4 best marinated zucchini recipes as cucumbers for the winter
In the fall, preparations for the winter take a lot of time from housewives. In addition to traditional snacks, you can cook pickled zucchini for the winter as cucumbers. After all, these vegetables are so close in taste. And although pickled cucumbers are more familiar to us, the zucchini is not inferior to them in quality.
Is it possible to marinate zucchini like cucumbers
Zucchini is classified as a dietary vegetable. There are so many vitamins and microelements in fruits that will allow you not to gain weight, normalize the work of the digestive tract. As a member of the Pumpkin family, the vegetable is similar in its oblong fruits to cucumbers. Pumpkins are especially similar in appearance when young and immature. If you plant zucchini with cucumbers next to it, then due to cross-pollination you will get hybrids similar to both cucumber and zucchini.
Vegetables differ in that zucchini can reach huge sizes as they grow, up to 2-4 kilograms. At the same time, pumpkins cannot be used in cooking: they have such a thick peel, and there are many seeds inside. But young light green zucchini are good for pickling, like cucumbers.
Requirements for the main ingredients
You should not choose everything for marinating zucchini. Ordinary vegetables or zucchini are best. It is better not to pickle yellow zucchini types. The size of the pumpkins plays a major role. It is necessary that, in shape and size, the fruits of zucchini resemble cucumbers, be in length within 10-20 centimeters.
Before cooking, the fruits are kept soaked in water for 2 hours, then washed and cut into circles or sticks. If large seeds have already appeared, then it is necessary to clear the middle of the pulp from them. If a dense rind is formed, it is better to peel the fruit from it.
Container preparation
Jars for pickled zucchini should be chosen in such a volume that you can immediately eat the blank. If the family eats vegetable products with pleasure, then 2 and 3-liter can be used. But it is better to take liter cans. They should be thoroughly washed with hot water and soda, rinsed. The container is sterilized with a steam or water bath for 10 to 20 minutes. The cans are rolled up with iron lids, which are also sterilized.
Pickling recipes
Housewives know different ways of cooking zucchini for the winter. Many prefer them because of their delicate and slightly sweetish taste, aromatic pulp.
Young canned zucchini like cucumbers
Canning pumpkin begins with preparing the squash. They must be rinsed under running water and cut into 1 centimeter thick circles. For a three-liter jar you need to take:
- 2 kilograms of zucchini;
- a head or 2 garlic;
- 10 black peppercorns;
- a few laurel leaves;
- water 1.5 liters;
- salt 2 tablespoons;
- 4 - sugar;
- 1 tablespoon vinegar essence.
First, put the pumpkin circles, sprinkling with chopped garlic cloves, pepper, bay leaves. The brine is cooked over a fire and vegetables are poured with boiling liquid.
Now the workpieces are sterilized in a water bath. You need to hold for 15 minutes, and liter cans - 10.
After rolling up, leave the jars of pickled vegetables wrapped up until they cool completely.
It is advised to add carrot circles, onion rings to the zucchini.
You can flavor the workpiece 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 zucchini and spices as much as in the previous recipe. The circles of fruit laid in jars are poured twice with boiling water. It should be kept for 4-5 minutes, covering the jars with a lid. After that, the water is drained. For the 3rd time it is poured with marinade and rolled up.
There is another option for pickled zucchini without sterilization:
- Prepare the marinade, taking 4 tablespoons of sugar and 2 - salt per liter of water, add bay leaf and peas of black and allspice, vinegar essence.
- Then the sliced zucchini are dipped into the boiling liquid. Stir them so that they warm up evenly.
- Keep vegetables on the fire for 3 minutes after boiling.
- Quickly put into prepared jars, pouring marinade on top.
- It remains to close it under the iron covers and put it to cool under the blanket.
To understand which recipe is right, you need to try them.
With mustard
To make the zucchini crispy, just like cucumbers, you should use this recipe for pickling a vegetable.
Garlic cloves, peppercorns, bay leaves, vegetable fruits cut into bars are placed in liter jars.
To prepare the marinade, you need 500 ml of water:
- a teaspoon with a slide of salt;
- a tablespoon of mustard seeds and powder;
- 2 tablespoons of sugar.
When the water boils, pour in a teaspoon of vinegar. Now everything is poured into jars and sterilized. You need to tighten it in 15 minutes.
With citric acid
A proven delicious recipe for pickled zucchini with citric acid. Delicate fruits are obtained that are prepared quickly, without much effort.
You need to take for a liter jar, except for zucchini:
- onion head;
- 1-2 cloves of garlic;
- half a teaspoon of citric acid;
- an aspirin tablet;
- a tablespoon of salt;
- a teaspoon of sugar.
For taste, add bay leaf, allspice, dill umbrella. The blank will be tastier when rolled up with a currant and cherry leaf.
Zucchini must be soaked in cold water for 4 hours before marinating. Then they are cut and put in jars together with spices, aromatic leaves, sugar and salt. Then you need to put citric acid and aspirin on top. Vegetables are poured with boiling water and a container with zucchini is rolled up.
Shelf life
Store preparations with zucchini during the winter. Better to make as many cans to eat throughout the year. It is not recommended to keep it longer: vegetables will become tasteless, tough.
Storage conditions
Sterilized pickled food can easily withstand cellar conditions. They are stored under iron lids at a temperature of +2 degrees. It is necessary that the humidity in the room was within 75-80%, otherwise the covers will begin to rust. But those blanks that are prepared without sterilization are best placed in the refrigerator.
It is necessary to observe the condition of the marinated zucchini, do not open those jars that are swollen or mold has appeared inside. If you use a spoiled product, you can get poisoned.
