http://livelaughlovedo.com/food-and-drink/summer-squash-chicken-skillet-fit-foodie-finds/ http://livelaughlovedo.com/food-and-drink/summer-squash-chicken-skillet-fit-foodie-finds/#respond Sun, 03 Aug 2025 13:57:01 +0000 http://livelaughlovedo.com/2025/08/03/summer-squash-chicken-skillet-fit-foodie-finds/ [ad_1]

This hearty chicken meatball skillet is loaded with sautéed zucchini, tender orzo, and fresh cherry tomatoes. It’s an easy, flavor-packed one-pan dinner.

• Mix all of the ingredients for the chicken meatballs in a large bowl until combined. Scoop about 1.5 tablespoons of the mixture into your hands and form a meatball. Repeat until all of the meatballs have been formed. Set aside.

• Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium/high heat. Add the meatballs to the skillet and partially cook the meatballs by browning two sides. Remove them from the skillet, they will be fully cooked later.

• In the same pan, cook the onion with ¼ teaspoon of salt for 2-3 minutes over medium heat. Add the zucchini and tomatoes and cook for an additional minute.

• Add the orzo and toast for 1-2 minutes, and then add the lemon zest, broth, lemon juice, heavy cream, and remaining salt. Stir and bring the mixture to a boil, and then reduce the heat to low. Add the meatballs to the dish and cover. Simmer for 7-10 minutes or until the orzo is cooked and the liquid is mostly absorbed.*

• Once the orzo is cooked through and the meatballs are fully cooked, remove from the heat. Top with parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

• In step 4, if the liquid is absorbed but the orzo is still crunchy, add ¼ cup more of broth, stir, and allow the mixture to simmer until the orzo is cooked through.
• I used zucchini and cherry tomatoes, but feel free to use your favorite garden vegetables.

Calories: 602 kcal, Carbohydrates: 42 g, Protein: 36 g, Fat: 34 g, Fiber: 3 g, Sugar: 6 g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Photography: photos taken in this post are by Erin from The Wooden Skillet.

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This easy zucchini bread recipe is the best I’ve tried! Packed with zucchini and cinnamon, it’s super moist and flavorful. Plan on having a second slice.

Meet my best zucchini bread recipe! It’s ultra-moist, warmly spiced with cinnamon, and studded with crunchy walnuts. Plus, it’s PACKED with shredded zucchini, so you can use up a good portion of your summer squash haul in one go.

I make this zucchini bread recipe every single summer. I love that all the ingredients are pantry basics, that the batter is a breeze to stir together, and that the recipe yields two loaves. Freeze one for later or share it with a friend…if you can resist devouring it as soon as it comes out of the oven.

How to Make Zucchini Bread

Just like my other quick bread recipes (see my banana bread or pumpkin bread), this zucchini bread is easy to make! You don’t need any special equipment—just a box grater, a couple of mixing bowls, and two loaf pans. The ingredients are simple too.

Zucchini Bread Ingredients

• Zucchini, of course! It makes this quick bread amazingly moist.
• All-purpose flour – Spoon and level it to avoid packing too much into your measuring cup.
• Baking powder, baking soda, and eggs – They help the loaves rise.
• Cinnamon and vanilla extract – For warm, cozy depth of flavor.
• Cane sugar – It sweetens the zucchini bread. Granulated sugar works too. Several readers have also had success using brown sugar!
• Vegetable oil – It adds moisture and richness.
• Walnuts – For crunch.
• And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

How to Prep Zucchini for Bread

To make this recipe, you’ll need 3 cups of shredded zucchini, from about 2 medium squash.

If you’ve never grated zucchini before, it’s super easy—just shred it on the large holes of a box grater. There’s no need to peel the zucchini or remove the seeds. You also shouldn’t press or squeeze any of the excess moisture out of it. You want all that to go into the bread!

Once you grate the zucchini, make the batter. Mix together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. Add the zucchini to the wet mixture and fold to combine.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Careful not to overmix! If you do, the quick bread will be dense.

Fold in the chopped nuts.

Next, pour the batter into two greased loaf pans. It’s ok if the two pans aren’t the same size or material, but keep in mind that the loaves might bake at different rates. I recommend checking them early to avoid over-baking.

Sprinkle more nuts over the tops of the loaves…

And bake at 325°F for 40 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The tops of the loaves should spring back to the touch.

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

Best Zucchini Bread Recipe Tips

• Don’t overmix. When you add the dry ingredients to the wet, stir just until they’re combined. Overmixing the batter will develop the gluten in the flour, which can make the loaves dense. We want them to be light and tender instead!
• Give it time to cool. If you’re anything like me, you’re going to want to slice into the bread as soon as it comes out of the oven (heads up: your kitchen will smell amazing). But it actually tastes better after it cools. The texture becomes moister, and the warm flavor from the vanilla and spices deepens.
• Use a different summer squash. Green zucchini isn’t the only type of squash that will work in this bread! Sub in yellow zucchini, striped zucchini, or yellow squash instead. They’ll all yield a delicious, moist zucchini bread.
• Change up the mix-ins. Not feeling walnuts? Replace them with pecans, or swap in dried cherries, dried cranberries, raisins, or chocolate chips. A walnut/chocolate chip combo is fantastic too!

How to Store Zucchini Bread

Homemade zucchini bread keeps well for up to 4 days after baking. Store it at room temperature in an airtight container or tightly wrapped in aluminum foil or plastic wrap.

Can you freeze zucchini bread?

