If you don’t like squash fruit, don’t give up on the zucchini plant just yet. Try this zucchini blossoms recipe instead!
Other recipes that are battered and fried tend to get greasy. Skip the deep fry method and avoid getting burned with hot oil spattering up from the frying pan while you manage to remove your blossoms with a slotted spoon.
Unlike deep-fried zucchini flowers, this recipe is stuffed with cheese and baked to perfection; your family will want to eat them every night.
Why I Love Zucchini Blossoms
Anyone in charge of the household grocery budget loves growing zucchini. What else provides so much sheer vegetable goodness with so little effort?
We’re sure to have extra zucchini for making quick & easy zucchini pickles. While zucchini is most commonly grown for its fruit, you can also harvest the zucchini flowers.
This zucchini blossoms recipe can be served in various ways, from a satisfying snack to a delicious appetizer or as a side to round out a meal. The Italian seasoning in these zucchini blossoms makes a perfect pairing for a flexible frittata or sweet pepper hash at breakfast.
For dinner, zucchini blossoms complement everything from a fancy roasted chicken with lemon reduction sauce to the humble and easy meatloaf recipe. Or, add zucchini blossoms as an impressive appetizer or party food to go with these Keto-friendly pizza pepper poppers.
Whatever the occasion, zucchini blossoms are a unique way to utilize the zucchini plant, and they provide an unexpected change of pace for your weekly meal planning.
What Are Zucchini Blossoms
While zucchini plants (aka summer squash) are known for their abundant fruit production, the long green squashes are not the only part of the plant you can eat. Like many vegetables, the zucchini’s vibrant orange blossom is an edible flower.
All squash plants have male and female flowers that help the plant produce fruit. Male flowers have a stem where they attach to the plant, while female flowers have a round bulb. These bulbs will attract pollinators and, after pollination, becomes a zucchini.
While the flowers differ in structure and purpose, both are edible! Amazingly, you can prepare raw, pickled, canned, or fermented zucchini blossoms. In Italy, squash blossoms are traditionally stuffed with all sorts of delicious ingredients and then either fried or baked.
Can You Buy Zucchini Blossoms
Zucchini blossoms are challenging to find in grocery stores, but you may be more successful at your local farmer’s market. The best way to source zucchini blossoms is to grow them yourself, so make sure you make a note to include zucchini plants in your spring garden planning.
Harvesting Zucchini Blossoms
Using fresh zucchini blossoms is best, so pick them the morning you plan to eat them. If you want to harvest both blossoms and zucchini from your plant, it’s best to identify and harvest about one-half of the male flowers.
Homesteading Hack: Look for the narrower flowers attached to the plants by a thin stem (see the lower flower in the photo above). These younger flowers will have the best flavor and texture and be easier to work with, plus you won’t be harvesting a zucchini with plenty more to grow.
Store the harvested zucchini blossoms on a plate lined with a paper towel in the refrigerator until you are ready to prepare them later that day.
Supplies Needed
- Medium Bowl – A soup bowl size is sufficient to accommodate this recipe.
- Spoon – A spatula or fork works well to combine the ingredients. Homesteading Hack: If you have a pastry bag, it is easier to fill the delicate blossoms instead of spreading the filling with a spoon.
- Paper Towels – You can also use a clean tea towel to drain and dry the blossoms gently.
- Baking Sheet – Use a large sheet pan to allow the blossoms to cook without being crowded.
Ingredients Needed
- Zucchini Blossoms – If you do not grow your own, try sourcing them from your local farmer’s market, a friend, or a neighbor.
- Ricotta Cheese – Want to learn how to make homemade dairy products practical? Take our Homemade Dairy Masterclass!
- Shredded Parmesan Cheese – If you don’t have Parmesan, you can substitute any hard Italian cheese like Romano. Or, better yet, use a combination!
- Egg – Use best practices to handle farm-fresh eggs safely.
- Dried Italian Herb Seasoning – Growing your own herbs is easy. Try growing basil or growing oregano as a good place to start.
- Ground Nutmeg – If grating your own nutmeg, use slightly less, as fresh ground nutmeg can have a more powerful flavor.
- Salt and Pepper – Season to taste. We love Redmond Real Salt and use it for everything from cooking to fermenting, and even for livestock! Using that link will automatically get you 15% off your entire order.
- Olive Oil – I love using this DIY non-stick cooking spray, or line your baking sheet with parchment paper.
Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms Step-by-Step
- In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, shredded cheese, egg, herbs, and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
- Gently wash the zucchini blossoms in cool water and carefully remove the hard pistil from the center of each flower.
- Place on a tea towel to dry.
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Lightly oil a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper.
- Gently open the zucchini blossoms and stuff with the ricotta mixture, about 1-2 teaspoons, depending on the size of the flower. Do not overfill. The flowers should be full but not bulging. No filling should show once you wrap the petals back around the stuffing.
- Lay stuffed zucchini flowers on the prepared sheet pan and drizzle or lightly spray with olive oil.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Serve warm.
Did you make this recipe? If so, please leave a star rating in the recipe card below. Then snap a photo and tag us on social media @homesteadingfamily so we can see how your zucchini blossoms turned out!
In the Homestead Kitchen
This recipe was featured in issue No. 12 of In the Homestead Kitchen Magazine. You can subscribe to the magazine here if you’d like access to more recipes, kitchen how-to’s, preservation tutorials, homesteading tips, and more!
Your subscription will enable you to stop digging through Pinterest or YouTube, scrambling at the last minute to find something that works.
Just follow along with each month’s magazine to start making delicious, healthy homemade meals for your family and find new ways to preserve food.
As a bonus, you also get access to our Video Vault, full of tutorials and video training on useful homesteading skills. Subscribe to In the Homestead Kitchen Magazine today, and gain the skills, knowledge, confidence, and inspiration you’ve been missing as a homesteader.
Other Articles You May Enjoy
- Flexible Frittata Recipe
- Sweet Pepper Hash
- Lemon Reduction Sauce with Roasted Chicken
- Easy Meatloaf Recipe
- Keto Friendly Pizza Pepper Poppers
- DIY Non-Stick Cooking Spray
- Meal Planning on the Homestead
Zucchini Blossoms Recipe
Ingredients
- 16 zucchini blossoms
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup parmesan shredded
- 1 whole egg beaten
- 1 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- salt and pepper to taste
- olive oil optional
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, shredded cheese, egg, herbs, and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
- Gently wash the zucchini blossoms in cool water and carefully remove the hard pistil from the center of each flower.
- Place on a tea towel to dry.
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Lightly oil a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper.
- Gently open the zucchini blossoms and stuff with the ricotta mixture, about 1-2 teaspoons, depending on the size of the flower. Do not overfill. The flowers should be full but not bulging. No filling should show once you wrap the petals back around the stuffing.
- Lay stuffed zucchini flowers on the prepared sheet pan and drizzle or lightly spray with olive oil.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Serve warm.
