Zucchini Salad

5 from 91 votes

Simple and quick to make, this raw zucchini salad is fresh, vibrant and full of texture and flavor. The perfect salad to enjoy throughout the summer.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

This raw zucchini salad is the perfect dish for the summer. Ribbons of zucchini are tossed with walnuts, parmesan and a sweet and tangy red wine vinaigrette. Quick and easy to prep, it’s bursting with fresh flavors.

Large bowl of zucchini salad made with zucchini ribbons with blue towel and serving ware in bowl
Want to save this recipe?
Just type your email below and I’ll send it to you. And as a bonus you’ll get delicious new recipes from me!

Ingredients & substitutions

For the dressing

  • Shallot: Shallots have a more delicate flavor than onions, and are perfect to use in salad dressings. Just mince your shallot and you’re good to go. You can substitute for ¼ of a red onion.
  • Lemon: Use both the zest and the juice for a really bright and zingy flavor. Use fresh lemon juice rather than bottled.
  • Red wine vinegar: Red wine vinegar has a slight fruitiness that works great with the rest of the ingredients. You can make this dressing with apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar as well.
  • Dijon mustard: This adds a great tang to the zucchini salad. In a pinch, you can use a yellow mustard, but it won’t have the same strong flavor.
  • Honey: To natural sweeten the dressing. You can use other liquid sweeteners like maple syrup of stevia.
  • Oil: Extra virgin olive oil is always best to use when making salad dressings as it has a much more rounded flavor. In a pinch you can use regular olive oil, or avocado oil will work well too.
  • Salt and pepper: Added to taste.

For the zucchini salad

  • Zucchini: For this recipe we use a vegetable peeler to cut the zucchini into thin ribbons. It looks so pretty on the plate and they also help to collect up all of the other yummy toppings.
  • Walnuts: Toast the walnuts before adding them to the salad to really bring out their nutty flavors. Place on the baking sheet in the oven at 350F for about 10 minutes. You can also use other nuts like pine nuts or pecans to add texture to the salad.
  • Parmesan: Shaved parmesan adds a nice strong saltiness to the salad. You can skip the cheese to make this plant based.
  • Garnish: Finish the tossed zucchini salad with some basil for color and freshness. Other fresh herbs like cilantro, dill or parsley can also be used.
Ingredients to make the recipe before prepped

How to make zucchini salad

make the dressing

  • Add the dressing ingredients to a bowl.
  • Whisk to combine.
2 image collage to show the dressing ingredients before and after mixing

toss the salad

  • Place the zucchini ribbons in a large bowl using your hands to separate them.
  • Add the rest of the salad ingredients on top of the zucchini noodles.
  • Pour over the dressing.
  • Toss gently to combine.
4 image collage to show the zucchini shaved in a bowl, ingredients getting added, olive oil getting added and then the salad getting tossed

Tips for making salad with zucchini

  1. Use a vegetable peeler to cut the zucchini into ribbons. A peeler is the quickest and easiest way, and you can also use a mandolin if you have one. If you do it with a knife, try and get the ribbons as thin as you can.
  2. Try spiralizing the zucchini. The ribbons of raw zucchini help to hold the toppings, but you can also spiralize it if you prefer. It will still work really well.
  3. Mix up your ingredients. Most nuts and cheeses will work well in this recipe. Try the zucchini salad with feta, goat cheese or blue cheese, or with almonds, pistachios or cashews.
  4. Blend the dressing. The dressing will have some light texture from the grated shallots. If you prefer a smoother dressing, blend it together in a small food processor or blender.

Frequently asked questions

Can you make it ahead of time?

It’s best to make this zucchini salad fairly close to when you want to serve it. If it sits, the zucchini can release moisture and it will start to pool in the bottom of the bowl. You can make it and hour or two ahead and keep it covered in the fridge. The dressing can be made a week or two ahead of time and it’s great with lots of other salads too.

Do you need to peel the zucchini?

There’s no need to peel the zucchini, it adds a great burst of color to the dish and also contains more vitamins, so keep it on. Just give them a good wash before shaving them.

What do you serve it with?

This salad is great to serve alongside all your summer favorites, including grilled fish and chicken. Try it with:
Grilled Lemon Chicken
Grilled Shrimp Skewers
Honey Lemon Salmon
Oven Baked Chicken Breast

Close up shot of the bowl of zucchini salad with fork and spoon scooping some up

This raw zucchini salad is so fresh and bright and it’s ready to enjoy in minutes. Just a few simple ingredients and you have a delicious side you can enjoy all summer long.

More summer salads:

If you’ve tried this healthy-ish feel good Zucchini Salad recipe or any other recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!

preorder MY book

The Feel Good Foodie Cookbook is now available everywhere books are sold!

Zucchini Salad

Simple and quick to make, this raw zucchini salad is fresh, vibrant and full of texture and flavor. The perfect salad to enjoy throughout the summer.
5 from 91 votes
Servings 4 servings
Course Salad
Calories 406
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes

Video

Ingredients
  

For the dressing:

For the salad:

  • 2 medium zucchinis ends trimmed
  • cup toasted walnuts
  • cup shaved Parmesan cheese
  • Fresh basil for garnish

Instructions

  • In a medium bowl, mix shallot, lemon juice, lemon zest, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard and honey. Slowly stream in oil, whisking continuously until emulsified. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  • Using a vegetable peeler, shave the zucchini into ribbons, starting from one side, then flipping over and repeating on the other side. When you get the core of the zucchini, you can chop and reserve for another use.
  • In a large bowl, toss zucchini, walnuts, Parmesan and basil with dressing. Serve immediately.

Notes

Storage: This salad is best enjoyed soon after being made, but it will keep well covered in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Nutrition

Calories: 406kcal, Carbohydrates: 49g, Protein: 13g, Fat: 24g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 6mg, Sodium: 177mg, Potassium: 1190mg, Fiber: 18g, Sugar: 6g, Vitamin A: 638IU, Vitamin C: 32mg, Calcium: 411mg, Iron: 7mg

Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.

Cuisine American
Course: Salad

Rate and comment

Recipe Rating




Comments

  1. I am absolutely obsessed with the dressing from this recipe! We make it all the time and use it in salads, as a marinade, and most recently, I just made chickpea grain bowls and used it as a topper. It’s so good! Thank you for sharing it! Appreciate you!

  2. Delicious! We gobbled it and will make it again tomorrow since there’s a bunch of dressing leftover. I even forgot the walnuts. It didn’t matter! So easy too. Highly recommend.

  3. Wow. Nice and refreshing. I didn’t realize that you could peel a zucchini with a Y peeler. I am allergic to walnuts so substituted kalamata olives. It was great. I also peeled the zucchini and layered feta dip between the layers. Refrigerated it, cut it in pieces and stuck an olive on top. Interesting appetizer. Many thanks!!!

  4. I love zuchini squash and can’t wait to try out this recipe! I practice eating vegan style so recipes that contain no animal food products are especially appreciated. Thank you for the ribbon making suggestion with a paring knife.