Do you peel zucchini before cooking?

There's no need to peel zucchini . In fact, the skin is a big source of zucchini nutrition (the deep green color is a dead giveaway) so you definitely want to leave the skin on. How to cut zucchini: after giving the zucchini squash a good rinse under cold water, slice off the stem and discard it.

What is in casserole?

In the United States, a casserole or hot dish is typically a baked food with three main components: pieces of meat (such as chicken or ground meat) or fish (such as tuna) or other protein (such as beans or tofu), various chopped or canned vegetables (such as green beans or peas), and a starchy binder (such as flour, ...

Why do you soak zucchini before cooking?

The main problem that confronts the cook when preparing zucchini is its wateriness . Zucchini is 95 percent water (among vegetables, only lettuce contains more water) and will become soupy if it is just thrown into a hot pan.

How to cook zucchini so it doesn't get mushy?

Unless you have time to salt and drain the zucchini, wait to salt it until after they're cooked so the salt doesn't draw out the moisture in the oven —this can lead to sogginess. You can add other seasonings, such as dried herbs and spices, before cooking.

What are the 5 parts needed for a casserole?

According to food blog High Heeled Homemaker, your basic casserole requires five ingredients: a protein, starch, vegetable, sauce, and cheese . If you have those five ingredients in your casserole dish, congratulations; you just made a casserole, whether it's a beloved recipe or a concoction of your own creation.

Do you cover casserole when baking?

Generally, casseroles with grains, rice or pasta that will cook during the baking process are usually covered, for at least part of the time . Casseroles made of cooked ingredients are usually baked uncovered. If you like a crisper, browner top, be sure the casserole is uncovered for at least part of the bake time.

Does a casserole have to have cheese?

A casserole is a loose collection of ingredients bound together in a dish and baked until they turrn into a cohesive whole. It is not quite a dip, and not quite a composed dish. Cheese is often involved, but not always .

When making zucchini bread do you peel the zucchini before shredding it?

Don't peel the zucchini – Yes, it's tempting to remove the zucchini's skin, but there is no need to do that. Zucchini melts into the bread, so peeling is just an unnecessary step. Do grate the zucchini – I don't know about you, but when it comes to zucchini in bread, I want it there – but I don't want to see it.

Why is my zucchini so slimy when I peel it?

How to Tell If Zucchini Has Gone Bad. Bad zucchini will feel rubbery or slimy to the touch . It may also have an off-putting smell and dark or fuzzy moldy spots. The interior of bad zucchini may be off-white to brownish with stringy, mushy flesh and large, hard seeds.

Is it okay not to peel zucchini?

You don't need to peel zucchini Unlike tougher, more fibrous vegetables, zucchini has a soft skin that will grow even more tender during the cooking process and is easy to digest. Plus, because the interior of the vegetable is so watery, the skin helps it maintain its shape, especially during longer cooking times.

Zucchini Taco Casserole Recipe (2024)

Taking all of our leftover zucchini squash from the garden and throwing it into our favorite taco casserole! You'll love this healthy twist on a traditional Mexican food favorite. Grab some sour cream and fresh limes as toppings and this Zucchini Taco Casserole will be a hit!

This Zucchini Taco Casserole is a family favorite! Even our picky eaters like it!

Let’s talk about vegetables. Do you ever find yourself at the end of the day and realize you didn’t have one vegetable throughout the day!? Or do you have picky kids who might not like eating vegetables?

In this case I have a very super husband which is basically like one of my kids haha.

I have been trying to incorporate more vegetables into our meals to help everyone get in their daily vegetables. This recipe is PERFECT for sneaking them in and packing them with flavor.

Serve this up with your favorite taco toppings and you’ll have a new taco Tuesday (or any day of the week!) favorite!

Related Recipe: Looking for more easy casserole recipes?! Try our Pizza Pasta Casserole!

This recipe is great because you can add just about any vegetables or taco ingredients that you want. Here’s what we used, and a few suggestions for substituting!

Ground Turkey – you can totally substitute ground beef if that’s the taco meat you prefer. My husband personally hates ground turkey so I’ve made this with both.
Yellow Onion
Cooked Quinoa – cooked brown or white rice can also be substituted. You’ll want to keep the measurement the same, so it will be about two cups of cooked rice.
Chopped zucchini
Red Pepper
Black beans – you can add pinto beans if you prefer those instead!
Salsa – use your favorite salsa! We usually stick with mild, but if you want to add a little spice, go ahead and add a medium or hot salsa.
Taco Seasoning – we usually just buy this in order to save on time, but if you have a good homemade recipe, that works great too. You’ll want about 2 Tablespoons.

Related Recipe: Cornbread Taco Bake Recipe

Related Article: Still can’t get enough zucchini? Try our Chicken Zucchini Casserole!

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We don’t use quinoa in a lot of recipes, and honestly I’m not sure why! After seeing how quick and easy it was to cook up a few cups, I think I will be incorporating it into my recipes more often.

Here are some of the health benefits of quinoa:

High in fiber
Good source of protein
Gluten free
Great source of iron and magnesium
Contains antioxidants

Need to use up some zucchini from your garden? Here are a few of our favorite recipes!

