Lemony Zucchini Slaw

Lemony Zucchini Slaw
Karsten Moran for The New York Times
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
4(338)
Notes
Read community notes

This salad of julienned zucchini is dressed in yogurt and tossed with a generous amount of lemon juice and zest. Use as many bright herbs as possible, or a single herb if you prefer, and chop them at the last minute.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings
  • pounds small zucchini or summer squash, preferably a mix of colors
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1tablespoon grated lemon zest
  • 3tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1cup plain whole-milk yogurt
  • 1tablespoon thinly sliced chives
  • 2tablespoons roughly chopped chervil
  • 2tablespoons roughly chopped mint
  • 2tablespoons roughly chopped sorrel
  • 4ounces feta cheese, crumbled, for garnish
  • 3tablespoons pine nuts, lightly toasted, for garnish
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

127 calories; 9 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 8 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 445 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Top and tail the zucchini. Julienne with a large knife, mandoline, food processor or spiralizer.

  2. Step 2

    Transfer zucchini to a large bowl. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add lemon zest and juice and toss well. Set aside for 10 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Add yogurt and toss to coat well. Taste and adjust seasoning. Add chopped herbs and mix gently. Garnish with feta and pine nuts to serve.

Ratings

4 out of 5
338 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Christa, the idea is to help people. If all that you want to do is chastise, please buy a goldfish.

The zucchini, while raw, benefits from the soaking in S & P, lemon juice and zest for 10 minutes (step 1). The acidity essentially "cooks" the zucchini (think of ceviche or sashimi). The result is totally different from plain raw zucchini. The yogurt, herbs and feta complete the transformation. I am confident you would find it delicious, Carol.
Actually cooking the zucchini would not work here. It would produce a sloppy, mushy mess.

I'm unclear if this is raw or cooked zucchini. If raw (which I don't like), would cooked work as well?

The caveat in the ingredient description to use SMALL zucchini is critical to the success of this recipe. As summer squashes grow larger than popsicle-sized they develop a spongy core which will not work. Especially true with yellow crooknecks.
If you use a large zucchini you should only use the outer parts and discard the cores; or save them for veg stock.
It is very easy to do with a mandolin; cut your zuke into 4" lengths, make a couple of cuts, rotate a quarter turn, cut and repeat.

You will want to add the salt and pepper but hold off on the lemon because the salt will force water out of the zucchini. Squeeze out excess then add lemon or you will have a watery mess.

The zucchini released a lot of water, as might be expected. Next time I will salt and drain excess moisture before adding the lemon zest/juice and proceeding with the recipe. Otherwise it was delicious, light, and very easy.

This makes a lovely salad course, though I'm not sure I'd call it "slaw." The raw zucchini was a little too toothsome for me so I allowed the mixture to sit quite a bit longer, about an hour. The salt and lemon produces a softer texture that should appeal to those who do not love raw zucchini. Those who prefer al dente, the 10 minute rest time hits the spot. Either way, it's a luscious summer course or dd a meat (I grilled chicken) and it's a delicious meal.

a small amount of spiralized beet and cucumber adds to this healthy and delicious slaw

What an unbelievably fussy response: why don't you try it and see?

It's raw

A real crowd pleaser. The secret is to get all the water out of the squash before proceeding. It’s a little messy to wring out the water but the results are worth it. This is an easy go- to salad in the summer with fresh zucchini.

I had this problem. I'll try it again using your suggestion.

Used 2.5% goatmilk yogurt & 5% Feta goat cheese so this recipe is not only delicious but also great for the diet. Added fresh mint & chives with lemon zest from the garden - tangy, crispy and juicy. Added chopped walnuts - crunchy garnish. Looks amazing and really simple to prepare

Any feedback if this recipe keeps? I'd like to use it in meal prep boxes, but it needs to last 4-5 days

This was good, and I used the ingredients as listed. For me, too much yogurt, maybe more lemon.

This was quite good, but I thought the yogurt was a little too much. But tasty with lots of sorrel, herbs, pine nuts, feta.

I found a touch more time with lemon jice/S&P did a good job priming the zucchini, then the addition of yogurt finished the job in short order...but 10 mins would not have been enought based on the thickness of the julienne. That is important point...if you use a mandoline on fine julienne...things will progress faster, but we preferred the ticker julience option on our mandoline a a few more minutes or time 'cooking' in acide and slate/pepper. Overall, this a nice way to savor zuchinni!

Definitely salt the zuchini ahead of time and squeeze out the water.

I drained the extracted zucchini water and extra lemon juice before adding yogurt - the dish still had a nice lemon flavor. Used mint and chives. Toasted sunflower seeds instead of pine nuts and was happy with the result.

Made 9/18/21 as a side for shrimp burgers, which proved an excellent combo. Used store-bought spiralized zucchini, and Face Greek yogurt. So sorrel or chervil available; used fresh basil with the chives and mint instead. I agree that you really can use whatever herbs are to hand. Much liked by a table of people who do not like cooked zucchini!

Used fresh chives, thyme and oregano as herbs, worked great!

Soupy, may want to drain excess liquid if you want it to look presentational. It was otherwise tasty, the pine nuts were a very nice touch and more flavorful than expected.

I wish I had read the notes before preparing this as it was quite wet. The zucchini definitely needs to be removed from the liquid before adding the yogurt etc. It was delicious, however, and I gave it 5 stars as a summer salad. I'm not sure that I would add the juice of the lemon until late in the process, and I would use half the yogurt for this amount of zucchini. I added pistachios for a garnish (delicious), and used goat cheese as that is what we had. A keeper!

Easy and delicious. I’m not a big fan of raw zucchini, but the texture really worked here. I forgot to add the feta and pine nuts at the end, and it was still great. I used mint, chives, and lovage as my herbs.

Fabulous. The toasted pine nuts are an absolute necessity. They round out the flavors perfectly.

I forgot to add the yogurt, substituted parsley for the mint, and it was still delicious. Spiralized the zucchini and did let it sit with salt, pepper and lemon. Didn’t have to wring it out, maybe because the spiral pieces were a good thickness and more disc shaped

Didn’t have whole milk yogurt. Subbed 2/3 c Greek yogurt and 1/3 c low fat milk—worked well! Very refreshing, and more filling than you’d think.

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