This Easy Cheesy Scalloped Zucchini is a delicious side dish loaded with zucchini and summer squash, all robed in a creamy cheesy sauce that will have you licking your plate clean! If you love zucchini (and happen to have 100 in your garden!) this recipe is what you need!
Zucchini
Zucchini is the vegetable of the summer and this Cheesy Scalloped Zucchini is the best way to enjoy it! Thankfully we live in a day where despite zucchini not always being in season, you can always get it at the store because I definitely want to have this side dish on my menu every week. How can one not?! Guys, I want to bathe in that cheese sauce it’s so good. I’ve brainstormed a whole list of other foods I can eat it on because it’s just all I can think about at the moment.
How to Make Cheesy Scalloped Zucchini
The first step is to chop up all the veggies to about 1/4 inch thick. You can use all zucchini or a combo of zucchini and summer squash. I like that it adds another color and they’re usually the same price at the store so why not have some variety? You need a little onion just to add to the flavor of the dish and I usually have half an onion floating around in my vegetable crisper so just use up what you have. While baking is a science, cooking has a lot more leeway to make things work for you.
You’ll then cook the onion in a little butter so that they soften and then you can add in the zucchini and squash and cook them until they just start to become tender. Remove them from the pan so you can make the cheese sauce. If your pan isn’t ovenproof, you can just put them in a greased 9×9 inch pan.
After making the cheese sauce you can either pour the sauce over the veggies in the 9×9 inch pan or if you use an oven safe pan, you can mix the veggies into the sauce. Then you only have to wash one pan! Yay!
Of course, the best way to finish a casserole is by sprinkling on more cheese and baking it until bubbly and golden brown.
How to Make White Cheese Sauce
White sauce can easily curdle so it’s important to have all your ingredients ready to go so you can stay at the stove stirring. So, you’ll first want to shred the cheese. I’m actually not even sure you can buy shredded Monterey Jack cheese, but for making sauces it’s always best to use freshly shredded cheese as it melts easier and creates a smoother creamier texture.
I also highly recommend using freshly grated Parmesan cheese. My favorite variety is Parmigiano-Reggiano. You can find it near all the specialty cheeses at your local grocery store. It’s usually cut into randomly shaped wedges, wrapped in plastic wrap, and labeled by the store. It lasts for a couple months in the fridge and the rinds are great for tossing into soups for flavor like in my Minestrone Soup.
The cheese sauce begins by melting butter and mixing in equal amounts of flour. This is called a roux and it is what helps thicken the sauce. After cooking the butter and flour for about 30 seconds, you then add in the milk/cream a little at a time while quickly stirring it into the roux. If you add the liquid all at once it’s difficult to get all the lumps from the roux out so just remember to add a little at a time. You’ll then bring the sauce to a boil, reduce to a simmer and let it cook for 2 minutes. Keep stirring the whole time. You don’t need to go crazy. Just stir enough to scrape the bottom of the pan to prevent curdling. The last step is to add your seasonings and the cheese. The cheese needs to be added just a little at a time over low heat and you must stir constantly. Once you’ve added all the cheese, turn off the heat and continue to stir until it is smooth and the cheese is all melted.
What Should I Serve With Scalloped Zucchini?
This is a great side dish to all your grilled and baked meats as well as fish. Everyone is sure to eat a second serving of veggies with this zucchini dish!
Cheesy Scalloped Zucchini
Ingredients
- ½ sweet onion, sliced
- 4 medium zucchini, or summer squash
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons butter, divided
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (242 g) half-and-half
- 1 cup (113 g) Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
- ½ cup (50 g) parmesan cheese, grated, divided
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- freshly cracked pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F.
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in an oven proof skillet. Add onions and cook for 2 minutes until translucent.
- Add zucchini and garlic. Cook for about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until almost tender. Season with salt and pepper and remove from pan onto a plate (or a 9×9-inch casserole dish if your pan isn't oven safe).
- Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in pan over medium heat and mix in the flour. Cook for 30 seconds and then add in the cream a little at a time while stirring. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes while stirring or until it begins to thicken.
- Add Monterey cheese and ¼ cup Parmesan a little at a time, continually stirring until melted and smooth. Turn off heat and mix in salt.
- Add the veggies back, mixing until evenly coated (or pour sauce over veggies in the 9×9 pan). Sprinkle top with remaining Parmesan cheese and sprinkle with black pepper. Bake for 15 minutes or until it starts to brown on top.
- Let cool 10 minutes and then serve.
Video
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This is awesome stuff! We are Keto and substitute this for potatoes. I don’t care about the calorie count as the taste takes care of any reason to care. I use ever how many zucchini and yellow squash that I want, and the cream sauce is to die for. I don’t add flour so I just use the cream cheese and other cheeses. It’s perfect!!!!!
This is a wonderful recipe, will make it soon and this sure has brocoli, asparagus , cawliflower too. I am in the over the hill gang and thought I’d share a white sauce FYI. After melting butter add flour and stir contiulously for about 45 seconds to a minute. This takes the flour taste out and gives the flour some taste such as a roux. Now take your pan off the heat add your milk all at once, stir the mixture well and back to heat low and Keep stirring , as the milk gets hotter you can turn up heat, stir until thckend add cheese. It’s the off the heat source that makes this work. To me it is easier but either way is a win enjoyed the chat and thanks for this lovely dish!! This method works for pan gravy dishes also.
Can this be frozen? I want to make a head of time for Christmas dinner thank!
This was so awesome! I got rave reviews from people who don’t normally eat veges. I saw the previous comments about it being watery so I salted my zucchini and let them sit on paper towels until I felt they had released all of their water. I added panko to the parm topping and broiled it for a min after baking it. I forgot to get cream so I whisked 1/2 cup whole milk and 1/2 cup sour cream and it worked great! Will absolutely make this again!!!
I can’t find the nutritional chart for this recipe
I was not able yo find the nutrition value for the scalloped zucchini. Do you have?
Will this recipe end up too watery due to the water content of the zucchini?
This is so easy and so good. Turns out to be 244 calories per serving. I added some shrimp and voila! Dinner
Can I use heavy whipping cream instead of half/half?
Yes. 🙂
I will definitely try this looks delicious. Also half and half is widely available at grocery stores in The USA Midwest area for the person questioning half and half. Thank you for posting the recipe!