Marinating zucchini in jars for the winter: 10 simple and tasty recipes

Marinating zucchini for the winter in jars without sterilization

Let's start with the simplest recipe with a minimum set of ingredients so that you have an understanding of what general steps you need to follow.

Also, in this option we will do without sterilizing the filled jars, but this does not mean that the jars themselves do not need to be sterilized before use. This is absolutely necessary, otherwise the zucchini will turn sour and the lids will fly off over time.

Ingredients for 1 liter jar:

• Zucchini - depending on size 1-3 pieces
• Dill umbrella
• Garlic - 2 cloves
• Bay leaf - 1 piece
• Black peppercorns – 8 pcs.
• Allspice – 1 piece
• Bitter red pepper - 1 ring
• Vinegar 70% - 1 tsp.

Marinade for 1 liter of water:

• 1 heaped tbsp salt
• 2 tbsp. l without a slide of sugar

Preparation:

1. Place a bay leaf, an umbrella of dill, a small ring of hot pepper (optional) and all other spices into pre-sterilized jars.

2. Fill the jars tightly with zucchini rings, cut a couple of centimeters thick. Somewhere in the middle add garlic.

3. Very carefully pour boiling water into the jars, trying to ensure that the stream hits the zucchini and not the walls. We do everything slowly so that the jars do not burst from a sudden temperature change. Fill them to the very top, cover with sterilized lids and leave for 20 minutes.

4. In the meantime, let's prepare the marinade. It is done simply: dissolve salt and sugar in water, put on fire and bring to a boil. All.

For 2 liter jars of zucchini you need approximately 1 liter of marinade.

5. Drain the water from the cooled jars and pour the marinade up to the hangers. Add 1 tsp to each jar. acetic acid and add marinade to the very top. Then we screw or roll up the lids, turn the jars over, cover them with a blanket and leave them like that until they cool completely.

In the future, store in a cool place.

General rules and nuances

For preparations, use coarse rock salt that does not contain iodine additives. In order to acquire the properties necessary for winter storage during salting, zucchini must “ferment,” that is, undergo lactic acid fermentation. Such preparations are stored without capping, since living microorganisms remain in them even after the process is terminated. You can salt zucchini without fermentation, but in this case vinegar or edible citric acid is added to the preparation, that is, a marinade is actually prepared.

When preparing zucchini, a cold method (with fermentation) or a hot method with the addition of preservatives (vinegar, citric acid or red currant) is used.

These rules are considered general for preparing most salted vegetables, but working with zucchini also has its own characteristics:

• The choice of fruits suitable for pickling is quite simple. Zucchini is best suited in the stage of “milk ripeness” - no more than 15 cm long, with small, not yet ripened seeds and soft skin;
• The young fruits of this plant have practically no taste of their own, but perfectly absorb the aroma and taste of the seasonings used for pickling. This gives the housewife the opportunity to fully express her imagination and prepare products with varied and completely individual qualities;
• zucchini is cut lengthwise (into wedges) or crosswise (in circles). Modern varieties of spherical shape (“Boatswain”, “Ball”, etc.), as well as close “relatives” of zucchini - squash, are also suitable for preparations. They are salted in cut pieces, and the smallest specimens are salted whole;
• During fermentation, the fruits must be kept under pressure. Therefore, it is better to salt the zucchini in a wide container (pan or bucket), and then transfer it to storage in containers that are more convenient to place in the refrigerator. There are also recommendations on how to pickle zucchini for the winter in a jar right away. Such recipes are used in cases where they want to save time and do without unnecessary work;
• The standards for adding salt when harvesting zucchini are not as strict as when pickling cucumbers. The “strength” of the brine, that is, its concentration can be changed depending on further plans for storing the finished product.

A quick and tasty recipe for pickled zucchini in a jar

If you don’t like the hassle of pre-sterilizing jars, then you can skip this step. But then it will be necessary to sterilize the already filled jars. Decide for yourself which of these stages is easier for you.

