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A golden cheesy crust seals in the fluffy, moist and creamy center of this zucchini casserole. This zucchini bake recipe is easy, irresistibly delicious and a great way to use up extra garden vegetables since it is loaded with 3 pounds of zucchini!
This recipe has simple ingredients and comes together quickly, making it ideal for busy weeknights. This is the best kind of comfort food – so satisfying but light being mostly vegetables, well technically fruit because zucchini is a fruit – seriously!
Every year, Mom grows enough zucchini in her yard to feed a small army so we are always on the lookout for new zucchini recipes! My Mother-in-law shared this recipe with my husband and it quickly became a new favorite. P.S. Have you tried our all-time favorite zucchini recipe?
Ingredients for Zucchini Casserole:
The ingredients in this zucchini rice casserole are so simple and basic but they are a winning combination of flavor and texture.
*To cook rice for this recipe, you will need 1 cup of uncooked rice. Here is an easy tutorial from Olga’s Flavor Factory on how to cook white rice.
How to Make Zucchini Casserole Recipe:
Prep: Preheat oven to 400˚F and butter a 9×13 baking casserole dish.
1. Grate zucchini on the large holes (the grating attachment on a food processor makes it so easy!). You should get 7 to 8 cups before squeezing dry. Transfer grated zucchini to a colander over the sink and stir in 1 tsp salt. Let stand for 10 min, stirring a couple of times then squeeze out the excess moisture with your hands. Transfer drained zucchini to a large mixing bowl.
2. Mix 2/3 cup of sour cream with 1/2 tsp baking powder and let it stand while zucchini drains (8-10 min).
3. Into the mixing bowl with drained zucchini, stir in 4 eggs and sour cream mixture.
4. Add cooked rice and 2 cups shredded cheese. Stir in 1/2 cup chives, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp Mrs. Dash seasoning.
5. Pour mixture into buttered casserole dish and lightly spread 1/3 cup sour cream over the top. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup of cheese over the surface and bake uncovered in the center of your oven at 400˚ for 40 min. Let it stand for 10 min before serving.
This zucchini bake was on the menu twice last week and it disappeared fast! It tastes like comfort food but in a light and feel good way. I love the light sweetness of the zucchini, the salty crust and moist creamy center. I find this dish completely irresistible and I hope you love it as much as we do!
Cheesy Zucchini Casserole
Ingredients
- 3 lbs green zucchini (6 medium)
- 1 1/2 tsp salt, divided (1 tsp for sprinkling and 1/2 tsp for casserole)
- 2 cups cooked white rice*
- 1 cup sour cream, (divided into 2/3 and 1/3)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 4 eggs (large)
- 1/2 tsp Mrs Dash seasoning, or your favorite salt-free seasoning
- 8 oz Colby jack cheese, 3 cups shredded (or use Mexican cheese)
- 1/2 cup chives, chopped, plus more for garnish
Instructions
Prep: Preheat oven to 400˚F and butter a 9x13 casserole dish.
How to Make Zucchini Casserole:
- Grate zucchini on the large holes (or the grating attachment on a food processor). Transfer grated zucchini to a colander over the sink and stir in 1 tsp salt. Let stand 10 min, stirring a couple of times then squeeze out the excess moisture with your hands. Transfer drained zucchini to a large mixing bowl.
- Mix 2/3 cup sour cream with 1/2 tsp baking powder and let stand while zucchini drains (8-10 min).
- Into the mixing bowl with drained zucchini, stir in 4 eggs and sour cream mixture.
- Add cooked rice and 2 cups cheese. Stir in 1/2 cup chives, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp
- Mrs Dash seasoning.
- Pour mixture into buttered casserole dish and spread 1/3 cup sour cream over the top. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup cheese over the surface and bake uncovered on the center rack at 400˚ for 40 min. Let stand for 10 min before serving.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
This zucchini casserole is the perfect way to use sweet summer zucchini and a great way to re-purpose leftover white rice.
I made this last week as is, and it’s so good. This week I added ham and pepper jack cheese and eat it as a one dish meal. We loved it both ways.
Delish recipe, Natasha! I made as per your ingredients, except I didn’t have Colby, nor Mexican cheese, so I used sharp cheddar instead. Still yummy
Thank you!
Hi Jim! So glad you loved the recipe. Thank you for sharing.
I absolutely love this simple, yummy recipe! My little tweak is to let the zucchini drain at least 30 minutes, and squeeze it like crazy! Instead of chives, I add one diced sweet onion, and 2-3 cloves of minced garlic (sauteed before adding to the mixture). I have also used green onion, minced fine. Last tweak, I made it once and added finely chopped home made bacon bits (2 slices of bacon, chopped fine, sauteed until crispy).
Thank you for sharing, Susanna!
Can you advise how many cups of shredded zucchini this recipe needs?
Thanks!
Hi Judith! I didn’t measure them that way. Based on a quick online search, it looks like 1 medium zucchini is roughly 1 cup shredded. It would be best to weight the zucchini, I used 3lbs.
Add crab to the mix instead of rice! Wow! So rich and so good!
Omg the crab is a game changer!! Wow! That is EVERYTHING! Thanks!
I’ve made this several times & we love it. Of course I could say that for all of your recipes I’ve tried. 😋. Can this be assembled the day before @ baked the following day?
Hi Deb, I haven’t tried baking it later to advise on the outcome. This one is best fresh but does reheat well if that is something you would prefer to do.
Hi Natasha,
Came across your recipe from a link at Yummly. Sounded great so I tried it tonight, absolutely wonderful. Didn’t have enough shredded frozen zucchini from our summer garden so I threw in diced peppers, celery, spinach and onion. Came out perfect, half the pan gone for dinner!!!!
Wonderful to hear that, Jim. Thank you so much for your great comments and review!
Turned out great Nat , added 1/4 cup parm reggiano and tsp crushed Italian seasoning, use quinoa on hand …..the basics were great thank u
Vinnie
That’s wonderful, Vinnie! Thank you for sharing.
I made the full size version, just for me! As others have said, I’d add a tad more seasoning etc next time. My question is, can I freeze it at all, please?
Thanks.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Philomena. I haven’t tried freezing leftovers only because they didn’t last that long :). I would not suggest freezing and then cooking since after salting potatoes and zucchini, they start to get juicy if not baked right away. Maybe someone else has experimented with freezing? Let us know if you have any insights into this!
Thank you very much for your speedy reply! I understand your reasoning for not freezing. I should have halved the ingredients! My final bake is already a little juicy as I’m not sure I squeezed enough water out of the courgettes. So, maybe freezing wouldn’t do that much harm. I’ll wait and see if anyone else has tried it. Even though a little juicy, still tasted great!
This is a nice recipe. It needs more flavor, especially salt and pepper. It might benefit from a pinch of onion powder, garlic powder, and maybe a little cayenne pepper. The texture is nice and it’s a great side dish, especially when you have lots of zucchini in the summer.
Hi Julie, thank you for your good comments and feedback. Feel free to add more seasoning according to your preference. Glad you liked it!
I love this recipe. Cut the zuchinni into quarter moons instead of shredding. I replaced the sour cream with Greek yogurt. Added a few extra spices, basil, garlic & onion powder. Then I mixed up the cheeses to use what I had, Old Cheddar in the filling & a mix of mozzarella & parmesan for the top.
Hi Marilyn, thank you for sharing. Great to hear that you loved the result!