How to cook fried zucchini with garlic for the winter, finger-licking good recipes and without sterilization

Zucchini is one of the most common vegetables in gardens of any region. At first glance, it might seem that there are few winter dishes you can make with zucchini. However, this is not the case.

Zucchini has a unique ability to change flavor depending on the vegetables and spices it's cooked with. Besides standard canning, you can also prepare fried zucchini for the winter.

Secrets to cooking fried zucchini for the winter

There are several features of cooking fried zucchini:

• To prevent the vegetable from losing water and retaining its juiciness, avoid adding salt before frying. If, on the contrary, you want to remove excess liquid, sprinkle the zucchini with salt or soak it in a brine for 10 minutes, then rinse thoroughly.
• When frying, make sure the zucchini remains slightly raw. Otherwise, it will fall apart and turn into mush.
• Don't skimp on oil when frying.
• You can use classic white squash or zucchini. Both options are suitable for roasted vegetables for the winter.
• Zucchini cooks a little faster than white squash.

Requirements for choosing zucchini

To ensure the dish is truly delicious, you need to carefully select the main ingredient—zucchini:

• It's best to choose young fruits with thin skins and seeds still budding. You won't even need to peel them, and the skin will add a special touch to the dish.
• The vegetable should not exceed 20 centimeters in length. The shorter it is, the younger it is.
• The fruits should be firm, elastic, without any defects, with a green stem.
• Avoid bright yellow zucchini. It's better to choose striped varieties or those that are predominantly green.

Preparing containers

To ensure your preserves last all winter, it's important to prepare the containers properly:

• First, the jars should be checked for integrity. There should be no chips or cracks.
• The selected jars must be washed with soap or baking soda.
• Twist-off lids must be new and straight, metal lids must have a rubber band.
• If the lid is reusable, you need to check that there is no damage or rust.

Next, the container needs to be sterilized. The main methods are listed below:

1. Steam. Fill a container with water and place it on the stove. Once the water boils, place a rack on top and place the container upside down on it. Sterilization will take 15 minutes.
2. In the microwave. Place the jar of water in the microwave for a couple of minutes.
3. Place the jars in a saucepan with water. Line the bottom of the container with a cloth. Add enough water to cover the jars. Place the saucepan on the stove. After boiling, sterilize the jars for another 15 minutes.
4. In the oven. Place the jars upside down on a baking sheet and place them in the oven. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celsius and sterilize the jars for 10 to 25 minutes, depending on their size.

How to cook fried zucchini

Below are some popular recipes for fried zucchini. The preparation steps are the same for all vegetables: wash and dry. Remove the seeds from peppers, stem the tomatoes, and peel the onions and garlic. Young zucchini require no additional preparation. If the vegetable is ripe, peel it and remove the core.

A classic, delicious recipe that's finger-licking good.

Products:

• young zucchini 1 kg;
• tomatoes 0.3 kg;
• bell pepper 0.3 kg;
• hot pepper 1 pod;
• garlic 1 pc.;
• onion 1 pc.;
• sunflower oil for frying;
• 9% vinegar 0.03 l;
• hops-suneli 4 tsp;
• salt 3 tsp;
• sugar 3 tsp;
• parsley 1 bunch.

Preparation:

• Cut the zucchini into rings and fry them in hot oil.
• Pour boiling water over the tomatoes, peel them, and chop them together with the onion and hot pepper.
• Chop the chopped vegetables (all except the zucchini) with parsley and garlic.
• Pour the mixture into a saucepan, add hops-suneli, salt, sugar, stir and simmer for a quarter of an hour.

• To preserve zucchini for the winter, add vinegar a few minutes before it is ready.
• Take the prepared jars, place 1-2 layers of fried zucchini on the bottom, and pour the sauce over them. Next, add another layer of vegetables and sauce. Repeat until the jars are full. The sauce should be the top layer.
• Close the container, turn it over, and cover it with something warm for 24 hours.

With tomatoes and carrots

Products:

• young zucchini 3 kg;
• tomatoes 3 kg;
• carrots 3 pcs.;
• onions 3 pcs.;
• 9% vinegar 20 g;
• sunflower oil;
• dill 1 bunch;
• parsley 1 bunch;
• bay leaf 2 pcs.;
• garlic 3 cloves;
• salt 1 tbsp;
• sugar 1 tsp;
• black hot pepper.

Preparation:

1. Cut the zucchini into rings and fry.
2. Chop the greens, slice the onion, and grate the carrots. Lightly fry the vegetables in oil.
3. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes and peel them. Then, chop them finely and simmer, adding sugar, salt, and pepper. A couple of minutes before they're done, add a bay leaf and pour in the vinegar.
4. Next, add the zucchini, onions, carrots, and herbs, and tomatoes to the prepared container. Repeat until the jar is full.
5. Close the container, place the lid on, and wrap it in something warm for 24 hours. Then store it. Vegetables preserved this way look very beautiful.

Garlic rings

Products:

• zucchini 0.8 kg;
• half a large head of garlic;
• half a bunch of dill or parsley of your choice;
• 6% vinegar 40 ml;
• sunflower oil 2 tbsp;
• flour.

Preparation:

• Cut the prepared zucchini into rings, sprinkle with salt and roll in flour for frying.
• Fry the vegetables in a frying pan with hot oil until soft.
• Pass the peeled garlic through a press.
• Scald the greens with boiling water and chop finely.