Ingredients for 2 liter jars:

• 1 kg young zucchini without seeds
• 50 g dill
• 4-6 cloves of garlic, 2-3 per jar
• 8 allspice peas, 4 per jar
• 30 black peppercorns, 15 per jar
• 1 liter of water for the marinade (and separately boiling water for heating)
• 2 tbsp sugar - 50 g
• 2 tablespoons without a slide of salt - 40g
• 3 tbsp vinegar 9% - 1.5 tbsp per jar

Preparation:

1. Take clean jars, preferably washed with soda, and fill them with spices and zucchini. At the bottom we put half of the cooked chopped herbs and half of the peppercorns and half of the garlic. Fill the jar with zucchini rings, half a centimeter thick. Place the second half of the spices on top.

Carefully fill the jars with boiling water to the brim, cover with clean metal lids and leave for 10 minutes.

2. At this time, prepare the marinade - dissolve salt and sugar in water, put on fire and bring to a boil.

3. After 10 minutes, drain the water from the jars, pour in vinegar and fill them with boiling marinade.

4. Take a deep pan, put a cotton towel on the bottom, put the jars and fill it with water so that it reaches the hangers of the jars.

Since the jars contain hot marinade, you need to pour hot water into the pan.

Bring the water to a boil and sterilize the jars in boiling water for 10 minutes.

5. Then screw the lids tightly and leave the jars to cool upside down, wrapped in a blanket for about 12 hours.

In the future, store the jars in a cool place.

Frozen zucchini

The easiest and most convenient way to prepare vegetables. Zucchini is preserved almost in its original form.

If the zucchini is old, remove the skin and seeds. Wash the vegetables, dry and cut into cubes or circles. The circles can then be baked in the oven or fried, and the cubes can be used to make a vegetable stew or puree soup.

Place the zucchini in a sieve and place in boiling water for 1-2 minutes. You can skip this step. However, after blanching, frozen zucchini will retain its flavor, color and texture better.

Transfer hot zucchini to cold water to cool completely. Then spread over a clean towel and dry thoroughly.

Place the zucchini in plastic containers or bags and seal or tie them tightly. First, you need to remove excess air from the bags.

Place the preparations in the freezer.

How to properly freeze vegetables and herbs for the winter →

You can prepare the same dishes from frozen zucchini as from fresh ones. Don't be afraid to experiment. You will find many interesting ideas in these articles:

How to cook zucchini in the oven. 10 cool recipes →

14 delicious zucchini dishes →

Zucchini marinated for the winter with carrots in Korean

This method is perfect for overripe zucchini with large seeds.

Ingredients for 1 liter jar:

• Zucchini - 1-2 pieces (200 g)
• Carrots - 1 pc.
• Dill umbrellas - 2 pcs.
• Garlic - 2 cloves
• Bay leaf - 1 piece
• Peppercorns
• Allspice
• Hot capsicum - 1 small ring
• Vinegar 9% - 2 tbsp. l

Marinade for 1 liter of water:

• 1 tbsp. l salt
• 1.5 tbsp. l sugar

Preparation:

1. Cut the zucchini into rings one centimeter thick and remove the core and seeds. You can remove it either simply with a knife or with any suitable object, for example, a glass.

We remove the peel only if it has become completely rough.

2. Grate the carrots on a Korean grater.

3. Further preparation almost repeats the first recipe. Place dill umbrellas, garlic, bay leaf, hot pepper ring and peppercorns in a pre-sterilized jar. Carrots are sent next, and then zucchini rings.

Fill a jar filled with vegetables to the brim with boiling water, cover with a sterilized lid and leave for 10-15 minutes.

4. After 10-15 minutes, drain the water, add vinegar to the jar and pour boiling marinade up to the neck. We wrap or roll up the lid tightly, turn the jar over and leave it under the blanket until it cools completely.

Store the finished snack in a cool place.

Photo recipe for appetizers with bell peppers

You can diversify the taste of pickled zucchini if ​​you cook them together with other vegetables. In addition to carrots, bell peppers would be a good addition.

Ingredients:

• Zucchini 1-1.5 kg
• Garlic - 6 cloves
• Dill - bunch
• Bell pepper - 1-2 pcs
• Hot pepper - a couple of rings
• Carrot - 1 pc.

