Baked Zucchini with Pecorino and Basil- a crispy zucchini side dish that is simply irresistible and pairs well with many things! Video. 

Baked Zucchini with Pecorino and Basil- a crispy flavorful zucchini side dish that is simply irresistible and pairs well with many things!

We are never really happy until we try to brighten the lives of others. ~ Helen Keller

I have yet to meet a person who doesn’t like these crispy, yummy, baked zucchini -kids included! They are deceptively simple, but with a little twist. Swap out the parmesan and try this with grated pecorino cheese- it truly elevates!

You’ll want to serve these little guys with everything. Pecorino packs quite a punch of umami flavor, so you won’t need to add too much- keeping them light and healthy and zucchini forward. 

The flavors complement a wide range of dishes and even the leftovers taste good, reheated in the oven. What can I say? I’m a fan! 

Delicious Baked Zucchini! | 45-sec Video

Baked Zucchini with Pecorino and Basil- a crispy flavorful zucchini side dish that is simply irresistible and pairs well with many things!

How to make Crispy Baked Zucchini

Step one: 

Cut Zucchini into 1/3-inch thick disks. 

toss the zucchini with olive oil, salt, pepper and chili flakes

Step two:

Coat with olive oil, salt, pepper, chili flakes and garlic. 

Place the zucchini on a parchment lined sheet pan

Step three:

Lay then zucchini out in a single layer on a parchment-lined sheet pan and sprinkle each piece with 1/3 teaspoon of pecorino cheese. 

sprinkle the zucchini with parmesan or pecorino cheese

A TIP: You can pulse a block of pecorino in your food processor into fine crumbles, to have on hand. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. 

Step four:

Bake the Zucchini until crispy, golden and tender. About 18 minutes at 425F 

Bake until crispy and golden

Step five:

Serve with fresh torn basil leaves. Enjoy!

Crispy Baked Zucchini with Pecorino and basil- a delicious side dish that highlights summer zucchini!

More zucchini recipes you may like: 

Crispy Baked Zucchini with Pecorino and Basil- a crispy flavorful zucchini side dish that is simply irresistible and pairs well with many things!

Hope you enjoy these Crispy Baked Zucchini! Let us know what you think and what you serve them with- in the comments below. 

Have a delicious holiday weekend.

xoxo

Sylvia 

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Baked Zucchini with Pecorino and Basil- a crispy flavorful zucchini side dish that is simply irresistible and pairs well with many things!

Baked Zucchini with Garlic and Pecorino

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.9 from 16 reviews
  • Author: Sylvia Fountaine | Feasting at Home
  • Prep Time: 10
  • Cook Time: 20
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: side dish
  • Method: baked
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegetarian

Description

Baked Zucchini with Pecorino and Basil- a crispy flavorful zucchini side dish that is simply irresistible and pairs well with many things!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 45 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/3 inch thick disks (about 5 cups)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon granulated garlic powder, or 2 finely minced cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon Aleppo Chili Flakes (or regular chili flakes )
  • 1/4 cup finely grated pecorino cheese (or sub parmesan or asiago)
  • 68 torn basil leaves

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425F
  2. Slice the zucchini into 1/3 inch disks. Place in a bowl and drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with salt, garlic powder, pepper and optional chili flakes.  Place in a single layer on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Lightly sprinkle each slice with 1/3 teaspoon grated pecorino.  
  3. Bake in the oven 18 minutes, check, and if need be, rotate, or tent lightly with foil (if getting too dark) and continue baking 5-10 minutes until fork tender. You want tops nicely golden and crispy with tender middles. 
  4. Place on a plater and scatter with the torn basil leaves.  Enjoy! 

Notes

Pecorino rather than parmesan really elevates this, but parmesan works too! 

TIP: A quick, easy way to grate a block of pecorino cheese, is to break it apart into small chunks and pulse it  in a food processor until it becomes a fine crumb. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Nice to have on hand! 

