Zucchini Overload
Some weeks the garden gives you exactly what you need. Other weeks it gives you fourteen overgrown zucchini and no plan whatsoever.
That was our June. Between the high tunnel build, the usual chaos of a busy homestead, and a few days where the garden simply didn’t get checked, I walked out one morning to find zucchini the size of my forearm hiding under the leaves. Fourteen of them. Way too much for fresh eating, and not something I was willing to let go to waste.
So I did what most homesteaders do when the garden hands them abundance: I got creative. The bulk of it became shredded, freeze-dried zucchini for the pantry. The rest became a batch of zesty zucchini relish. Here’s how both turned out.
Freeze-Dried Zucchini: Pantry Staple, No Recipe Required
This is the easiest way I’ve found to deal with a zucchini overload, and it doesn’t require any real recipe:
1. Shred it. I ran the zucchini through the food processor with the shredding attachment — fast, and no need to peel first.
2. Load the freeze dryer. Spread the shredded zucchini across the trays and run it on the standard setting. For a full load like this, it took about 30 hours.
3. Store it. Once fully dried, I pack it into half-gallon mason jars. It keeps for years this way, no freezer space needed.
The payoff is a jar of shelf-stable zucchini ready whenever you need it. A few ways we use it:
• Banana bread muffins — rehydrates right into the batter, adds moisture and a boost of vegetables
• Sauces — stir it into simmering sauces to bulk them up
• Ground meat filler — mixed into burgers or meatballs, it stretches the meat and adds moisture
• Smoothie powder — blend the dried shreds into a fine powder and add a scoop to smoothies
(I made a batch of banana bread muffins with it this week for pictures — that recipe may make its own appearance on the blog soon.)
[Video coming soon: watch us make zucchini relish from start to finish]
Zesty Zucchini Relish
For the rest of the zucchini, I turned to a favorite from our canning shelf — a horseradish-and-hot-pepper relish adapted from Ball’s Complete Book of Home Preserving. It’s got a real kick, and it’s a great way to use up extra zucchini while putting something shelf-stable on the shelf for winter.
Makes about 5 pint (500 mL) jars
Ingredients:
• 12 cups finely chopped zucchini
• 4 cups chopped onions
• 2 red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1/3 cup pickling or canning salt
• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 cups white vinegar
• 1 tbsp ground turmeric
• 4 tbsp prepared horseradish
• 1 jalapeño, including seeds, chopped (for extra heat, swap in cayenne or a Holland/Dutch chili)
Instructions:
1. Combine the zucchini, onions, red and green peppers, and pickling salt in a large glass or stainless steel bowl. Cover and let stand in a cool place (70–75°F) for 12 hours or overnight. Transfer to a colander, rinse with cool water, drain thoroughly, and squeeze out the excess liquid by hand.
2. In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine the drained zucchini mixture with the sugar, vinegar, turmeric, horseradish, and jalapeño. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a gentle simmer, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens to the consistency of a thin commercial relish — about 45 minutes.
3. Ladle the hot relish into jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.
A tip if you’re working with hot peppers: wear gloves when chopping to avoid burning your hands.
The Takeaway
Fourteen overgrown zucchini could have easily gone to waste — but between the freeze dryer and a good relish recipe, nothing did. That’s the real win of homesteading: not perfection, just making the most of what the garden hands you, even when it hands you more than you planned for.