For the marinade:

• 1.5 liters of water
• Apple cider vinegar – 80 ml
• Salt - 60 g
• Sugar - 60 g
• Pickling mixture - 1 tbsp. with a slide

The indicated ingredients are enough for 1 jar of 1 liter and one jar of 0.7 liters.

Preparation:

1. Take sterilized jars and put dill on the bottom. It can be cut, or you can put it directly in twigs. Add garlic, cut in half, some carrots, grated on a Korean grater, and a ring or two of hot pepper.

2. Then we put zucchini rings into sterilized jars, and put strips of bell pepper in the remaining free space.

First remove the peel from the zucchini, cut them into rings one centimeter thick and remove the center with the seeds.

3. Fill the jars to the brim with boiling water (carefully), cover with lids and drain the water after 10 minutes.

We perform this operation twice.

4. Next, prepare the marinade. Dissolve salt and sugar in water, add the pickling mixture and place on medium heat. When the mixture boils, cook it for another 10 minutes, then turn it off and immediately add vinegar.

The good thing about the pickling mixture is that it already contains spices in the required proportion, as well as grain mustard - an additional guarantee that the jars will not ferment.

5. Fill the jars up to the neck with hot marinade and close the lids tightly.

Leave them to cool, uncovered, at room temperature.

Instant Crispy Zucchini Recipe

The main secret to crispy zucchini is adding a horseradish leaf to it. Horseradish is the key to an expressive crunch.

Ingredients for 3 liter jars:

• 1.7 kg zucchini
• 6 cloves garlic
• 9 sprigs of dill
• 6 cherry leaves
• 1 large horseradish leaf
• 3 sprigs parsley
• 6 bay leaves
• 15 pcs. black peppercorns
• 6 pcs. allspice peas
• water
• 3 tbsp. l. heaped sugar = 75 g (1 heaped tbsp sugar = 25 g)
• 3 tbsp. l. salt without a slide = 45 g (1 tbsp. salt without a slide = 15 g)
• 3 tbsp. l. 9% vinegar = 45 ml (1 tbsp 9% vinegar = 15 ml)

Preparation:

1. Take sterilized jars, divide the leaves and spices into 3 parts and place them in the jars.

2. Wash the zucchini in running water, cut into rings one centimeter thick and place tightly in jars.

3. Fill the jars with boiling water, cover them with lids and leave for 10 minutes. Then drain the cooled water and pour boiling water again for 10 minutes.

The second time we pour the water into the pan and set it to boil - it will be used for the final filling.

4. Pour a tablespoon of salt, sugar and vinegar directly into the jars.

5. Pour boiling water into jars, roll up the lids, turn them over and leave them under the blanket until they cool completely.

Pickling recipes

Housewives know different ways to prepare zucchini for the winter. Many people prefer them because of their delicate and slightly sweet taste and aromatic pulp.

Young canned zucchini like cucumbers

Canning pumpkins begins with preparing the zucchini. They must be washed under running water and cut into slices 1 centimeter thick. For a three-liter jar you need to take:

• 2 kilograms of zucchini;
• a head or 2 garlic;
• 10 black peppercorns;
• several laurel leaves;
• water 1.5 liters;
• salt 2 tablespoons;
• 4 - sugar;
• 1 tablespoon of vinegar essence.

First, place the pumpkin circles, sprinkled with chopped garlic cloves, pepper, and bay leaves. The brine is prepared over a fire and the boiling liquid is poured over the vegetables.

Now the workpieces are sterilized in a water bath. You need to keep it for 15 minutes, and liter jars - 10.

After rolling, leave the jars with pickled vegetables wrapped until they cool completely.

It is recommended to add carrot slices and onion rings to the zucchini.

You can flavor the preparation with an umbrella of dill, currant leaves, cherries, horseradish. It all depends on the taste of the hostess, her culinary preferences.

Without sterilization

If you don’t want to bother with sterilization, then you can close the zucchini for the winter without it. You need to take the same amount of zucchini and spices as in the previous recipe. The fruit circles placed in jars are poured with boiling water twice. Keep for 4-5 minutes, covering the jars with a lid. After this, drain the water. For the 3rd time, pour marinade and roll up.

