• Home
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • VIDEO SERIES: Learn to Cook on a Budget
    • How-To & Cooking Tutorials
    • Popular Recipes
  • Meal Plans
    • Weekly Meal Plans
    • Freezer Meal Plans
    • The ORIGINAL 20 Meals for $150 Plans
  • Classes
    • Grocery Savings 101 Workshop
    • Freezer Cooking 101 Workshop
    • Meal Planning 101 Workshop
    • Instant Pot Cooking 101 Course
    • My Efficient Kitchen Course
  • Store
    • COOKBOOK: Feeding Teenage Boys on a Budget
    • COOKBOOK: Learn to Cook on a Budget
    • COOKBOOKS & PREP KITS: MyFreezEasy Freezer Meals
    • Whis-Kid Cooking Lessons
    • Erin’s Favorite Gadgets
  • Blog
  • Contact
    • About
    • Press
  • Login

$5 Dinners | Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals

Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals and Cooking Tutorials for the Busy Home Chef

Save on Groceries in 2025

How to “Process” a Large Zucchini

June 23, 2010 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 18 Comments

51 shares
  • Share20
  • Tweet

Sign up to receive FREE weekly emails with recipes, coupons and other money saving tips right into your inbox. Become a friend on Facebook too AND/OR join the $5 Meal Plan Family and get meal plans delivered to you each week!

Use these 3 ways to process and prepare zucchini for the freezer so your fresh vegetables don’t go to waste!

how to process and prepare zucchini for freezer on $5 dinners

So after we dropped my mom off at the airport this past weekend, we made a spontaneous stop at the 2nd Street Market in Downtown Dayton.  I don’t make it up there on a regular basis, but I thought since we were nearby we’d stop in.  I asked Steve how much cash he had on him…and he handed over 18 bucks.

I set out to see how much I could get for my $18.

I couldn’t have been happier with my first find.  See that zucchini up there…it was ginormous. And it was mine…for just $1!!!!! Deal of the day!

So far so good…we pressed on and found some other deals. Poblanos for $.50, Brussel Sprouts for about $1, the eggplant for $1, popcorn for $2.50. Garbanzo beans and black beans for $6-ish.

how to process and prepare zucchini for freezer on $5 dinners

Then the bread. I’m embarrassed to say how much I paid for that bread loaf.

I’ll let you do the math.

how to process and prepare zucchini for freezer on $5 dinners

That zucchini needed to be “processed” and put into the freezer.

3 Ways to Process and Prepare Zucchini for the Freezer

Cut the zucchini roughly into thirds. 

  • Shred one third
  • Diced one third
  • Cut one third into golf ball size-ish pieces

(I use the golf ball size-ish pieces to mix into smoothies…Shh.  They still don’t know I sneak it in there.)

how to process and prepare zucchini for freezer on $5 dinners

The end result. About 4 cups diced zucchini to use for soups or in recipes, 7 bags of shredded zucchini to use in this recipe.  (And chances are, I’ll make these muffins 7 times.  They. are. that. good.)

If you encounter a ginormous zucchini and you’re not sure what to do with it, Amy has quite the list of zucchini recipes that you don’t want to miss out on!

See more $5 Dinners Cooking Tutorials here

51 shares
  • Share20
  • Tweet

Filed Under: Budget Friendly Recipes, How To Cook Tagged With: Cooking Tutorial Cutting, zucchini

Comments

  1. Susie's Homemade says

    June 23, 2010 at 9:56 am

    Squashes go a long way!!

    Reply
  2. Amy says

    June 23, 2010 at 10:18 am

    How did you know the zucchini would be good?
    I’ve have similarly sized squash be woody & inedible…
    Thanks for the link to the zucchini recipes. (I have 2 favorite zucchini bread recipes & am now so in the mood to eat some!)

    Reply
  3. FoodontheTable says

    June 23, 2010 at 10:19 am

    I can’t believe you got that huge zucchini for $1! That is such a great deal. I’ve never thought about putting zucchini balls in smoothies. Very clever.

    Reply
  4. Shannon says

    June 23, 2010 at 10:21 am

    My mother in law swears you can’t eat the seeds when you shred zucchini. I always thought you could. However, she generally is all things kitchen and knows her stuff so I have doubts now. But I am looking at 6 almost done zukes and have got to know at this point. What is your take? Seeds in or no seeds?

