Zucchini Caviar Reinvented: 3 Unusual Everyday Recipes

Discover three unconventional zucchini caviar recipes from a Tula cook, perfect for daily meals and easy to prepare at home.

Sep 3, 2026

If you have so many zucchini that you don«t know what to do with them, we have several unusual recipes here.
Source:
Daria Selenskaya / City Media

It«s zucchini season in our gardens — usually there are so many that it»s not always clear how to use them all. So home cooks start experimenting: zucchini fritters, zucchini caviar, and many, many other recipes.

Traditional zucchini caviar made according to a «grandmother»s« recipe has become boring for many. That»s why we suggest you experiment. Three unusual recipes for zucchini caviar — which can be prepared almost every day. These are not preserves, so they need to be eaten quickly. However, with such a delicacy, nothing will be left within an hour.

Delicate Zucchini Caviar in Oil with a Lemon Aroma

This caviar is made without tomatoes and without water. The zucchini are slowly simmered in oil over low heat, making them very tender, almost creamy, yet they do not turn into mush.

What you need (for 4 servings):

Zucchini or young squash (without large seeds) — 600 g

Olive oil — 150 ml

Garlic — 4 large cloves

Fresh thyme (sprigs) — 5–6 pieces (if you don«t have lemon thyme, use regular thyme + zest of 1 lemon)

Pine nuts — 20 g (about 2 tablespoons)

Lemon juice — 1 teaspoon

Salt — to taste (about ½ teaspoon)

White ground pepper — a pinch (can be replaced with black pepper)

Preparation:

Cut the zucchini into cubes with a side of about 1.5 cm. Crush the garlic with a knife, but leave the cloves whole. Slightly crush the thyme sprigs with your hands so they release their aroma.

Take a small saucepan or sauté pan with a thick bottom. Add the zucchini, garlic, and thyme. Pour in the olive oil. The oil should almost completely cover the vegetables.

Place over the very lowest heat. The oil must not boil under any circumstances — only tiny bubbles may occasionally rise from it. Cook like this for 40–50 minutes. By the end, the zucchini will become very soft but will retain their shape.

Remove from the heat. Remove the thyme sprigs. Carefully drain the oil into a separate bowl (it will be very aromatic and can be used for dressing other dishes).

Mash the zucchini together with the soft garlic with a fork. There is no need to achieve a homogeneous consistency: the caviar should be grainy, like store-bought. Add salt, white pepper, and lemon juice. Stir and cool completely.

While the caviar is cooling, toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan (without oil) until lightly golden, a couple of minutes. Stir constantly, as they burn quickly.

Serve the caviar cold, drizzled with a little of the oil in which it was cooked and sprinkled with pine nuts. You can add a little fresh lemon zest for aroma.

Spicy Asian-Style Zucchini Caviar

An appetizer with a rich, unusual flavor. The sweet-and-salty miso glaze makes zucchini caviar resemble a restaurant dish. Don«t be afraid of the unfamiliar word »miso« — it is a thick paste made from soybeans, sold in supermarkets in the Asian foods section and is inexpensive.

What you need (for 3–4 servings):

Zucchini or courgettes — 500 g

Shallots — 2 pieces (or 1 small sweet onion)

Fresh ginger root — a 3 cm piece (yields about 1 teaspoon grated)

Light (white) miso paste — 2 heaping tablespoons (about 50 g)

Sesame oil (from toasted sesame, dark) — 1 tablespoon

Rice vinegar — 1 teaspoon (can be replaced with 6% apple cider vinegar)

Liquid honey — 1 teaspoon

Water — 2 tablespoons

Neutral vegetable oil — 1 tablespoon for frying

Sesame seeds (white or a mix of white and black) — 1 tablespoon for serving

Preparation:

Cut the zucchini and shallots into small cubes, about 0.5 cm. Peel the ginger and grate it on the finest grater.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Quickly, for just 15–20 seconds, sauté the ginger, stirring.

Add the shallots to the pan. Cook, stirring, for 2–3 minutes, until they become translucent.

Add the zucchini, increase the heat to high. Fry, stirring frequently, for 5–7 minutes. The zucchini should start to turn golden at the edges, but remain slightly crisp inside.

While the zucchini are frying, mix the miso paste, rice vinegar, honey, and water in a small bowl. Stir until smooth.

Reduce the heat under the frying pan to the lowest setting. Pour the miso mixture over the zucchini. Quickly stir and simmer for 1–2 minutes. The sauce will thicken and become glossy, coating every piece.

Remove the pan from the heat. Transfer about a third of the mixture to a blender and pulse for a few seconds until pureed. Return the puree to the pan with the pieces — this gives the familiar «caviar» texture. If you don«t have a blender, simply vigorously mash some of the zucchini with a fork right in the pan.

Add the sesame oil and stir. Cool completely to room temperature or in the refrigerator. Before serving, generously sprinkle with sesame seeds.

«Live» Fermented Zucchini Caviar (No Cooking)

An unusual recipe: the zucchini are neither boiled nor fried, but fermented with salt, like cabbage. The result is a crunchy, slightly tangy, and very healthy appetizer that keeps in the refrigerator for up to a week.

What you need (for 3–4 servings):

Young, firm zucchini — 500 g

Salt (regular rock or sea salt, no additives) — 10 g (that«s exactly 2 level teaspoons)

Garlic — 2 cloves

Coriander seeds — 1 teaspoon

Black peppercorns — 5–6 pieces

Fresh dill — a small bunch (about 15 g)

For dressing before serving: olive oil — 1 tablespoon, lemon juice — 1 teaspoon

Step-by-step method:

Wash the zucchini well and dry them. Do not peel the skin. Grate them on a coarse grater (like for potato pancakes) or cut them by hand into very fine thin strips.

Place the grated zucchini in a large bowl. Add exactly 10 g of salt. Slice the garlic into thin petals and add to the bowl. Slightly crush the coriander seeds with a knife (so they crack) and add to the zucchini along with the peppercorns.

Thoroughly knead and squeeze the zucchini with your hands for 3–4 minutes. The mass should reduce in volume and release a lot of its own juice.

Transfer the zucchini mixture along with the released juice into a clean glass jar with a capacity of 0.5–0.7 liters. Press it down with a spoon or a masher so that a layer of liquid appears above the vegetables. Place several whole dill sprigs on top — they should be completely submerged in the brine.

Make a small weight: pour a little water into a clean plastic bag, tie it, and place it on top of the zucchini in the jar so that all the vegetables are submerged. Close the jar with a lid, but do not screw it on completely — gases need to escape (or cover the neck with cheesecloth and secure it with a rubber band).

Leave the jar at room temperature (in the kitchen, not in the sun) for 48 hours. After two days, taste the caviar. The flavor should become pleasantly sour, and the smell — fresh, slightly spicy. If you like the taste, put the jar in the refrigerator.

Store in the refrigerator. Before serving, drain off the excess brine and dress the caviar with olive oil and lemon juice. If desired, you can add some finely chopped fresh cucumber for extra crunch.

These three methods turn an ordinary zucchini into an unusual appetizer. The first is the most tender and festive, the second has a twist, and the third is for those who love pickled foods and healthy eating.