Parmesan Roasted Zucchini

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This is a great single vegetable side dish. As much as I love using more than one vegetable, you absolutely can just stick to one. Zucchini, especially during spring and summer, is a solid choice to be the featured veggie.

Pantry seasonings do all the work. I open my spice drawer to go beyond just salt and pepper and season the zucchini with onion powder, garlic powder and red pepper flakes. On its own zucchini is pretty plain, so it can be a blank canvas and take on all sorts of other flavors.

This is a 9-ingredient recipe and most of those are the spices. This recipe has simple a formula of zucchini + spices + Parmesan. That’s it. The only prep you have to do is slice the zucchini and grate the cheese.

What is Zucchini?

Technically zucchini is a fruit, but we treat it like a vegetable. Zucchini is a type of summer squash that’s from the same family as yellow squash. One of the best things about zucchini is the you can prep it and cook in so many ways for both for sweet and savory recipes such as:

Roasting: Toss diced or sliced zucchini in olive oil, salt and pepper. Then spread it across a large baking sheet. At 425 degrees F, it will take about 30 minutes or so to roast and brown at the edges. And you can add some crunch with panko breadcrumbs like I do for this Yellow Squash and Roasted Zucchini recipe.

Sautéing: Zucchini can be diced and sautéed. Or you can use a spiralizer to cut it into zucchini noodles for a low carb, quick cooking version of pasta. It helps to salt it first to remove some of the moisture before you sauté it. That’s what I do for this Zucchini Noodle Cacao e Pepe.

Raw: You can even leave zucchini raw and slice it super thin to create a ribbon salad. I make a Zucchini Salad with pine nuts, feta and a simple vinaigrette.

Baking: When you bake with shredded zucchini, make sure to squeeze out as much water as you can. Then you won’t end up with a dense crumb. These Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins made with maple syrup and Greek yogurt turn out light and fluffy.

The Ingredients

This is what you need:

• Zucchini should feel firm and have no soft spots. The skin should be smooth and medium to dark green. You can make this recipe with yellow squash or a combination of both.
• Dried seasonings: The recipe calls for a blend of onion powder, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper.
• Parmesan: Grated, this cheese melts right into the zucchini helping it brown and giving it so much flavor.
• Olive oil: For the best taste, use high quality extra virgin olive oil.
• Parsley: When the zucchini finishes roasting, I sprinkle it with fresh herbs. Parsley is always a good choice, but you can also use basil or chives.

How To Make Parmesan Roasted Zucchini

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F with a baking sheet inside. This is a simple trick to maximize browning right when the veggies hit the pan and to avoid soggy zucchini.

1. Make the spice mix. In a small bowl, combine the garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Stir in the olive oil.

2. Toss the zucchini rounds in the spiced olive oil in a large bowl making sure they are all coated.

3. Carefully arrange the zucchini slices on the pre-heated sheet pan. They should not be overlapping. Sprinkle the zucchini with Parmesan cheese.

4. Roast the zucchini until it is golden brown and tender in the middle. This will take 30-35 minutes. The cheese will melt quickly. Garnish the roasted zucchini with chopped parsley before serving. 

Leftovers & Storage

Roasted zucchini is best when you eat it warm. If you do have leftovers, you can reheat them in a 350-degree F oven. They will be softer than when they were freshly roasted. You also can eat leftover zucchini cold in a salad. You can store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 3 to 4 days.