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Home » Vegetarian » Mediterranean Zucchini Stew With Tomatoes

Published: Aug 15, 2021 by Zerrin & Yusuf

Mediterranean Zucchini Stew With Tomatoes

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This incredibly delicious and vegetarian zucchini stew will make the perfect light low-calorie meal on beautiful summer days. It is packed with a bunch of Mediterranean flavors and pairs fantastic with a light and refreshing yogurt sauce and some crusty bread.

If you would like to try more vegetarian recipes, go have a  look at our Vegetarian Recipe category. And if you’ve just fallen in love with zucchini, we also have a bunch of healthy zucchini recipes like zucchini tomato casserole, feta cheese stuffed zucchini boats or cheesy zucchini Casserole.

Zucchini stew with tomatoes and herbs in a pan and a wooden spoon in it.
Jump to:
  • Why We Like This Recipe
  • About The Ingredients
  • How to Make
  • Tips
  • Serving Suggestions
  • FAQs
  • More Zucchini Recipes
  • More Vegetarian Recipes
  • 📖 Recipe
  • 💬 Comments

Why We Like This Recipe

  • It is incredibly easy and simple to make. You will be surprised how quickly you can whip up this delicious meal.
  • It is very low in calories and not heavy at all. This light zucchini stew will make the perfect lunch, appetizer, or even late-night dinner if you aren’t that hungry. It is perfect for summer and is packed with delicious Mediterranean flavors!
  • It tastes so good with some crusty bread. We enjoy dipping bread into it!

About The Ingredients

Naturally, the hero ingredient of this stew is the zucchinis. We prefer the pale green variety but literally, any type of zucchini or courgette will work fine.

Zucchini, tomatoes, spices, garlic, onion, olive oil, tomato paste, parsley on a dark background.

Then we of course have the fresh summer tomatoes, which add a tangy and slightly sweet flavor to the zucchini stew. We wouldn’t recommend using canned tomatoes, although you can if you’re in a pinch.

This recipe allows you to play around with spices a lot. Although it does already contain a perfect blend of aromatics, you can always remove and add some that meet your needs. We sometimes love adding some chili or cayenne pepper for an added kick.

If you want to create a heartier stew, you can add additional chopped potatoes, or other vegetables like sweet potatoes, pumpkins, or carrots.

How to Make

This is a flavor-packed vegetarian stew that only uses basic ingredients to create an incredibly unique and mouth-watering stew. And what makes it even better is that there is still room for you to play around with the flavors!

Zucchini sliced and diced on a wooden board, tomatoes and parsley on the side.

First, prepare the zucchini. We love to dice them as they are better in a stew. But you can chop them roughly in larger pieces if you want.

Second, make the base of the stew. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat and add your onions. Allow them to cook until they are translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Reduce the heat and add the tomato paste, cooking it for about 1 minute while stirring.

Diced zucchini cooking in a tomato sauce in a pan and a wooden spoon in it.

Add the diced zucchini with their skin on and cook them for about 2-3 minutes, making sure they are covered well with the tomato paste. Place a lid on the pot and allow the mixture to cook for about 5 minutes on low heat.

Diced zucchini, tomato sauce, chopped tomatoes, garlic and spices in a pan.

Then, allow to cook and serve. After your zucchini has sweated a bit, add the chopped tomatoes, garlic, salt, and all the other seasoning ingredients. Allow the mixture to simmer for about 20 minutes.

Finally, garnish the zucchini and tomatoes stew with some parsley and serve immediately.

Zucchini tomato stew topped with chopped parsley in a pan and a wooden spoon in it.

Tips

  • We like to make our zucchini quite chunky and large. A rough chop is more than fine as they shrink a lot while they cook. This also helps add more texture to a stew, which can often be mushy.
  • We would highly recommend choosing the best and freshest tomatoes for this recipe as it is a big flavor component. You can (and even should) make your own tomato paste and choose some fresh summer tomatoes.
  • If you are in a hurry though, you can use chopped canned tomatoes, or even whole peeled tomatoes for juicier flavors.
  • This recipe is fantastic as it only uses simplistic flavoring ingredients like garlic, salt and pepper, cumin, thyme, and paprika. Obviously, all of the ingredients in this recipe create a well-balanced flavor profile, but it does leave a lot of space for experimenting!
  • You can substitute the parsley with fresh dill or basil as a garnish. These will still add a refreshing herb flavor that compliments the flavors of this stew well.

Serving Suggestions

This is a staple summer dish in Turkish cuisine, especially in the more southern parts. We always love serving it with a dollop of yogurt.

You can buy store-bought plain yogurt, although we prefer making our very own. Our yogurt recipe is incredibly easy to make and you don’t need a ton of skills or equipment.

Also, you can serve it with some crusty bread like this hot water cornbread, bazlama bread, or pide bread. All these make fantastic dipping bread for this zucchini tomato stew.

And you can enjoy your favorite pickles on the side as well.

