Is A Zucchini A Fruit or Vegetable?
Have you ever wondered if a zucchini or squash was a fruit or vegetable? I have, and really it tastes so amazing that I really never worried too much about it.
But for those of you who really want to know, zucchini and squash are technically a fruit. But in the culinary world, they are considered a vegetable.
In most culinary kitchens, savory typically means vegetable and sweet carries the word fruit. Just a fun tidbit to know.
Growing Your Own Zucchini and Squash
Some of my all time favorite vegetables to grow in my garden are zucchini and squash plants. They are super easy to grow and they produce plenty of fruit for the whole family to enjoy.
Oftentimes, people run into a few challenges when growing vine like plants and the problems are actually super easy to solve!
This season I have done two posts on my other site, Growing Real Food, on how to conquer problems that might arise when growing zucchini and squash.
If you are a gardener, be sure to check these two post out.
- How To Hand Pollinate Squash Flowers To Produce More Squash
- How To Get Rid of Mold or Powdery Mildew on Squash or Cucumber Leaves
Follow the tips in these 2 simple posts and you will have an abundance of fruit in your garden. So let’s move onto this amazing organic zucchini and squash au gratin recipe shall we?
Organic Zucchini and Squash Au Gratin Recipe
So after picking several zucchini and squash out of my garden the other day, I knew that I wanted to try a new recipe.
We are getting close to fall and I am starting to crave casseroles, how about you? I mean look at this creamy casserole…can you taste it yet?
I made this 9×13″ pan and it was gone in 1 days time, everyone LOVED it! Even my pickiest eater gobbled up every bite!
Once you dive into this delicious and easy recipe, I can assure you it will go into your regular rotation for hitting your families dinner table! Enjoy!
Organic Zucchini and Squash Au Gratin Recipe
Prep Time: 10 minutes- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 9 pieces 1x
Category: side dish
Method: baking
Cuisine: american
Prep Time:
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Once you dive into this delicious and easy Au Gratin recipe, I can assure you it will go into your regular rotation for hitting your families dinner table!
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp butter
- 3 large Vidalia onions (sweet onions) cut sliced
- 1 pound zucchini (2 medium), sliced 1/4″ thick
- 1 pound yellow squash (2 medium), sliced 1/4″ thick
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
- 2 tbsp organic all purpose flour, rice flour, or oat flour
- 1 cup organic milk
- 2 slices bread (I used a real sourdough bread), toasted, cooled and ground up into fine bread crumbs
- 1/2–3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp butter, melted to drizzle on casserole (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF oven.
- In a large skillet that has a lid, preheat the pan over low heat.
- Melt the butter and add onions and cook very slowly for 20 minutes or until soft and tender but not brown. By cooking very slowly the onions become sweeter.
- When the onions are soft add the zucchini and squash, stir and place a lid on the pan and cook covered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- After 10 minutes, remove lid and add the salt, pepper and nutmeg and cook another 5 minutes uncovered.
- Stir in flour and milk and stir until bubbly and the sauce starts to thicken (about 2 minutes.)
- Pour mixture into a ungreased 9″x13″ dish.
- Stir together the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese and sprinkle mixture onto casserole.
- If desired drizzle a tablespoon or two of melted butter over the bread crumb mixture.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until nice and bubbly and slightly browned.
Notes
Recipe inspired from a recipe on Foodnetwork.com
Nutritional Information: Calories: 150 Fat: 9.8g Carbohydrates: 11.8g Protein: 5.1g
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 piece
Share Your Thoughts
What are some of your favorite ways to use up zucchini and squashes out of your garden? Feel free to leave a recipe below in the comments.
Looks yummy but not grain free.
Nope it’s not, but you could easily make it grain free if you’d like. Replace bread crumbs with almond flour and use tapioca starch to replace flour. Would taste amazing!
Yummy!
yumm!
This is so good!
Super easy Mike, you will love it!
Mmmm YUM!
I`m def going to try that. If it tastes as good as it looks on the pics, there is nothing to go wrong…even with my picky eater who doesn´t like zucchini at all and just eats it b/c we have so many of them.
Hi,
The directions at the top say the cook time is 50 minutes but the directions at the bottom say to bake for 20 minutes. Which is correct? Looking forward to trying this!
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