The easiest and quickest way to use up zucchini is to make it into a soup. The flesh purees into a neutral creamy base that can accommodate a variety of flavors. My garden produces an excess of zucchini every year, giving me the opportunity to try a lot of soup recipes.
Below are my favorite zucchini soup recipes, each with a very different flavor profile. Each recipe uses anywhere from 1-3 pounds of zucchini and they can all easily be doubled.
Even if summer is too hot for you to enjoy a bowl of soup, these all freeze well to eat later when the weather turns cold and the sun sets early.
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Loaded zucchini potato soup
This recipe uses the most zucchini, weighing in at 3 pounds which is about 4-5 medium zucchini or a couple of oversized ones from the garden. The creamy consistency comes entirely from russet potatoes and zucchini - no milk or heavy cream is necessary.
The ingredients require minimal prep work. The potatoes don't need to be peeled and actually add a little bit of flavor. They puree into little flecks (which you can see in the photo above). If you don't like the peels, however, go ahead and remove them.
Homemade croutons add a memorable touch to this soup - this is an instance where homemade is noticeably better than store bought. It's quite simple, as outlined in the recipe instructions. Simply cut a baguette into pieces, toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toast in the oven until golden brown.
Lastly, while the soup has a creamy, silky texture, it's lightened up thanks to the zucchini. Each bowl of soup (1.5 cup servings) has at least 100 less calories than traditional loaded potato soup.
Italian tomato, zucchini & eggplant soup
This zucchini soup is thick and creamy with a complex tomato-herb flavor. There's also no dairy in this soup, all of the texture comes from pureeing roasted vegetables.
Traditional tomato soups can be pretty acidic, but not this one. Eggplant and zucchini are some of the least acidic vegetables, so they are included to reduce the acidity while not changing the flavor profile very much. Zucchini have a very subtle flavor and eggplant are flavor sponges - like mushrooms, they soak up any flavor around them.
Roasting the vegetables gives the zucchini and eggplant a chance to soak up some of the herbal flavors. Meanwhile, the tomatoes release some of their juices and their flavor becomes more concentrated. All of the roasted vegetables are added to a soup pot, pureed, and then ready to serve. It comes together quite fast.
This soup is low in calories and high in fiber. Each bowl (1.5 cup serving) is less than 200 calories and has 9 grams of fiber, thanks to the loads of vegetables.
Lastly, if this soup is made to be thicker, it can make a great pasta sauce. To do that, just add less broth and simmer to reduce it if needed. The soup (or sauce-version) freezes well.
Roasted zucchini poblano soup
This roasted zucchini poblano soup is creamy, smoky and a little bit spicy. Like the other soups, the creaminess comes from the zucchini instead of heavy cream. Poblano chiles naturally have a smoky flavor that's amplified when roasted. Paprika is added to further season the soup - either sweet or smoky paprika works, each has a slightly different flavor.
A splash of fresh squeezed lime juice in each bowl really livens up the soup. Since it's heavy on zucchini, it benefits from the lime's acidity. I also usually top the soup with some homemade paprika tortilla strips.
This zucchini soup is healthy as well since it's mostly just pureed vegetables and broth. It has the lowest calories of all of these different zucchini soup recipes. A 1.5 cup serving is only 116 calories filled with vitamins, fiber, and the only fat comes from olive oil.
Southwest zucchini soup
While the zucchini poblano soup is smoky and earthy, this soup tastes like a lightened up corn chowder with a bright southwestern flair. This is another dairy free soup that gets its creaminess from the zucchini, although it doesn't have that thick creaminess that corn chowder has. (The loaded zucchini potato soup is much thicker, thanks to the potatoes).
Fresh corn plays a big role in this soup and is the most dominant flavor. The kernels are cut from the cobs and then added to the soup pot along with the cobs themselves. As the cobs simmer, they flavor the soup, believe it or not!
The southwest flavors come from cumin, paprika, chili powder, a few peppers in adobo sauce, and fresh cilantro. This soup is also easily doubled and frozen.
Yellow squash soup with toasted walnuts & honey
This is one of the most unique yellow squash soup recipes I've made and it's delicious. If you like honey, you must try this soup. I used yellow zucchini (yellow squash also works) for a pretty, golden soup. Any zucchini or summer squash will work - but it will affect the color.
The soup base is made from yellow squash, flavored with bay leaves, fresh thyme, and walnuts. Don't leave out the nuts, they give the soup a slight nutty flavor, slightly reminiscent of the nutty flavors of winter squash.
The flavor of the soup is subtle, but not bland. It's basically a more flavorful 'cream of zucchini' soup. But the real star is the drizzle of honey in each bowl. Use a flavorful honey - my favorite for this soup is a wildflower honey, but I have been also meaning to try an acacia honey as well. Add a little or as much honey as you want.
More recipes & resources
Too much zucchini? I put together a plan to use up a lot of zucchini, quickly. Use a dozen across 3 different soups, or use 4-6 in quiches and quick breads.
There are plenty more zucchini soup recipes if you're looking for other options.
- Cream of zucchini soup from Skinnytaste
- Basil zucchini soup from Love & Lemons
- Chunky zucchini soup by Connoisseurus VEG
- Zucchini chickpea soup with spinach by EatingWell
- Curried zucchini soup by She Likes Food
- Cheesy broccoli zucchini soup from Sungrown Kitchen
- Chilled zucchini herb soup from Vegetarian Times
- Zucchini and rice soup by Eat, Live, Run
Looking for other types of soup? Give these a try.
Vicky Hazlitt says
Excellent insight!. Even beginners can follow this easily....