubbly. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving warm.
Stephanie says
I love to take and sauté onion & mushrooms in a little butter then add sliced zucchini & sliced squash. Cook until done. Then add fresh ground pepper & garlic salt to taste. I eat it like this . But it is amazing to heat up & eat with eggs in the morning.
Sweetphi says
Such a great idea, it sounds so yummy!
Annette says
I’ve yet to eat a zucchini recipe I didn’t like. One of my favorites is a low carb pancake made with shredded zucchini. I’ve not made it in years, but now you have me craving it.
Sweetphi says
oooooh a zucchini pancake, now that’s genius, I’ll need to try something like that!
Antoinette M says
My favorite is roasted zucchini with parmesan!
Sweetphi says
YUM! I love a good zucchini/parmesan recipe too
Monica M says
Chocolate Zucchini Bread is one of my favorites. Just picked my first one of the season, a little to small for making the bread, but in a day or two, I will have another ready for picking. Want to try your recipe, but have a question. Do you try and remove some of the liquid from the zucchini before making this dish? I have sautéed zucchini before, and it tends to have a little to much liquid in it and gets soggy.
Sweetphi says
I haven’t run into the soggy situation with this recipe, but you could always cook/drain zucchini before baking it – or adding a little extra breadcrumbs to absorb liquid when baking!
Anthony says
Yummy! I’m a huge fan of zucchini gratin:) I make it almost the same way but top it with it Comte or Gruyere. Yours looks delicious!
Jann McKenzie says
Love zucchini and cheese!! This looks delicious!!
Linda Bick says
Zucchini is so versatile! We love it. Probably zucchini bread is our favorite. Closely followed by brownies, cake, Salas, oven roasted with onions……
Kim Raddemann says
zoodles !!!! sauteed quickly in a pan with garlic and butter or olive oil spray…. served alone with parm cheese on top.
Monica Muraro says
I love Chocolate Zucchini Bread. I like to make it into muffins (for portion control). When my zucchini is ready to pick this season, I am definitely going to try your Zucchini au Gratin – looks delicious.
Susan L Craig says
This recipe looks delicious and we sure do have zucchini to use up. I also want to make your zucchini cheddar bread – it is a family fave.
Jeffrey says
We used to grow zucchini in our garden, but it just got overwhelming…There was soooo much! My favorite way to use it up was in quick bread. It added moisture without imparting too much flavor for the kids to even notice they were eating vegetables!
Mary W says
My favorite zucchini recipe is a traditional muffin recipe. I bump up the spices, add a little extra brown sugar, use butter and sour cream and sprinkle sugar on the top for an extra crunch. People who swear they do not like zucchini can’t believe this recipe has shredded zucchini in it!
Sweetphi says
Oh yum! Your zucchini muffins sound amazing!!
Linda Bick says
This recipe looks yummy! I can’t wait to try it!
Sweetphi says
I think you’ll love it!!
Amy Cooley says
I have great memories of zucchini bread because of my grandma. She always made it for us to snack on when we came to visit from out of town.
Sweetphi says
Awe, that’s so sweet. I usually make savory zucchini bread but last year had one that was sweet and it completely changed the game, now I cannot wait for zucchini season to make sweet zucchini bread!
Denise L says
Thanks for the great recipe. I also love to grill long zucchini slices next to our steaks. Rubbed with a little olive oil and garlic – yum!
Sweetphi says
That’s exactly how we grill zucchini too!!