The best recipes for squash caviar for the winter and how to prepare it at home, just like store-bought.

Zucchini is used in everyday, dietary, and baby food. It's added to salads, stewed, fried, made into jam, and preserved as zucchini caviar and salads. When canned at home, spices, seasonings, and vegetables are added to zucchini caviar. Zucchini caviar, prepared for the winter according to recipe instructions, tastes like store-bought caviar.

Features of store-bought squash caviar

Zucchini caviar sold in retail is prepared in food processing plants. Its delicious flavor is achieved through specialized equipment and recipes, preparation according to approved standards, and preliminary steaming of the zucchini.

It is impossible to reproduce industrial processes at home, but if you follow the composition and preparation rules, you can get homemade squash caviar for the winter tastefully, like in a store.

Selecting and preparing zucchini

Caviar is made from ripe vegetables with ripe cores and seeds, and firm, non-watery flesh. Ripe vegetables require less cooking time than young zucchini.

Use large vegetables with milky seeds and uniform pulp; do not peel them.

Before processing, vegetables are washed and, if necessary, peeled, cored, seeded, and hardened. They are cut into pieces with a knife or using kitchen appliances available at home: vegetable slicers, a food processor, or grated.

How to prepare squash caviar for the winter, just like in the store

An essential rule for preparing a quality product is to steam the zucchini to remove excess liquid and achieve a thick consistency of the zucchini mass.

There are several ways to process zucchini:

• boiling in an open container while stirring;
• baking in the oven;
• using a multicooker during the cooking process.

Preparatory work

Wash dishes and kitchen utensils (a ladle for serving the finished product, spoons for stirring the vegetable mixture, knives, caviar jars (0.5 to 0.75 liters), and metal or glass lids with detergent. Sterilize the jars over steam or in the oven. Boil the lids.

Recipe for store-bought squash caviar according to USSR GOST standards

This is one of the first recipes for home-canned zucchini. Over time, various spices and seasonings were added, and the selection of vegetables was altered, altering the flavor. But zucchini caviar, prepared according to the old recipe, remains a favorite among family members. Prepared zucchini are placed in a cauldron or roasting pan, salted, brought to a boil over medium heat, and cooked until thickened, about 2 hours. Onions, carrots, and tomato paste are then sautéed in vegetable oil, one after the other. Tomatoes are substituted for the tomato paste; they are blanched, peeled, and cut into wedges.

Place the fried vegetables into the zucchini, add chopped herbs, season with pepper, and boil for 5 minutes. The finished product is placed in sterilized jars, covered with lids, and sterilized: 0.5-liter jars for 25 minutes, 0.75-liter jars for 45 minutes.

After sterilization, the jars are rolled up, cooled, and stored.

Recipe ingredients:

• zucchini or squash (peel the skin of green ones so that it does not affect the color of the product) – 10 kilograms;
• onions, carrots (choose medium-sized ones) – 1 kilogram each;
• tomato paste, you can take tomato sauce - sweet or spicy (to taste) - 0.25 kilograms;
• medium-sized tomatoes with a sour taste (act as preservatives) – 3 pieces;
• refined deodorized sunflower oil – 1.5 cups;
• salt – 2 tablespoons;
• black pepper, allspice (it is better to grind in a mortar before use) - 1 teaspoon each;
• parsley, dill (you can add cilantro and coriander to taste) - 1 bunch each.

The yield of finished caviar will be about 5 liters.

A classic recipe with mayonnaise and tomato paste

This simple homemade zucchini caviar recipe with mayonnaise and tomato paste will appeal to lovers of dishes flavored with mayonnaise and tomato sauces. When substituting tomatoes for tomato paste, omit the vinegar. Fry the onion in vegetable oil until golden brown, add it to the pan with the zucchini, and simmer over low heat to evaporate the excess liquid for about 2 hours.

While still hot, blend the prepared vegetable mixture until smooth, directly in the fryer. Add mayonnaise and tomato paste to the hot caviar, continue cooking for 20 minutes, add salt, sugar, season with spices, and heat for another 10 minutes.

Recipe (ingredients):

• zucchini – 2 kilograms;
• onions – 2 pieces;
• tomato paste, mayonnaise - take ½ cup of each product;
• granulated sugar – 1 tablespoon;
• salt to taste;
• vinegar 9% – 1 tablespoon;
• sunflower vegetable oil (those who prefer it can use olive oil) – for frying onions;
• black pepper, allspice (it’s better to take peas and chop before use) – pepper to taste.

With pumpkin in a slow cooker

To prepare caviar in a slow cooker, select ripe vegetables. Pour vegetable oil into the slow cooker, add the onions and carrots, and fry them in the frying mode. Add the remaining vegetables (except the garlic), season with salt and pepper, and cook in the stewing mode for 20 minutes.

Add garlic, grind the vegetable mixture with a blender, boil until thick and pack into sterile jars for storage.

Recipe ingredients:

• zucchini, pumpkin - 1.0 kilogram each;
• tomatoes, carrots, onions, bell peppers – 2 pieces each;
• salt, black and allspice – to taste;
• 9% vinegar – 1 tablespoon, if the tomatoes have a sweet and sour taste, then you can omit the vinegar;
• garlic – 3 cloves;
• vegetable oil – ½ cup.

Those who like spicy food can increase the amount of garlic and vinegar, and use more oil.

Zucchini caviar from baked vegetables

To roast vegetables, use a deep baking sheet and brush the bottom and sides with vegetable oil. Arrange the chopped vegetables in the pan, season with salt and pepper, pour in the oil, and toss with a spatula. Cover with foil and bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Remove the foil, stir, and place in the oven until the vegetable juices evaporate. Transfer the vegetable mixture to a saucepan, add sugar and crushed garlic, puree with a blender or masher, and boil for a few minutes. The caviar is ready for packaging for the winter.

We take:

• zucchini – 2 kilograms;
• carrots, onions, sweet peppers, dessert peppers (not very hot), tomatoes – 2-3 pieces each;
• garlic – 1 head;
• salt, sugar, pepper – to taste;
• vegetable oil (olive, sunflower) – ½ cup.

With mayonnaise and garlic

Peel and chop the zucchini and onion, then simmer with oil for 2 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Add chopped garlic, mayonnaise, tomato paste, spices, salt, sugar, and vinegar. Simmer for 2 hours. Blend the vegetables and simmer for 5 minutes. The caviar is ready.

Take:

• zucchini – 6 pieces;
• onion – 1 kilogram;
• mayonnaise, tomato paste - 0.25 kilograms of each product;
• granulated sugar – 1 cup;
• vinegar 9% – 1 glass (you can take less);
• garlic – 2 heads;
• pepper and salt to taste;
• sunflower vegetable oil – ½ cup.

Spicy zucchini caviar with bell pepper

This caviar recipe will appeal to those who love spicy appetizers. Heat oil in a saucepan and sauté the vegetables one by one: onion, carrot, sweet bell pepper, and hot dessert pepper. Place the zucchini in the pan, season with salt, and cook, stirring until smooth, for about 2 hours. Add the sautéed vegetables to the cooked zucchini, then add tomato sauce, chopped garlic and allspice, and sugar. Add vinegar and cook for 5 minutes.

You will need:

• zucchini – 5 kilograms;
• carrots, onions, sweet bell peppers - take 1.0 kilogram of each vegetable;
• tomato sauce, hot (preferably chili) – 1 cup;
• garlic – 1 head;
• dessert pepper (not very hot) – 3 pieces;
• allspice peas – 10 pieces;
• vinegar 9% – ½ cup;
• refined vegetable oil – 1 cup;
• the amount of salt, sugar and oil is adjusted to taste.

How and how long canned food is stored?

Preparations made from zucchini at home must be stored in a cool place.Caviar prepared with vinegar can be stored at home, away from heating systems.Shelf life: 1 year.