28 Shares

Preserve your zucchini harvest by learning how to can it the easy way! Follow this step-by-step guide to canning zucchini and enjoy it all year long.

if you live in a rural area – and maybe even if you don’t – you’ve probably hear that you better roll up your windows and lock your doors before you leave your car in the church parking lot, or you’ll come back to find it full of home grown summer squash and zucchini.

Those plants are prolific! And it’s surprisingly hard to find ways to use it fast enough.

But the good news is, you can save it for later by canning it.

When I was a kid, my mom used to can zucchini and other summer squash like this, and we would use it mostly for squash casserole. We also added it to soups. Today, now that I have a deep freezer, I also Freeze zucchini for using in things like muffins and zucchini bread, as I find it works better for those things.

Ingredients Needed

Either way, canning is incredibly simple to preserve zucchini.

All you need are zucchini, salt, water, and of course, jars, lids, and a pressure canner.

For the zucchini itself, it’s better to use smaller fruits, as they will have a firmer seed cavity, and more tender texture. I like mine to be an inch to an inch-and-a-half thick.

As for salt, you’ll want to use a non-iodized salt. Canning salt, as the name indicates, works well, or you can use a sea salt, or, as pictures, Redmond’s real salt.

For the jars, There seem to be endless brands out there, and they all work equally well. Even Walmart’s house brand. I mostly can in pints, because I have a small family, but jar size is completely up to you.

Lids. For the most part, if I’m buying new jars, I use the lids that come with that, with a few exceptions such as that pesky Walmart house brand. I’ve found that enough of the don’t seal, that it’s not worth while, and I skip straight to Denali canning lids. Since jars can be used an infinite number of time, but lids are mostly only used once, after that first round, I switch to Denali canning lids anyway. They’re easy to order, and have a guarantee to seal – I love them!

You do need to use a pressure canner to can zucchini, as with all low-acid vegetables. The pressure is needed to reach higher tempuratures in order to kill bad bacteria. If you’ don’t have one already, know that you lower end canners like this one work just as well as the ones that will bankrupt you. And if you’ve never done pressure canning, read this guide to pressure canners.

Is canned zucchini mushy?

Yes. This is one of the reasons it’s not very popular in the modern world, where we don’t have to depend on preserving our own food to survive.

This mushiness can be somewhat mitigated by desiccating the zucchini in salt bath to draw out some of the moisture. This works really well with bread and butter pickles, which are water bath canned. However, zucchini is processed at a much higher temperature, so the benefits are limited at best.

That said, canned zucchini is still a good, nutritious vegetable to have in your pantry!

You can use it in cheesy squash casserole.

Or this summer sausage and zucchini soup.

It’s also great to blend up and add to other soups and stews for a nutrition boost.

How to Can Zucchini Squash

Honestly, you’re going to love how easy it is to can squashes like zucchini and yellow squash.

It’s really as simple as cutting your squash into an appropriate size (I prefer to go with about 1/4 inch, but that’s not a rule), and packing it into jars.

Step one: Clean your squash, make sure your jars and lids are sterile and ready to go.

Step two: Slice your zucchini – 1/4 inch to 1 inch chunks depending on your preference.

Step three: Pack sliced zucchini into jars, and top with salt – 1/2 teaspoon for pint jars, or 1 teaspoon for quart jars.

Step four: Fill with water

Step five: Wipe rims with a clean cloth or paper towel, and screw down lids

Step six: Process in pressure canner for 45 minutes (quarts), or 35 minutes (pints).

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to peel zucchini before canning it? No. The peelings are tender, so there’s no need. However, if that’s your preference, there’s no law saying you can’t. Peelings can be composted or fed to chickens.

Is canning zucchini safe? That’s a good question, and a decision you’ll have to make for your self. As I mentioned above, I’ve been at least participating in canning, and eating canned zucchini since I was a child. Countless other gardeners also can zucchini. However some sources say that it is not safe, for the same reasons that canning pumpkin is not recommended. I was not able to find that information on the National Center for Home Food Preservation website however.

Can I can shredded zucchini? I don’t recommend this. Shredding your zucchini makes it pack down much more tightly, which makes it harder for the heat to penetrate through to the center and kill bacterias that cause botulism. It’ better to cut it into 1/2 inch cubes.

Can I use a water bath canner? No. Again, zucchini needs to be pressure canned, like all low-acid foods in order to make it safe to eat. I’ve probably mentioned more than a few times that many Amish people won’t use a pressure canner as it’s too modern. Many Amish people also die. Just saying.

What kind of seasonings can I add to my zucchini before canning? There are a number of ways you can add flavor: onions, lemon juice, vinegar, black pepper, garlic, celery seed, mustard seed, tomato sauce (instead of water), and probably more that I’m not remembering.

Other canning recipes for you: