It’s time to take your average side dishes to the next level with this cheesy baked zucchini gratin! It’s creamy and packed full of zucchini, yellow squash, spinach and gruyere cheese.
Summertime means fresh fruits and vegetables from the garden! It’s the best! But come the end of summer, we are usually zucchini’d out. Anyone else? You can only have sauteed or steam zucchini so many times. That’s why we have the best zucchini bread, chocolate zucchini muffins, and zucchini cupcakes on the blog too. If you want more savory options, this baked zucchini gratin is phenomenal! Ooh, and our Mexican zucchini boats too!
I was watching a little Ina Garten one evening waiting for Cade to get home and I NEVER watch tv so I was totally excited to be soaking in a little inspiration. Ina (like we’re on first name basis) was cranking out a little zucchini and rice dish and I have been making my own low carb version ever since.
Ingredients for Zucchini Au Gratin
You will need a few veggies, a couple of fresh herbs, two kinds of cheese, and a few other ingredients to make this delicious vegetable side dish. Here is your grocery list:
- Butter: adds flavor and keeps the veggies from sticking to the pan
- Olive Oil: cooks all the veggies before baking
- Zucchini: sliced thin
- Yellow Squash: sliced thin
- Shallot: adds flavor, if you don’t have a shallot, a yellow or white onion can be used instead
- Garlic: adds flavor
- Spinach: adds texture, nutrients and color
- Fresh Thyme: adds flavor, freshness
- Fresh Parsley: adds flavor, freshness
- Nutmeg: this might be surprising, but trust me…it adds a little pop of flavor
- Lemon Juice: adds a flavor pop, and cuts through the richness
- Salt and Black Pepper: adds flavor
- Eggs: acts as a binder to hold the casserole together
- Heavy Cream: adds richness
- Gruyere: adds such great flavor and makes the dish so gooey
- Parmesan: adds salty flavor and golden crispy topping
The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card down below.
How to Make Summer Squash Gratin
You don’t want a side dish that is super complicated, especially for during the summer. This recipe is so easy, which is exactly what you want! You can even make it a day ahead and pop it into the oven right before your dinner. Here are the basic steps:
- Preheat the oven.