Creamed Zucchini with Garlic & Basil
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Made simply with grated zucchini, butter and cream, this creamed zucchini makes an easy and elegant summer dish.
This rich yet delicate creamed zucchini is easy to make. You simply sauté grated zucchini and garlic in butter, then finish it off with a touch of heavy cream and fresh basil. The zucchini gets tender and creamy, almost melting into a purée. Try it with baked or grilled fish or roast chicken — and put the recipe in your entertaining file because you can make it ahead of time.
What you’ll need to make Creamed Zucchini
How to make creamed zucchini
Begin by grating the zucchini. You can do this by hand with a box grater or in a food processor fitted with the shredding disk.
Transfer the zucchini to a clean kitchen towel.
Wring out all of the excess water.
Melt the butter in a large skillet and add the zucchini and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until the zucchini is tender.
Add the heavy cream.
Then stir in the basil, salt and pepper and simmer until all of the cream is absorbed.
Serve and enjoy.
This recipe was inspired by a Creamed Zucchini with Herbs recipe from Cook’s Illustrated.
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Creamed Zucchini with Garlic & Basil
Made simply with grated zucchini, butter and cream, this creamed zucchini makes an easy and elegant summer dish.
Ingredients
- 1¾ pounds zucchini (preferably smaller zucchini, as they are less watery)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 5 tablespoons heavy cream
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil
Instructions
- Grate the zucchini by hand with a box grater or in a food processor fitted with the shredding disk. Wrap the shredded zucchini in a clean kitchen towel and wring out as much excess water as possible. Repeat a few times, replacing the towel if necessary.
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shredded zucchini and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the zucchini is tender, about 6 minutes. Turn the heat down to low; add the heavy cream, salt, pepper and basil and simmer until the cream is absorbed. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve warm.
- Make Ahead Instructions: The whole recipe ahead of time. Just cover and refrigerate. You can reheat it in the microwave right before serving.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 179
- Fat: 16g
- Saturated fat: 10g
- Carbohydrates: 8g
- Sugar: 5g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 3g
- Sodium: 461mg
- Cholesterol: 49mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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This recipe is so easy and delicious!! It’s very much company worthy, but fast and simple enough for a weeknight side.
I was very happy with this recipe. The whole family loved it. Simple and quick to make. I used a food processor, but a hand grater would work just fine. Note important step: try hard to get all the water you can out of the zucchini. It fries much better.
This was very good. I used two zuke’s that weight about 1 3/4 pound and saw once it was in the pan there was no way that would be enough for my family (3 teens and a tween, but my 2 boys won’t eat it anyway) so I grabbed a third zuke and added it. I added a little extra garlic and butter when I added the extra zuke. I then decided to use up some riced cauliflower I had food-processed a few days ago (added maybe 1/2 a cup). You couldn’t even tell it was in there – so perfect to bulk up the recipe! The four of us ate it all at dinner with instant pot chicken. Very easy weeknight dish to make. I’m intrigued by the other reviews that add nutmeg and maybe I’ll try that in future as well. My daughter couldn’t get enough and was upset that she had to allow her father to eat some.
yummy and low carb
Everyone loved this. Even the kids!
I wasn’t sure about this recipe, but I have a LOT of zucchini, and I trust Jenn, so I made it. Very, very good – definitely making again. I used a large 2 lb zucchini, so I cored it and really squeezed the excess moisture out. Definitely has a creamed spinach taste to it, and I added a touch of nutmeg.
Delicious!
Made tonite to go with ribeye and sliced tomatoes. Absolutely delicious! May be my new creamed spinach replacement! With a lot less,cream. Thank you for expanding my palate!
Made this last night and my husband and I loved it. My husband is usually skeptical of vegetables but he ate all of this!
This Zucchini recipe looks great & I’m going to try it. You mentioned it can be done ahead. If doing that, would you cook it all the way, then just warm it up, or set it aside at a certain point to finish later? (I’m thinking of the last minute rush when giving a dinner party to get everything finished at the same time.)
Hi Melinda, Just make the whole recipe ahead of time, then just cover and refrigerate. You can reheat it in the microwave right before serving. Hope you enjoy!