Zucchini Parmesan Bake
Baked Zucchini Bites
Baked Zucchini Fries
Chicken Zucchini Casserole
Baked Parmesan Zucchini Strings

Serves: 6

Zucchini Taco Casserole Recipe

Taking all of our leftover zucchini squash from the garden and throwing it into our favorite taco casserole! You'll love this healthy twist on a traditional Mexican food favorite.

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Ingredients

2 cups cooked quinoa
1 pound ground turkey
½ onion chopped
2 zucchini diced
1 red bell pepper diced
1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 cup salsa
1 ounce taco seasoning
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 avocado diced (optional topping)
2 Tablespoons cilantro chopped (optional topping)
½ cup sour cream (optional topping)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare quinoa according to package directions.
In a large skillet, saute turkey and onion until turkey is cooked through and no longer pink.
In a large bowl, toss together turkey, quinoa, zucchini, pepper, beans, salsa, and taco seasoning until seasoning is completely incorporated.
Dump mixture into a greased 9 x 13 inch pan and top with Mexican blend cheese.
Bake for 25 minutes or until zucchini and peppers have completely cooked through, and cheese begins to bubble on top.
Serve with your favorite taco toppings.
We serve ours with avocado, cilantro, and sour cream.

Notes

Some of the health benefits of quinoa:

High in fiber
Good source of protein
Gluten free
Great source of iron and magnesium
Contains antioxidants

Nutrition

Calories: 587 kcal · Carbohydrates: 67 g · Protein: 39 g · Fat: 20 g · Saturated Fat: 7 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 4 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 7 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 69 mg · Sodium: 883 mg · Potassium: 1349 mg · Fiber: 15 g · Sugar: 6 g · Vitamin A: 1734 IU · Vitamin C: 44 mg · Calcium: 223 mg · Iron: 6 mg

Equipment

Large Skillet
Mixing Bowl
9×13-inch Baking Pan

Recipe Details

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mexican, Tex-Mex

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Join The Discussion

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Teresa Collins says:
See Also
Apple Cider Sous Vide Pork Chops Recipe

This looks like a wonderful recipe! I can't wait to try it. Do you have any nutritional information to go along with this recipe? That would be great.
Alice says:

Look delicious!! Would I be able to replace quinoa with brown rice and still bake it in the same way?
Amber Reder says:

I replaced it with brown rice yesterday and it worked great!
Mickey says:

Are the black beans rinsed and drained?
Cyd says:

We usually rinse and drain our black beans.
Maribeth Clarke says:

I made this the other night. I totally expected a mini family revolt, as we tend to not like "things together" i.e. casserole style. The pre-dinner discussion was no one had eaten it, including the cook, so we were "going to try it, and if we didn't like it, we could express that and no one would have hurt feelings. I wanted an easy and fast cooking experience. We changed several things to make this recipe work for our family. We used ground sirloin instead of turkey, frozen brown rice (pre-microwaved for 3 minutes) instead of quinoa (we only used 1 1/2 cups because that is what came in the package), peeled and deseeded, then diced the zucchini and pre-microwaved it for 2 minutes (to jump start the cooking time), left out the red pepper, drained 1 can pinto beans instead of black ones, used the salsa (added it to the meat and wish I had added the taco seasoning to the meat with it to get it to pre-dissolve better; so, as not to have as strong of a chili powder hit as ours had. We also added two cups of frozen yellow corn pre-microwaved for 5 minutes. Added about 3 tablespoons of butter for richness and we did doubled plus the cheese on top and added a dallop of sour cream to each serving (and some even had ranch dressing as a topper). We mixed the ingredient (minus the sour cream all together and baked it for 30 minutes. The vote was to have warmed leftovers in a warmed flour tortilla and to add this recipe occasionally to the dinner lineup. Pleasantly happy with the outcome. Even my picky spouse voted for it again. Happy and surprised indeed!
Lacy says:

I was hoping for this as well.
Jacob says:

I can't find the nutrition information on the web page, but it's in the source code. Press ctrl + U and scroll down to about line 400.
Natalie says:

Is it 2 cups dry quinoa or cooked? Think I added too much!
Lori says:

I'm wondering if you would be able to add serving size to your recipe. The nutritional values are posted in them but never the serving size. Thank you for sharing your cooking talents with the world. :)
Jen says:

I was wondering this, too! My quinoa turned into four cups cooked. I only added about 2/3 of it to the mix because it seemed like too much. Any insights anyone?
Lisa says:

Hi there. Is the 2C of quinoa cooked? Thank!
Momma Cyd says:

Yes, 2 cups cooked.
Lisa Foley says:

Can I use cauliflower rice instead?
Momma Cyd says:

Are you thinking to use cauliflower rice in place of the quinoa? We haven't tried this recipe with cauliflower rice. I'm sure it would work. You would want it cooked before adding it in.
Heidi Reynolds says:

This was the best thing I have eaten all summer. Used my homemade salsa for extra flavor. Should be on the front page of you website!
Laura Whitlock says:

Could this be made into a frozen meal? If so, how?
Momma Cyd says:

We have not yet tried making this into a freezer meal.

About The Author:

Lauren

Lauren lives in Sacramento, California with her husband, Jon, and her three cute kids. In her spare time she loves listening to podcasts and spending time with her family.

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