Dehydrating Zucchini (Save Squash for Winter)
Dehydrating zucchini couldn’t be easier! Dried zucchini or dehydrated zucchini is a great way to use up the very last, larger, end of summer squash to enjoy during winter. This is the way my family in Italy dries their zucchini and I hope you will, too!
If you have a garden, or have a friend with one, chances are you’re getting zucchini–and lots of them! Like anything else, one can get sick of something good when it’s just too much.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could eat some of those zucchini in winter? You’ll be longing for those days of summer when you had too many and were up to your eyeballs in Zucchini Bread? Well, who says you can’t?
When I was a little girl and we’d go to Italy in the summer, there would be bamboo stalks with circles of zucchini hanging on them, drying in the hot, Italian sunshine in my mother’s village. Here’s a picture of my nonno (grandfather) preparing the zucchini to dry:
Once dry, they would be put away for wintertime, when they could be re-hydrated and cooked for a delicious zucchini dish. Here’s the best part, it’s super easy!
Just follow these simple directions now, and I’ll be posting a recipe later this year, when fresh zucchini from the garden is just a faded summer memory–sigh!
Save those summer tomatoes for later in the year, too!
Dried Zucchini (How to make dried zucchini)
Extra large zucchini work best for this (see pic above).
Wash and cut the zucchini into 3 or 4 chunks, as shown below. Next, remove all the seeds from the middle, without cutting through the flesh of the vegetable.
Next, cut into thin slices, and slip onto a clean dowel, or bamboo stalk if you have one lying around! :)
Tips:
- Use a large knife and be careful, these zucchini can get very hard.
- If you live somewhere dry, like here in California, you can dry these in the sunshine.
- Do you are somewhere more humid, or rainy? You may have to resort to a convection oven’s “dehydrate” setting, or an actual dehydrator.
- If the zucchini are mostly dry from outside, just finish drying them in an oven. Make sure that is just warm, until completely dry (or they will become moldy.)

And this is the end result–what a difference a day makes.
Finally, pack those babies away in an airtight tin, or ziploc bag (removing as much air as possible). Save them for a chilly winter’s day. Then you can make dried zucchini, pancetta and potatoes!
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Dehydrating Zucchini
Ingredients
- 1 large zucchini or marrows (or as many as you'd like to dry)
Instructions
- Wash and cut the zucchini into 3 or 4 chunks, as shown below, then remove all the seeds from the middle, without cutting through the flesh of the vegetable.
- Next, cut into thin slices, and slip onto a clean dowel, or bamboo stalk if you have one lying around!
- Now pack those babies away in an airtight tin, or ziploc bag (removing as much air as possible) and save them for a chilly winter's day.
Notes
- Use a large knife and be careful, these zucchini can get very hard.
- If you live somewhere dry, like here in California, you can dry these in the sunshine.
- If you are somewhere more humid, or rainy, you may have to resort to a convection oven's "dehydrate" setting, or an actual dehydrator.
- If the zucchini are mostly dry from outside, just finish drying them in an oven that is just warm, until completely dry (or they will become moldy.)
- It's difficult to say how much this will make because it all depends on the size of your zucchini/marrow.
Nutrition
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Hi Christina,
Very interesting. I wish I had seen this post in the summer, since my son had tons of zucchini in his garden.
I have a couple of questions though, what degree for the oven for the zucchini to dehydrate and for how long approximately?
Also once in the zip lock bags, where do I store them? In the cantina or the freezer?
I would love to try this recipe.
Thanks
Oh that’s a shame, Luisa. It’s a perfect way to save zucchini for the winter.
I have an actual “dehydrate” setting on my oven (my last one had it too), but if you don’t have it, you’d have to use a dehydrater or dry them in the sun. I think using a normal oven would cook them as it can’t be set low enough.
Once you put them in zip lock bags, they’re just fine in the pantry or cupboard; as you would keep any dried fruit or sundried tomatoes.
You can try it next summer, Luisa! :)
I don’t cook zucchini as often as l should, it looks like a great way to ensure you’ve got plenty during winter too. I’ll check out some of your zucchini recipes for some inspiration ?
Absolutely, Daniela! :)
What a great idea! I wish we had of grown some courgettes in our garden this year. This looks like a nice lighter alternative to crisps.
I’ve never eaten them dry! I wonder how they taste!?
I’ve never seen or used dried zucchini, but now I’m so intrigued. Thanks for sharing this tip!
It’s wonderful in the winter, Lindsey (see recipe above on how to rehydrate and cook it).
What a fantastic idea!!! I’m not a huge fan of zucchini bread- this sounds like a way better idea for using up zucchini!!
And it hardly takes up any space when it’s dehydrated!
This is absolutely amazing! I love zucchini and always end up with so much through my CSA! What a great idea to preserve it for the winter months!!!
And you’ll see the recipe of how to cook it up at the bottom of this post (actually above the comments) Sarah! I hope you try it!
I used to use the big zucchini (vegetable marrow in the UK) as stuffed veg marrow, scoop out seeds, stuff with a nice sausagemeat stuffing,and serve with a good home-made tomato sauce. Excellent! Only takes about 20-30 mins in a 350′ oven.
Yes, they do that in Italy, too!