Zucchini is a healthy, tasty and versatile vegetable. Various dishes are prepared from them, but less vitamins remain in fried and boiled vegetables, and they are not stored fresh for long. An excellent option is salted zucchini: they retain a maximum of useful substances, they make the diet more diverse, they can be prepared for the winter. Consider some interesting recipes.
How to choose and prepare zucchini for pickling
When buying zucchini on the market, it is important to pay attention to their freshness and age. It is best to take young and small vegetables: they have a thin skin, dense pulp and no seeds – in lightly salted form, such specimens will turn out to be very tender.
If the vegetables are fresh, only harvested from the garden, but of different ages, then they need to be salted in separate containers. Mature specimens must be cleaned of hard peel and seeds so that they do not taste bitter in salting. The salting time of old zucchini is different, so it is better not to mix them together with young ones.
Important! If seeds remain in the vegetables, they will be bitter in the finished dish.
Lightly salted zucchini: instant recipes
- There are many popular recipes for salted zucchini. Housewives love to cook them, as they have their own advantages:
- crunchy, like cucumbers, and not very salty;
- they are prepared quickly, within a few hours, unlike other pickles, which take days and months to prepare;
- vitamins are stored in the same composition as in fresh vegetables;
- versatile in use – they are suitable both as an independent snack and as an ingredient in other dishes.
In the package
The fastest cooking methods include pickling vegetables in a bag. So you can pickle zucchini and cucumbers, but the former acquire a more interesting taste. Cooking time is only 2 hours.
Steps
8 ingredients
Video recipe
young zucchini2 piece.
Bell pepper1 piece.
fresh dill1 small bunch
garlic2-3 teeth
Bay leaf2 piece.
salt1 tbsp. l. with a slide
spices at willpaprika and suneli hops – 1 tsp each.
Wash the fruits, cut off the legs and spouts, cut into thin rings or half rings (about 0,5 cm thick). Put in a bag.
Pour in salt and sugar. Close the bag and shake well to mix the vegetables with the spices.
Cut the bell pepper into half rings. Send in a package.
Immediately add the rest of the seasonings. Close the bag and shake to mix.
Add chopped herbs and garlic, cut into thin slices, to the package as well.
After 2 hours, the appetizer will be ready. Serve on the table, simply laying out pieces of vegetables. And if you sprinkle with vinegar and pour sunflower oil, you get a very tasty salad with spiciness.
Video: recipe for salted zucchini in a bag
Classic Vinegar Recipe
The most popular are the classic salting recipes. Such a recipe for a quick salted snack with vinegar should be in the arsenal of every housewife.
Important! It is better not to take stale vegetables for pickling, as their vitamin value is reduced. Of these, it is better to cook another dish, for example, caviar, or simply fry.
Steps
7 ingredients
young zucchini1 kg
garlic2 teeth
salt6 1 tbsp. l.
black pepper5-7 peas
sunflower oil3 century. l.
- Cut the washed vegetables into slices 0,5–1 cm thick.
- Cut the garlic into thin slices, chop the greens too.
- Arbitrarily fill the prepared jar with vegetables and herbs.
- The brine is prepared like this – you need to boil water (0,5 l), pour in oil and vinegar, add salt, sugar, pepper and bay leaves. Mix thoroughly.
- Fill jar with hot brine.
- Place in refrigerator or cellar.
- After a day, the snack is ready.
When stored under a plastic lid, the snack should be eaten in the near future (up to 3 days). And if the jar is sterilized before filling, and then rolled up with an iron lid, then this delicious dish can be enjoyed in winter.
In brine for the winter in a jar
Another classic recipe for salting zucchini, designed for winter harvesting. The appetizer is prepared very quickly and simply, and the vegetables will turn out very crispy.
Steps
7 ingredients
young vegetables2 kg
Apple vinegar200 ml
black pepper6 peas
- For the brine, you need to boil water mixed with salt, sugar and vinegar. Add the rest of the spices, except for the dill.
- Cut the washed fruits into slices.
- Sterilize jars for 10 minutes.
- Immediately fill them with vegetables, shifting with sprigs of greens.
- Top with hot brine and roll up.
With horseradish
Crispy zucchini will take on a spicier flavor when salted with more flavorful spices, including horseradish. The appetizer is also prepared quickly, but it turns out more spicy. Salting dishes – a pan with a wide bottom.
The first way to cook salted zucchini with horseradish:
Steps
7 ingredients
cherry leaves150 g
horseradish leaves300 g
horseradish root100 g
- Wash all products well, peel the garlic.
- Cut vegetables into long slices or circles.
- Cover the bottom of the dish with half of the herbs and spices, except for the garlic.
- Divide the chopped vegetables into two parts and put one on the greens.
- Squeeze half of the garlic cloves over the zucchini with a garlic press.
- Cover with horseradish.
- Carefully place the second part of the vegetables.
- Squeeze the garlic on top and lay out the remaining ingredients.
- Cover all contents with horseradish.
- Prepare the brine – dissolve salt and sugar in water (1,5 l) and boil.
- Immediately pour the brine into the pan so that the contents are completely covered. To cover with a lid.
- When cool, put in the refrigerator.
- A day later, the zucchini is ready.
This pickle must be eaten within 3-4 days, otherwise it will go bad.
Did you know? If you eat fresh zucchini every day, you can stop the appearance of gray hair in your hair.
If a large crop is harvested and after quick salting there is still a lot left, the following recipe for slow salting will do.
The second way to cook salted zucchini with horseradish:
Steps
7 ingredients
cherry leaves150 g
horseradish leaves300 g
horseradish root100 g
- Wash products thoroughly.
- Cut the zucchini into slices, and the horseradish root into small pieces.
- Spread vegetables in layers, shifting greens.
- Boil water with salt, cool and pour the contents of the pan with it.
- A container with this pickle should stand in a cold place (cellar or basement) for 20-25 days.
- During this period, salt water will need to be added (1 g of salt per 20 liter of water) to cover the contents.
Useful Tips
When preparing salted zucchini, you need to consider a few important points:
- For salting, you should take only fresh fruits. Stale ones will not turn out crispy.
- Ripe vegetables can also be salted, but the salting time will be longer than indicated in the recipes.
- For greater spiciness, 0,5–1 pod of red pepper can be added to each of the recipes, after peeling it from seeds and cutting into pieces.
- Snack jars covered with nylon lids should be kept in the refrigerator for only a few days (about 3-4 days). For long-term storage, the dishes must be sterilized and twisted with iron lids.
- In whatever container the vegetables are salted, it should be in a cool place – in the refrigerator, basement or cellar, otherwise they will quickly turn sour.
- Lightly salted zucchini is a delicious appetizer that goes well with any meat dish and side dish. They can also be used in salads, soups, etc.
Lightly salted zucchini is a great snack for the whole family. It is prepared very quickly and at the same time very useful.