There is another option for pickled zucchini without sterilization:

1. Prepare the marinade by taking 4 tablespoons of sugar and 2 salt per liter of water, adding bay leaves and black and allspice peas, vinegar essence.
2. Then the chopped zucchini is dipped into the boiling liquid. Stir them so that they heat evenly.
3. Keep the vegetables on the fire for 3 minutes after boiling.
4. Quickly put into prepared jars, pouring marinade on top.
5. All that remains is to close it under the iron lids and leave it to cool under the blanket.

To understand which recipe is suitable, you need to try them.

Zucchini is one of the most common vegetables in our country. They were introduced to Russia in the 16th century, but only a few years later did the fruits begin to be eaten. It was found that they have a beneficial effect on the body.

You can prepare a large number of dishes from them. In addition, zucchini lends itself to any type of processing. The vegetable season is already ending, so zucchini lovers better prepare them for the winter.

Over the course of several centuries, many ways to preserve these fruits have been invented. Naturally, it is impossible to cover all the recipes in one article, so we will look at popular options for pickling delicious zucchini.

Before cooking, you need to select only whole fruits without dents or signs of rotting. Otherwise, the workpiece may swell within a few days.

Canned zucchini in tomato sauce

You can use more than just plain water as a marinade. It will turn out very tasty if you add tomato sauce to it. There will be zucchini in tomato sauce.

Ingredients:

• 3 kg zucchini
• Spicy tomato sauce – 0.5 l
• 2 cups sugar (glass -200 ml)
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 250 ml 9% vinegar
• 1 liter of water
• Ground red pepper - to taste

Thanks to the dense packing of vegetables, the specified amount of ingredients will yield 8 half-liter jars of pickled zucchini.

Preparation:

1. Cut the zucchini into lengthwise slices (like cucumbers) and place tightly in sterilized jars. The size of the slices should correspond to the height of the cans.

Leftovers that don’t fit can be cut into rings and placed in a separate jar.

2. Stir tomato sauce in 1 liter of water, add salt, sugar, literally half a teaspoon of red pepper and put on medium heat. Bring to a boil, add vinegar and cook for another 2-3 minutes. The marinade is ready.

3. Pour the hot marinade into jars with zucchini.

4. Place the filled jars in a large saucepan with a cotton towel at the bottom, pour hot water into it so that it reaches the narrowing of the jars and put it on the fire. When the water boils, count down another 10 minutes for sterilization. Jars must be covered with lids.

Then we take out the jars, roll them up, turn them over, cover them with a blanket and leave them like that until they cool completely. In the future, store in a cool place.

Cooking features

The process of preparing salted zucchini in a quick way is not complicated, but without knowing some points, the end result may not be quite the snack you dreamed of.

• For quick pickling, it is advisable to use young zucchini, the size of which does not exceed 12 cm. If you decide to pickle mature fruits, you will have to chop them first. The thinner you cut the vegetables, the faster they will salt.
• If you keep the zucchini in a cool room or even in the refrigerator, they will pickle slowly, which may take 2-4 weeks. To speed up the process, zucchini filled with brine are left in a warm room until they sour, after which they can be closed for the winter or put in the refrigerator and consumed in the coming days.
• At the first stage, the zucchini is salted in a saucepan or other wide container; at the second stage (when salting for the winter), they are transferred to sterilized jars, filled with brine and sterilized for about a quarter of an hour (for liter containers) in hot water. After this, the canned food is rolled up and stored in a cool place. If you intend to eat the snack within the next week, you can put it in a jar or leave it in a pan and then put it in the refrigerator.
• Zucchini does not have a pronounced taste and aroma, but absorbs the taste and aroma of brine well. Therefore, they are almost always salted with the addition of spices, spices, and fresh herbs. It is the seasonings that allow the appetizer to resemble mushrooms or cucumbers.
• You can quickly salt zucchini in a pan, jar, plastic container, or bag. Only aluminum cookware is not suitable for this purpose, since this material forms harmful substances when in contact with acids.