Yes, this easy zucchini bread freezes well! Wrap up the entire loaf, or store individual slices in freezer bags or airtight containers. Freeze for up to 3 months.

I like to freeze individual slices so that I can thaw one at a time for breakfast or a snack. Let them sit at room temperature for an hour to thaw, or zap them in the microwave to quickly reheat.

More Favorite Zucchini Recipes

If you love this recipe, try one of these easy zucchini treats next:

Best Zucchini Bread

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 40 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr

Serves 16

Our best zucchini bread recipe! This easy quick bread is super moist, warmly spiced, and studded with crunchy walnuts. It’s the perfect breakfast or snack.

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

• Preheat the oven to 325°F and grease two 8×4 or 9×5-inch loaf pans.

• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

• In another large bowl, whisk together the sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla. Add the grated zucchini and fold to combine.

• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in the walnuts.

• Divide the batter between the prepared pans and sprinkle with walnuts. Bake for 40 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the tops of the loaves spring back to the touch.

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I came across the concept of zucchini butter when someone at the community garden pointed me to a version on the Food in Jars site. At first I thought it was going to be a lot of shredded zucchini and herbs worked into actual butter, but no, that wasn’t it. It was cooking zucchini low and slow into a melty fragrant mess of summertime yum. I realized pretty quickly, zucchini butter is not a new thing, but naming it zucchini butter might be. Historically, cooking zucchini in olive oil or butter, making it into various spreads and condiments is a thing, particularly in a number of regional Italian and French cuisines – as well as others, I’m sure. It wasn’t called zucchini butter, it was just how you cook down an abundance of a seasonal ingredient. Julia Child popularized a grated zucchini and shallot recipe, widely cited online as one of the origins of zucchini butter, another version of the technique was highlighted on Food52 as a Genius Recipe. But my sense is that this technique is rooted in grandma and great-grandma cooking, and whatever you end up calling it, it’s a fantastic technique to use up a couple pounds of zucchini. Here’s how I do it.

Favorite Ways to Use Zucchini Butter

I like to cook a pan of zucchini butter and divide it in half. Half goes in the refrigerator, half goes in the freezer.  Here’s how I use the first half:

• Pizza topping: use it on pizzas in place of another sauce.
• Bruschetta: a big smear of zucchini butter a bit of goat cheese and a drizzle of chili crisp is great.
• Work a big scoop into your favorite frittata or omelette.
• A big smear on a toasted English muffin and an egg is the way to start building a breakfast sandwich.
• Add a good amount of grated Parmesan cheese and toss it with pasta for a quick meal.
• Mezze spread: stir some chopped black olives into the zucchini butter and use it in a mezzo situation as a spread for crackers or flatbreads.
• Work half a batch into a pot of risotto.
• As a layer on heirloom tomato sandwiches along with some ripe avocado and fresh basil.

Zucchini Butter: Variations

The zucchini butter you see pictured here is straight-forward with just a little bit of chopped serrano chile pepper added for some kick. But I like to take the concept into a range of directions, and here are a few that have been, arguably, the most successful.

• Herbed Zucchini Butter: Stir fresh herbs in during the last ten minutes of cooking. A couple teaspoons of thyme is one place to start. Or, 1/2 teaspoon of finely chopped rosemary. Or, a handful of well-chopped cilantro (wait to stir this in after you’re finished cooking). Same deal with chopped basil, add after cooking, or even after the zucchini has cooled. And lots of chives are rarely a bad call.
• Citrus Zucchini Butter: Add the zest of a lemon or orange during the last ten minutes of cooking. Finish with a generous drizzle of lemon or other citrus olive oil.
• Spicy Zucchini Butter: As mentioned, above. I like to add some minced serrano pepper. If you want to keep it relatively mild, start with 1/4 or 1/2 of a pepper, and dial it up from there, to your liking.
• Sunshine Zucchini Butter: Use yellow summer squash in place of green zucchini. Stir in a scant 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder about half way through the cooking process along with a good amount of freshly ground black pepper. I also like to finish this one with a kiss of lemon olive oil.

Short-cut

There is a shortcut here. You can use grated zucchini to make zucchini butter. And, if you have a grating attachment for your food processor it makes quick work of taking down this much zucchini. It also cooks more quickly into a spreadable texture. I like the more rustic texture you get by cutting the zucchini into tiny cubes, but this a personal preference, and if you want the grated zucchini approach, by all means!

Here’s a look (above and below) of the ingredients that go into zucchini butter. You can see how I chop the zucchini and the onions as well. I do a blend of olive oil and butter for the cooking fat.

Cooking Stages

I thought it might be helpful to share photos of the zucchini butter as it cooks down over the hour or so it takes to get to an ideal consistency. 
After 15 minutes (below): you can see that the zucchini is just starting to soften up a bit here.

After 40 minutes (below): You can see that the change is pretty dramatic at this stage but there is still quite a lot of structure in some of the pieces and related to the skin. Keep going! You’ll probably need to be addling splashes of water at this point to keep things creamy, and to keep the zucchini from browning.

After one hour (below): This is the stage things really start to collapse, you’re getting close to the texture you’re after. I went another 10 minutes beyond this to get to the stage you see in the lead photos.

More Zucchini Recipes

• Zucchini Bread
• Pasta with Smashed Zucchini Cream
• Simple Sautéed Zucchini
• Grilled Zucchini & Bread Salad
• Zucchini Gratin
• all zucchini recipes

Continue reading Zucchini Butter on 101 Cookbooks

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