    Reply
    • Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says

      June 23, 2010 at 8:53 pm

      @Shannon,

      I grated this zucchini by hand and took out more of the seeds…mostly because I was going to bake with the shredded zucchini and knew I would hear it from one of the boys if they found seeds in their muffins!

      Cooking with the zucchini…or shredding it into a pasta dish or something…it could go either way!

      Reply
  5. The Working Home Keeper says

    June 23, 2010 at 10:44 am

    Just had zucchini cakes last night using zucchini from our garden!

    Mary Ellen

    Reply
  6. Lois says

    June 23, 2010 at 10:50 am

    Perfect timing! We just got an enormous zucchini from a CSA box and needed ideas for using it.

    Reply
  7. Tina says

    June 23, 2010 at 2:37 pm

    Really? $6 for bread?!?!?!?! I hope it was good! =)

    I don’t think this recipe is frugal nor extremely healthy for that matter, but it does get in zucchini, carrots and raisins…and wheat germ! =) And the muffins are good, too!
    http://allrecipes.com/PersonalRecipe/62387410/Carrot-Zucchini-Muffins/Detail.aspx

    Reply
    • Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says

      June 23, 2010 at 8:51 pm

      @Tina,

      I know. I’m embarrassed.

      In truth…it was for Steve…and it was Father’s Day weekend…so I turned a blind eye! 🙂

      Reply
  8. Aaryn says

    June 25, 2010 at 6:42 am

    Fresh baked bread at our farmers market is $5 a loaf. It’s absolutely amazing and my husband loves it, so I always buy it for him, even though it’s crazy expensive! I can cut back other places, it’s worth the price because my husband loves it (and we can afford it), and we’re supporting a local baker! Don’t feel bad!

    Reply
  9. The Prudent Homemaker says

    June 26, 2010 at 10:57 am

    We let our zuchinnis grow that big on purpose. I have trouble getting very many zuchhinis to grow here in the desert. I hear that everyone else has the opposite problem. Right now I have 4 plants but only 1 zuchhini, and I’m letting it get big on purpose.

    When it’s that big–or bigger–I’ll cut it all up for fried zucchini. We coat it in flour and milk, and fry it in batches. Serve it with homeamde ranch dressing, and that will be our dinner (for less than $1 for the dressing, oil, flour, and salt and pepper–for 7 of us!).

    Amy–I’ve never had problems with it getting woody, even in our 116º weather. If it does get really big, with hard seeds, you can treat the seeds like pumpkin seeds–and roast them!

    Reply
    • Tina says

      August 20, 2011 at 7:00 am

      I live in a desert like area. I use a box garden. They have some organic soil at Walmart that I use. Once the first plant peaks through I put mulch or bark around it. That helps keep the plant moist in the hot sun. With one seed I have had a harvest like you would not believe. Happy gardening.

      Reply
  10. Pat says

    January 26, 2011 at 9:08 pm

    My mom made an “apple” pie out of zucchini for my husband since that is his favorite and he could not tell the difference! Peel and seed the zucchini and substitute for apples in any pie recipe, add cinnamon and you too can be a sneaky vegetable cook.

    Reply
    • mandy says

      August 10, 2011 at 8:26 pm

      hehe. Love that idea Pat.

      Reply
  11. Tina says

    August 20, 2011 at 6:57 am

    This was great to come across. I have a harvest of zucchini and this is what I will do today. Cut them up and freeze them.

    Reply
  12. Tina says

    August 20, 2011 at 7:04 am

    Erin,
    About how much did you put in each bag?
    Thank Tina

    Reply
    • Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says

      August 20, 2011 at 9:46 am

      About 2 cups each.

      Reply
      • Tina says

        August 20, 2011 at 6:13 pm

        Thanks a bunch. I have already cut up one zucchini and it made two, two cup bags. I was worried they were going to waste till I seen this post.
        🙂

        Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Search $5 Dinners

Favorite Meal Planning & Cooking Resources

Whis-Kid Cooking Lessons Grocery Budget Makeover My Freezeasy Erin Chase Store 5DD Freebie Library 20 Meals for $150 Plans

© 2025 5 Dollar Dinners | Disclosure Policy | Copyright Information | Terms of Service/Privacy Policy | Accessibility | Design & Tech Support by Klong Designs



Copyright © 2025 · 5 Dollar Dinners Genesis Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in