![\"Zucchinis\"](\"http:\/\/pantryguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Zucchinis.jpg\")
How to store zucchini?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Most sources suggest storing fresh zucchini in the fridge. That’s the best option, especially if you have some space available in the fridge. If that’s not the case, the second-best option is to store it in the pantry. It will start to degrade faster than when stored in the fridge, but overall the pantry or basement isn’t that bad. Storing zucchini on the countertop in room temperature should be avoided unless you plan to use it within a day or two. If that’s the case, nothing bad should happen to it by the time it finds its way to one of your dishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you’ve already chopped or sliced zucchini, fridge is the only place to store it. In the pantry or in room temperature it will degrade within a day and likely go bad shortly thereafter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How long does zucchini last?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Let’s start with the “worst” storage method, that is the countertop in room temperature. If you store zucchini this way, use it within one to two day after buying. After 3 or 4 days it won’t be spoiled, but its quality will be worse. Mushy and watery produce is not something you want, especially in a salad, and that’s what’s going to happen to zucchini stored in room temperature for a few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Storing zucchini in the pantry, where it’s slightly colder and quite dark gives it another few days of remaining at best, or at least good, quality. 3 to 5 days of good quality is what you can expect. A day or two more of slightly mushy, but not completely useless zucchini. If you see the produce is starting to get watery, throw it into a soup instead of a salad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you store fresh zucchini in the fridge, it should remain good for at least 5 to 7 days, up to 2 weeks even. To make sure it lasts as long as possible, wrap it (unwashed) in a paper or plastic bag. Make sure there’s some air circulation, though. That means it shouldn’t be wrapped tightly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the zucchini is already sliced or chopped, it will keep in the fridge for two to three days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Peeling](\"http:\/\/pantryguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/peeling-zucchini.jpg\")
How to tell if zucchini is bad?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In most cases before spoiling zucchini will start to get soft. While soft and somewhat mushy zucchini isn’t spoiled or bad, it can ruin some dishes, especially salads. In some recipes, like soups, texture change isn’t a big deal, so feel free to use slightly watery zucchini in those. With time, there comes a point when the change of texture is so big the produce is basically useless. If you’re about to slice a somewhat soft zucchini that was stored for too long, prepare for water coming from the inside after cutting through the skin. And I don’t mean a few drops of water, but half a cup or even more, depending on the size of the squash. Zucchini is mostly water, so if it loses its texture, it’s useless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If zucchini didn’t get soft and looks fine of the outside, peel it. If the flesh looks, smells and tastes alright, it’s fine to eat. If there are any small black marks, feel free to cut them out and still use the produce. Make sure you cut more than only those spots. If the black parts are fairly large, just throw the zucchini out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can you freeze zucchini?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
If you have more zucchini than you can use within the next week or two, freezing is an option. Here’s how to freeze zucchini:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Wash and slice the veggies into 1\/2 inch (~1.2 cm) rounds.<\/li>
- Blanch the cut zucchini. First, bring a pot of water to a boil. Then plunge the zucchini into the water for 2-3 minutes (the thicker the slices, the longer they should be boiled). Once done, chill the veggies quickly in ice water (cold water or water with ice cubes). Last step is draining the slices in a colander and patting them dry with paper towels.<\/li>
- Chuck the veggies into freezer bags or containers.<\/li>
- Date and label the packages and transfer into the freezer.<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There’s a certain time of the year when the produce haul in your market is loaded with zucchini. And it’s affordable, so you definitely want to grab a few of those. Unfortunately, summer squash such as zucchini goes bad fairly quickly. Because of that, it’s important to know how long does it last and how … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":155,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"mv":{"thumbnail_id":155,"thumbnail_uri":"https:\/\/pantryguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Zucchinis-300x201.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pantryguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pantryguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pantryguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pantryguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pantryguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pantryguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pantryguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pantryguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pantryguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pantryguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}