If you like extra crispy, feel free to swap add a couple of tablespoons of panko to the cheese, spray the tops with olive oil spray

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 122
  • Sugar: 0.1 g
  • Sodium: 500 mg
  • Fat: 10.9 g
  • Saturated Fat: 3.5 g
  • Carbohydrates: 1.8 g
  • Fiber: 0.4 g
  • Protein: 5.1 g
  • Cholesterol: 14.8 mg

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Comments

  1. I have not cooked this recipe yet, but I think it will be a great dish for tomorrow’s Sunday Lunch with Friends

  2. Great recipe. We found the zucchini needed a bit more salt..I added about 1Tbsp. of panko to the cheese mixture and it helped keep the cheese from falling off the zucchini slices.
    It’s a great side dish, easy and delicious & was loved by my guests.
    Thanks for this recipe.
    Debbi






  3. This is a crowd pleaser! I have made this several times and everyone loves it. Easy, simple, delicious.






  4. Slyvia, thank you so much for sharing the story about your Mom. It inspires me to love and care not just others, but especially myself. Most of the time, we become selfless, we forget to care for ourselves – a very typical mom.
    By reading your story, it inspirits me to discover my own happiness/freedom and share it with my family and friends.
    Sincerely,
    Imel

  5. I’m terrible at following recipes and tend to just use them for inspiration. I made this but I when I went into the spice cabinet for garlic and chili, there was a berbere mix (North African sweet, spicy goodness) calling to me instead. I also didn’t have any pecorino on hand so I used a microplane to grate a rosemary asiago over it. It crisped up perfectly in my air fryer and was SO EASY. I had a veggie night and ate it alongside creamed spinach with mushrooms and onions.

    1. I am the same way, Britty. I love that you made this your own! Sounds like a fun dinner. 🙂

  6. I am not a huge zucchini eater but this recipe is the bomb. I made this last week and I wish I had some zucchini on hand as I am craving some right now.






  7. I used parmesan, because I didn’t have pecorino. They turned out great, so tasty, and look good too. Thank you for posting the recipe!






  8. This was absolutely amazing!!! I doubled the garlic content and kept the rest the same. So easy to make and still tasted like an elaborate dish. I used it as a side for veggie meatballs with marinara sauce (inspired by your turkey meatball recipe) and I cannot recommend this enough






  9. This was fantastic. Due to the moisture content in zuchinni and squash I lightly salted my veggies and laid on the cookie sheet to evaporate the moisture. Patted dry and started from your recipe. It was exceptional!!






  10. Very tasty but I definitely wasn’t crispy. I’m wondering if I increase the temperature a bit if it would help? The taste was spot on but I need to work on the texture. I need to pay attention to how thick I cut the zucchini and make sure my oven is at the right temperature.






    1. They really don’t get very crispy all the way through- just crispy on the top where the cheese is. Zucchini has so much water in them…hard to crisp. 🙂

  11. Tasty. The pecorino is a nice complement. I used zucchini and squash and then followed the recipe as written. Easy and delicious.






  12. Hi Sylvia.
    I am a little confused about the zucchini recipe (discs cut with Pecorino cheese). In one place you say, pan should be parchment paper lined, in different Parmesan lined. Also you recommend chili paper in one of directions and chili flakes (although optional) in another. What if I use both?

    1. Oops Mona, sorry, some typos, I will fix. 😉 Parchment-lined. Fine to use both chili pepper or chili flakes. 🙂

  13. Was looking for a snack and voila! Feasting at home delivers! So good! Made as instructed except had dubliner so used it. Excellent!!! Thank you.






  14. Hi Sylvia,
    I absolutely love all your recipes that I have made – many several times.
    But I am wondering if you could put the nutrition facts so they would print out on one double-sided sheet of paper. For instance, your picante tuna salad and zucchini bake places the nutrition facts on the third page. Perhaps the facts could go aside the ingredients list. Just a thought. Thank you so much.

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