Sautéed Zucchini and Cherry Tomatoes
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Transform your summer dinners with a simple, flavorful veggie sauté that’s far greater than the sum of its parts.
Crisp zucchini, burst cherry tomatoes, and, meltingly sweet red onions sautéed in olive oil, and finished off with fresh basil. It sounds simple—and it is—but it’s one of those magical dishes where the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts. Pair it with grilled salmon, steak, or chicken and some orzo tossed with a bit of lemon and olive oil for a light and easy weeknight meal.
Table of Contents
“This recipe is so fresh and light, we really loved it and so simple to make.”
What You’ll Need To Make Sauteed Zucchini And Cherry Tomatoes
Step-By-Step Instructions
In a large sauté pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion.
Cook, stirring frequently, until very soft and pale purple in color, 7 to 8 minutes. Do not brown.
Add the zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, salt, and pepper.
Cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the zucchini are cooked but still crisp and the tomatoes have started to collapse, creating a little sauce. Stir in the fresh basil, then taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.
Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with more fresh basil, if desired.
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Sautéed Zucchini and Cherry Tomatoes
Transform your summer dinners with a simple, flavorful veggie sauté that’s far greater than the sum of its parts.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 1 pound zucchini (2 to 3 medium), cut into ½-inch chunks
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved (I usually buy NatureSweet Cherubs)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil, plus more for garnish if desired
Instructions
- In a large sauté pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until very soft and pale purple in color, 7 to 8 minutes. Do not brown.
- Add the zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the zucchini are cooked but still crisp and the tomatoes have started to collapse, creating a little sauce. Stir in the fresh basil, then taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with more fresh basil, if desired.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 104
- Fat: 7g
- Saturated fat: 1g
- Carbohydrates: 9g
- Sugar: 6g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 2g
- Sodium: 529mg
- Cholesterol: 0mg
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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The zucchini, onions and tomato dish is a perfect topping for rice or pasta. Either way, our grandchildren inhale it.
Life is Good,
BobHallsr
I’ve made this a couple of times now. The first time I made it, I used grape tomatoes, but found that they didn’t provide as much juice as I’d hoped. The second time I used chopped Roma (or plum) tomatoes. I found them to be much juicier and an improvement over the cherry tomatoes. I tend not to keep fresh onions or garlic in the house, so I used dried onions, garlic powder, and dried basil. I probably missed out on some flavor freshness this way, but I still loved the recipe and will continue to make it.
I was happy to find this recipe because I have zucchini, tomatoes and basil growing in my little back yard garden. It was absolutely delicious, and so quick and easy to put together!
This dish was super easy, fast, and also delicious.
Wonderful taste and textures. This is a fantastic side for any entree!
For some reason, in 36 years, I’ve never thought about cooking zucchini this way?! Thank you Jenn for for the brilliant idea! The chunking of the zucchini kept it crunchy and the onion, garlic, tomato, and basil made it even more delicious! My entire family ate it all!
This side dish was the first recipe tried from the onceuponachef.com site. I am now a follower and continue to come back here to try more recipes. This side was a simple, yet tasty dish and allowed me to use up veggies I had on hand. Seasoning was good – not fancy. My husband and sons even commented we should have it again (which was surprising since I don’t normally get such positive comments on dishes with cherry tomatoes.
I made this exactly as described and it turned out perfect! Absolutely delicious! Next time, I will choose a smaller onion than what I had on hand today. 🙂 Thank you Jen! Your website it my favorite “go-to” for recipes. Every single dish I’ve made of yours has been 5 stars!
Is this strictly served warm or would it be good chilled?
Hi Shanti, I serve it warm but no reason it wouldn’t be good chilled too 🙂
Great, thanks!
Loved this. Reduced the onion (personal taste), added linguine and feta for a main dish!