My father found a recipe for zucchini sautéed in butter and olive oil with onion, parsley, and thyme in one of his decade-old Food and Wine magazines. He made it a few days ago and it was perfect – tender, but still firm, gently infused with the flavor of thyme. The original recipe calls for the zucchini to be cooked for 20 to 30 minutes, which was simply too long for the zucchinis I used tonight. They were done at 10 minutes. My mother tells me that depending on the source and the time in the season, zucchinis can widely vary in toughness. So my advice is to watch it closely and when it is close to being done, take it off the heat.
Zucchini with Thyme Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 pound fresh zucchini, cut into 3-by-1/2-inch sticks
- 1 beef bouillon cube, crumbled (use vegetarian bouillon for vegetarian option)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
Method
1 In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and butter on medium heat. Add the onion and parsley and cook until soft, but not browned.
2 Add the zucchini sticks, crumbled bouillon cube, thyme and a pinch of salt and pepper. Gently stir to coat the zucchini. Cover and cook until tender, from 10 to 20 minutes, depending on how tender the the raw zucchini is to begin with, and how small you have sliced the pieces. Check and stir every few minutes. Be careful not to overcook.
Yield: Serves 4.
This looks awesome! I LOVE zuchinni. Question: Is the thyme fresh or dried? my assumption is fresh . . .
Hi Michelle,
I used half fresh and half dried for this. You can use either, though if you use fresh, you may want to increase the amount a little.
I love simply cooked veggies. I wonder if F&W would omit the bouillion cube if they were publishing the recipe today. I wonder if the salt, pepper and herb wouldn’t be enough?
Just wanted to let you know that I made this tonight and it turned out really delicious …my family enjoyed it …thanks for sharing all your wonderful recipes. Your photos are so beautifully enticing, that you can almost taste your dishes.
I made this last night (sans bouillon and w/ sliced red onion) as a side to the Spanish Chicken recipe posted recently. Both were so delicious. This is my new go-to source for recipes! Thanks, Elise!
Delicious and simple- great recipe!
I purchase zucchini from a local farmer, in bulk, I love trying all these wonderful recipes.
Do you have any idea how I can grate the zucchini and freeze it to use it in recipes like these later in the year,
The recipe is delicious, thank you! I’ve made it mixing yellow squash in also and that works as well.
Michelle, I’ve been using dried thyme & parsley as I don’t have any fresh available.
This is a fabulous way to cook zucchini. Even my husband, who is not a fan of cooked zucchini, asked for seconds. My only suggestion is to watch the amount of salt added, as the bouillon may be salty enough –thank you so much for sharing your recipes!
FANTASTIC! we had this last night with smoked chicken and no-knead bread, then today i made a sandwich with the leftovers. delicious.
Very easy, and perfectly tasty zucchini recipe!
This has quickly become one of our old faithful side dishes that has recently been moved to the very limited “Favorites” section of my homemade printout cookbook. You are amazing! Trying to cook 3 things at one time often proves challenging but this recipe never fails to get rave reviews. Thanks!
Yum, this sounds so good! I’ve been searching for delicious zucchini recipes (that are simple and don’t completely overpower the zucchini) which are suprisingly not as abundant as I would expect given that they are so easy to grow and many gardeners I know always have an over-abundance (including myself). I plan to make this for dinner guests this evening and will let you know how it turns out!
P.S. Love your website–discovered it through Summer Harms’ blog. I always come here when I’m looking for a recipe for a specific food (i.e. loads of zucchini). Thanks!