Zucchini stew served in a bowl with a yogurt topping and a fork inside.

FAQs

Can I freeze this stew?

You can definitely freeze this stew for up to 3 months! The most important thing to keep in mind when freezing vegetable stews, or any dish really, is to keep a consistent and stable freezer temperature.

Can I make it with meat or chicken?

You can definitely add some type of meat to these like chicken or beef, however, we love it most as a vegetarian dish.

Can I substitute basil for parsley?

You can substitute the parsley with virtually any herb. We would recommend herbs that have a fresher and less umami flavor like basil and dill, even fennel. These herbs pair fantastic alongside zucchini with tomatoes and onions.

Can I use store-bought tomato sauce?

You can buy store-bought tomato sauce, however, fresh summer tomatoes do always work better. And never skip adding tomato paste! The tomatoes are a big component of this recipe and give it a deliciously tangy, sweet, and slightly acidic flavor profile.

More Zucchini Recipes

  • Zucchini Fritters Mucver With Feta
  • Zucchini Chips

More Vegetarian Recipes

  • Imam Bayildi Recipe (Turkish Vegetarian Stuffed Eggplant)
  • Turkish Stuffed Peppers (Biber Dolmasi)
  • Vegan Cauliflower Casserole
  • Cheesy Cabbage Casserole

As always: If you make this recipe, let us know what you think by rating it and leaving a comment below. And post a pic on Instagram too—tag @give_recipe so we can see!

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📖 Recipe

Mediterranean Zucchini Stew Recipe

Zucchini stew with tomatoes and herbs in a white pan and a wooden spoon in it.
Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

A very light stew with zucchini, onions and tomatoes.

  • Author: Zerrin & Yusuf
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Method: Sautéing
  • Cuisine: Turkish
  • Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 medium sized onion, finely chopped 

  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste 

  • 2 medium sized zucchini (about 1 pound) 

  • 3 medium sized tomatoes, peeled and chopped 

  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped

  • ½ teaspoon salt 

  • ½ teaspoon black pepper 

  • ¼ teaspoon cumin

  • ¼ teaspoon thyme

  • ½ teaspoon paprika

  • Chopped parsley for garnish

Instructions

  1. Heat olive oil in a pan. Cook onions until translucent.
  2. Reduce the heat and add in tomato paste. Cook it for about a minute, stirring occasionally.  

  3. Dice the zucchini with their skin. Add them in the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

  4. Put the lid on and let it cook over medium low heat for 5 minutes. 

  5. Add in chopped tomatoes, garlic, salt and other spices. 

  6. Cook it covered for 20 minutes. 

  7. Garnish with parsley before serving.

Notes

  1. We used diced zucchini but you can just roughly cut them in larger chunks.
  2. Tomato paste and summer tomatoes are important in this recipe for the best flavor. But if you are in a hurry, you can use canned chopped tomatoes.
  3. You can play with the spices if you want.
  4. You can substitute fresh dill or basil for parsley as a garnish.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 87
  • Sugar: 2.4 g
  • Sodium: 304.4 mg
  • Fat: 7.2 g
  • Carbohydrates: 6.1 g
  • Protein: 1 g
  • Cholesterol: 0 mg

Keywords: zucchini stew, zucchini tomato stew

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Reader Interactions

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    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

  1. Nadia says

    July 27, 2019 at 3:44 pm

    I made it yesterday and wow! My husband and I LOVED it! He wrapped it in tortillas and added some roasted jalapeno peppers on it. YUM!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  2. A Canadian Foodie says

    January 14, 2011 at 9:20 am

    What a delicious, nutritious dish! Zucchini season is Sept Oct Nov here - even August - and this is DEFINITELY going on my list. Everything in it we BOTH love - and I make my own yogurt to boot. Love this idea and really appreciate the simplicity - yet depth of it!
    🙂
    Valerie

    Reply
  3. Mochacocinera says

    January 13, 2011 at 11:01 am

    Sounds good with the yogurt. Zucchini looks great!

    Reply
  4. The Mom Chef says

    January 11, 2011 at 5:21 pm

    Zerrin, you've made zucchini look like the most delicious and beautiful food in the world. Thank you for this recipe.

    Reply
  5. Nikki says

    January 10, 2011 at 12:02 pm

    I could absolutely eat this as a main dish and love every bite of it. Plus it's so easy to make vegan 🙂

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      January 10, 2011 at 12:29 pm

      I sometimes put it into my lunch box and enjoy it at work, too. Easy, simple and tasty!

      Reply
  6. Faith says

    January 10, 2011 at 8:41 am

    This looks like a really delicious zucchini dish, Zerrin! Pairing zucchini with tomato and garlic is one of my favorite ways to eat it!

    Reply
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Meet Zerrin and Yusuf Gunaydin: The couple behind this blog. We bring Turkish food into your kitchen! From kebabs to desserts, everything you crave is here.

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