Grilled Zucchini
On September 03, 2024
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This Grilled Zucchini is a ridiculously easy way to cook zucchini. It’s simple, has only 4 ingredients, and it cooks up in a matter of minutes. By sticking the zucchini in a marinade before grilling, you ensure your zucchini cooks nice and crisp with plenty of flavor.
Simple Grilled Zucchini
When it’s summer in my neck of the woods, that means it’s zucchini season. My mom grows zucchini, my in-laws grow zucchini, my neighbors grow zucchini. Essentially, I live in zucchini paradise. When you are exposed so often to this plentiful (albeit, slightly bland) vegetable, you start creating ways to eat it up in a hurry. This recipe comes just in time to cure your summer zucchini woes in a way that is both flavorful and fast.
When I’m looking for summery veggie side dishes, my priorities are always flavor first, and ease of preparation and clean up come in a close second and third. This recipe meets all three priorities. The flavors are vibrant and fresh, preparation takes minutes, and clean up is pretty much non-existent. If you’re ready to add this simple side to your BBQ rotations, then let’s get started.
Preparing Zucchini for the Grill
The first step in your journey to enjoying perfectly grilled zucchini is slicing them for the grill. For this recipe, I like to cut my zucchini into quartered spears. I find they’re really easy to control on the grill without losing any, and I get some gorgeous grill marks. You can also do your zucchini in rounds, but I recommend cutting them diagonally if you go that route. This will give you more surface area so you don’t lose any zucchini to the grill gods.
Whichever route you go, make sure you keep safety in mind when cutting your zucchini. The most important tool in any BBQ arsenal is a sharp knife. Hold your zucchini with your non-cutting hand (free of your knife’s travel path), remove each end, and discard. After that, you can quarter your zucchini into spears, cut into rounds, or any other shape you feel like grilling.
Grilled Zucchini Marinade
The trick to perfectly grilled zucchini is in the marinade. A simple marinade gives the zucchini an amazing dose of zing, and it helps to create a beautiful tender and crisp texture. In fact, this marinade is just a basic balsamic vinegar salad dressing you can pick up at your local grocery store. If you’ve ever just thrown zucchini on the grill, you might notice it gets soggy instead of crispy like most grilled veggies. This is because the water content in zucchini is so high, (similar to eggplant, covered in this post).
The salt in this zucchini marinade helps to draw out some of the extra liquid before grilling to help the zucchini cook perfectly instead of turning to mush. Oh, and it also helps to bring some much-needed flavor to the vegetable. These yummy morsels are a great side dish for Smoked Pork Loin or these Grilled Chicken Thighs. They’re also delicious with a big bowl of pasta or on the side of some Grilled Salmon.
How Long to Grill Zucchini
Zucchini is one vegetable that cooks FAST. With your gas grill preheated to High (450-500 degrees F), this zucchini only needs to cook for 2 minutes per side, or approximately 4-5 minutes total. My advice? Plan to cook the zucchini last as you are finishing up the rest of the items for your meal. Stay close and be ready to rotate quickly and pull them off the grill promptly to ensure they still have a bit of crunch.
Quick note: This side is best served hot and fast. It’s not one that transports or stores well. When making this grilled zucchini, I plan on pulling them off the grill moments before it is time to eat. They tend to get softer if they sit around for a while. Oh, and one more thing. If you manage to have leftovers (I know, I know, who ever has leftovers when the food is this good?), you don’t have to throw them out! Dice them up the next morning and throw them in an omelet or a frittata. They’re the grilled gift that keeps on giving.
How to Grill Zucchini
Here’s the 411 on grilling delicious zucchini. Believe me when I say it’s worth it to plan ahead to let the zucchini marinate for 3 hours. It will make all the difference in how the zucchini cooks and tastes.
- Cut the zucchini. Rinse the zucchini well and pat it dry. Slice each zucchini in half, width-wise, and cut each half into quarters.
- Marinate. Place the balsamic vinegar salad dressing and the zucchini in a gallon-sized zip top bag. Massage well to coat every piece, then refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
- Preheat the grill. Get your grill (I prefer to use my Weber Genesis II) preheated to High (450-500 degrees F) for direct grilling.
- Get to the grill! Remove the zucchini from the marinade and season with additional salt and pepper (to taste as desired). Place the zucchini flesh side down on the grill and grill for 2 minutes per side. Remove the zucchini when the flesh is slightly charred and the zucchini is crisp and tender.
- Serve immediately. Don’t let this sit around while you prep the other things needed for dinner. Have it ready to go so it is doesn’t go soggy.
Storage Suggestions
If there’s anything left of this sneaky delicious grilled zucchini after your meal, you can store it in the fridge and enjoy it a few more days. Simply allow your leftover zucchini to cool to room temperature before placing it in an airtight container, then placing in your refrigerator. Enjoy it cold as-is, in a salad, or crisp it back up while warming it over low heat on your grill. After that, your zucchini will start to break down.
More Grilled Veggie Recipes
You came here on a mission to find a recipe for grilled zucchini, but I’ve got a lot more where that came from. Be sure to check out the Hey Grill Hey app or the Vegetables Category of the website for dozens more grilled veggie recipes. You’re sure to find something to make at your next cookout to wow your family and friends. For now, here are some of my easiest, my flavor-loaded, grilled vegetable recipes:
Grilled Zucchini Recipe
When you and your family sink your teeth into this Grilled Zucchini, you may lose your minds for a minutes at how crispy and full of bold flavor it is. When you get you wits about you again, remember to give this recipe a 5-star rating, and tell me about what you served it with in the comments below.
If you need some quick inspiration on what meats to grill and serve your zucchini with, check out my YouTube channel. I’ve got how-to videos for all my most popular recipes so you can learn all the tips and tricks from me firsthand. Whatever you decide to grill, remember to share with everyone. Tag @heygrillhey on Instagram and Facebook with the vibrant meals you create with this Grilled Zucchini.
Grilled Zucchini
Ingredients
- 3 small zucchini
- 1 cup balsamic vinegar salad dressing
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoons fresh cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat. Set your grill on High (450-500 degrees F) for direct grilling.
- Slice zucchini. Rinse zucchini and pat dry. Slice in half, width-wise, and then cut each half into quarters.3 small zucchini
- Marinate. Place zucchini and balsamic vinegar dressing in a gallon zip top bag. Toss to evenly coat every piece. Place in the refrigerator and let the zucchini marinate for at least 2-3 hours.1 cup balsamic vinegar salad dressing
- Grill. Place the zucchini on the grill, flesh side down. Season with additional salt and black pepper, to taste. Grill for 2 minutes per side, or until the flesh is slightly charred and the zucchini is crisp and tender.2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1 teaspoons fresh cracked black pepper
- Serve and enjoy. Remove to a platter and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
**I originally published this post in June 2015, but recently updated it with more information and helpful tips. However, the recipe remains the same.
Question. Are you adding the 2tsp kosher salt in the marinade?
I was skeptical at first as I am not a huge squash fan but I had some from my father in law’s garden and had nothing to lose. Wow! These are amazing! Thanks for sharing!