• Place some crushed garlic and herbs on the bottom of the prepared container, pour in vinegar and oil.
• Next, add the cooled zucchini rings, adding a little garlic periodically. Make sure the pan is completely covered with oil. Add more oil if necessary.
• Next, the jars need to be tightly sealed, wrapped, and placed on the lids until cool. Only then can the mixture be stored.

Stuffed

Products:

• young zucchini 0.5 kg;
• tomatoes 0.3 kg;
• onion 0.1 kg;
• rice 70 g;
• sunflower oil 50 g;
• parsley 6 g;
• sugar 1 tbsp;
• salt 1 tsp;
• 9% vinegar 20 ml;
• black and allspice;
• bay leaf.

Preparation:

• Peel the zucchini, core it, and sprinkle with salt. You'll need about 10 g of salt per 1 kg of vegetables.
• Onion rings, cut into rings, should be fried in vegetable oil, washed herbs and tomatoes should be chopped.
• Place the rinsed rice in the pan with the onions and lightly fry. Add the tomatoes, stir, and simmer briefly. A little later, pour in boiling water, add the herbs, pepper, salt, and bay leaf. Simmer until the rice begins to swell.
• The resulting mixture should be used to stuff the zucchini and placed in a saucepan.

• Take a few more tomatoes, pour boiling water over them, remove the skin, and grate them on a coarse grater.
• Place them in a cauldron. Once boiling, simmer until the foam subsides. Then add salt, sugar, and pepper, a bay leaf, pour in the vinegar, and simmer for another fifteen minutes.
• Pour this sauce over the stuffed vegetables. Ideally, they should be almost completely covered. Then return the mixture to the oven and cook for about 20 minutes.
• Afterwards, you need to transfer the stuffed vegetables into a container and pour the sauce over them.
• Roll it up, turn it upside down, wrap it in a blanket for 24 hours.

In vegetable sauce

Products:

• zucchini 1 kg;
• tomatoes 0.5 kg;
• onions 2 pcs.;
• garlic 3 cloves;
• sweet red pepper 4 pods;
• 9% vinegar 10 ml;
• bunch of greens;
• sugar 3.5 tsp;
• salt 1 tsp;
• sunflower oil.

Preparation:

• Cut the prepared zucchini into slices and chop the pepper.
• Cut the tomatoes into cubes, the onion into half rings, the garlic into thin slices, and chop the herbs.
• Fry the zucchini in oil until golden brown.
• Fry the onion, add pepper and tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes.

• Next, transfer the stewed vegetables to a saucepan, chop with an immersion blender, pour in the vinegar with sugar and salt, stir and simmer for a few more minutes.
• Place a layer of zucchini in the prepared dish, add herbs and garlic slices. Pour the sauce over everything. Repeat the layers, with the sauce on top.
• Seal the container, place it on the lids, and wrap it in something warm for 24 hours. Then store it. The zucchini marinade infuses the flavor and gives it an incredibly delicate taste.

Without sterilization

Products:

• zucchini 3 kg;
• garlic 3 pcs.;
• 9% vinegar 5 tbsp;
• black pepper 2 tsp;
• salt 2 tsp;
• sugar 1 tbsp.;
• sunflower oil.

Preparation:

1. Chop the garlic, mix with salt, sugar, pepper and vinegar.
2. Prepared zucchini should be cut into rings and fried in vegetable oil until lightly browned.
3. Dip each slice of vegetable into the garlic mixture, then place in a container.
4. Seal the jar with a boiled lid and store. This way, you can get marinated zucchini in jars without sterilization.

Spicy zucchini

Products:

• zucchini 1 pc.;
• carrot 1 pc.;
• onion 1 pc.;
• hot red pepper 2 pcs.;
• salt to taste;
• 9% vinegar 10 ml;
• sunflower oil;
• natural tomato juice 0.5 l.

Preparation:

1. Prepared onion and zucchini cut into slices, pepper into cubes, grate carrots.
2. Fry the onion and carrot in a frying pan with hot oil, add pepper.
3. Simmer for a bit, add the zucchini, mix everything, pour in tomato juice (can be replaced with paste) and leave to simmer until the zucchini is soft.
4. Before the end of the process, pour in vinegar and add salt.
5. Pour the snack into pre-prepared jars, roll them up, wrap them in a blanket and leave them to cool upside down for 24 hours.

Without vinegar

Products:

• young zucchini 2 pcs.;
• tomato 2 pcs.;
• tomato paste 30 g;
• garlic 2 pcs.;
• spices of your choice 100 g.

Preparation:

1. Cut the vegetables into pieces (cubes are best).
2. Fry the vegetables in a hot frying pan for about a quarter of an hour.
3. Add the tomato paste and simmer for another 30 minutes over low heat. Add the garlic and spices while simmering.
4. Divide the snack into jars, seal, and let cool, wrapped in a blanket. After 24 hours, you can store it in the basement.

How and how long is the finished product stored?

The ideal place to store preserves for the winter is a basement. You can also store them in any other cool, dark place. You can also leave the jars at room temperature. In this case, the main condition is the absence of heating devices nearby. Some housewives take their food out onto the balcony, but then they must be careful that the temperature does not drop below 0 degrees.

The standard shelf life for homemade preserves in glass jars is 24 months.

However, many don't recommend storing canned goods for longer than a year. It's best if all the preserves are eaten by summer.