There are different recipes for quick pickling of zucchini, allowing you to get an appetizer with different organoleptic qualities. If you have not salted these vegetables before, you should try several recipes to find the option that best suits your gastronomic preferences.

Marinated zucchini like mushrooms

The next two recipes are prepared in such a way that they are indistinguishable from mushrooms in taste. The difference between them is that in the first version no other vegetables are used (except garlic).

Ingredients for 7 half liter jars:

• 3 kg zucchini
• 3 heads of garlic
• 100 ml 9% vinegar
• 100 ml sunflower oil
• 100 g sugar
• 2 tbsp salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 10 pcs allspice peas
• 5 pcs bay leaves

Preparation:

1. In this recipe, there is no need to boil the marinade, which makes it somewhat simpler. Similar to cooking zucchini the Korean way.

Peel the zucchini, remove the pulp and seeds and cut them into cubes measuring about 2 by 2 centimeters. Place in a large container. In the same container add chopped herbs, chopped garlic and all the spices, including vinegar and sunflower oil. Mix thoroughly and leave to marinate for 2 hours.

2. In 2 hours, the zucchini will release juice, which will mix with spices. This will be the marinade.

Taste the marinade and add salt, sugar or pepper to taste if necessary.

3. Take clean (not sterilized) jars and fill them with zucchini to the very top. Then add the marinade so that it reaches the middle of the jar. It is not necessary to go higher, since with further sterilization the vegetables will release more juice.

It is convenient to use jars of different sizes for different situations. Large ones for a feast, small ones for a family dinner.

4. Well, then we cover the jars with lids, put them in a saucepan, fill it with water up to the hangers of the jars (jars of different sizes are sterilized in different saucepans), bring to a boil and wait 15 minutes for half-liter jars and 6-7 minutes for jars with a volume of 0. 25 l.

Then we roll up the jars and leave them to cool upside down, covered with a blanket.

How to marinate zucchini so that they taste like milk mushrooms

In this recipe, in addition to zucchini, carrots and bell peppers are used, which makes the taste of the preparation more aromatic and richer.

Ingredients:

• 3 kg zucchini
• 6 small carrots (300 g)
• 3 bell peppers (300 g)
• Bunch of dill
• 2 heads of garlic
• 1 tsp. ground black pepper
• 60 g salt (2 tablespoons with a small slide)
• 100 g sugar (4 tbsp)
• 150 ml table vinegar 9%
• 200 ml vegetable oil

Preparation:

1. Peeled and seeds removed zucchini, cut into cubes and place in a deep bowl. We also send carrots cut into rings, bell pepper into strips, chopped garlic and herbs.

2. Add spices, vinegar and vegetable oil. Mix thoroughly, cover with a lid and leave to marinate for 2-3 hours.

During this time, it is advisable to stir the vegetables a couple of times.

3. Place the prepared vegetables in clean jars, compacting them tightly.

4. Sterilize the filled jars in a saucepan with water for 10 minutes, then close the lids tightly and leave the jars to cool upside down under a blanket.

Assorted zucchini, cucumbers and onions

A simple salad sometimes seems tastier than the most sophisticated dish. Especially if it is made from fresh summer gifts. The piquancy of the preparation is provided by not quite traditional spices. This appetizer goes well with meat dishes.

Ingredients:

• cucumbers - 0.5 kg;
• zucchini - 0.5 kg;
• onions - 3 pcs.;
• marjoram - 1 tsp;
• dried basil - 1 tsp;
• parsley - 2 sprigs;
• salt - 2 tsp;
• sugar - 1 tbsp. l.;
• ground black pepper - 1/2 tsp;
• apple cider vinegar - 1 tbsp. l.

What to do:

1. Rinse the vegetables well and cut into small cubes.
2. Peel the onion and chop into half rings.
3. Mix all products gently but thoroughly.
4. Season with spices, add marjoram, basil, apple cider vinegar, let it brew for 30 minutes.
5. Place cloves, parsley sprigs, then lettuce on the bottom of sterilized jars.
6. Pour over the marinade. Cover with sterilized lids.
7. Sterilize for 30 minutes.
8. Roll up the lids and let stand upside down for 60 minutes.