Zucchini Noodle Salad, served with Beans, Feta, and Lemon

At a glance

What stands out: This lighter and straightforward to mix zucchini noodle salad is hearty enough to serve as a vegetarian meal, but it can also serve as a flavorful side salad. You can easily make this salad without a spiralizer, too!

How long it takes: 15 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: spiralizer or knife
Servings: 6

Zucchini Love

Zucchini is everywhere right now and we are loving it! We have a farm stand just up the road from us and they have a standby and most reasonably priced produce. We visited recently to see what they had and of course, we found zucchini! (Side note, their zucchini is always 3 for $1 which is just memorable!). We grabbed two zucchini and a summer squash, along with a bag of peaches, a huge cabbage, three bell peppers (also three for a dollar), an acorn squash, and a spaghetti squash.

All of that beautiful produce inspired us to create this recipe that same day. We enjoyed this zucchini salad for lunch, which is an added bonus of not only this salad but our job in general.

Fresh zucchini noodle salad

Hearty enough for a meal. We add cannellini beans and feta cheese for protein and flavor, so you could easily serve it as a main course salad. It also makes a great side salad or addition to a picnic or barbecue.

Fresh, bright flavors. We keep this salad lively with zesty fresh herbs, tomatoes, and freshly squeezed lemon juice. We use lots of mint and parsley for a combination reminiscent of one of our favorite salads, tabbouleh. Dill, oregano, or basil are also fantastic in this salad. Use whatever you have available.

Versatile. We like to use both summer squash and zucchini because we think the two colors are pretty in this salad. You could definitely use two zucchini if that’s what you have, or two summer squash. We frequently combine the two types of summer squash for recipes like this tasty grilled vegetable salad.

Pro tip: If you are using a spiralizer, it has the tendency to make long noodles. These can be a little tricky to eat, so we like to grab a kitchen scissors and snip them to a more manageable length before tossing this salad together.

Recipe Tip

Other types of beans can be substituted for cannelini beans. Try great northern beans, chickpeas, or shelled edamame.

don’t have a spiralizer?

We realize that not everyone has a spiralizer to make zucchini noodles. No worries! You can also use a vegetable peeler and shave the zucchini into thin ribbons (like these sautéed squash ribbons). The squash could be sliced thinly using a mandoline or food processor. Another option is to simply use a sharp knife to cut the squash into thin strips or dice it into cubes. There are many ways to enjoy this zucchini noodle salad.(You may want to call it by a different name to avoid confusion!)

Keeping leftovers

Refrigerate: Store the salad in a covered container for up to three days. Stir well before serving.

• Yield: 6
• Prep: 15 minutes
• Total: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
• 2 medium to large zucchini, spiralized to a spaghetti-like size (see note)
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• ½ cup crumbled feta (fresh mozzarella would be great, too!)
• ½ cup minced fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh mint (see note)

Method

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and red pepper flakes.
2. Add the zucchini noodles, halved tomatoes, beans, feta, parsley, and mint. Stir lightly to combine, until all ingredients are lightly coated with the dressing.
3. Taste the salad, and add more salt or red pepper flakes as desired. Serve immediately or store in covered container in fridge.

Notes

Zucchini: Yellow summer squash can be substituted or you can use both kinds of squash for a more colorful salad. Any type of thin-skinned summer squash can be used.

Don’t have a spiralizer? You can use a vegetable peeler to shave the zucchini into thin ribbons. Another option is to thinly slice the squash using a mandoline. You could also use a sharp knife and cut it the squash into thin strips or dice it.

Herbs: You can vary the flavor of this salad by using a different fresh herb, such as oregano, chives, dill, basil, etc. Use what you have available. We would not advise using dried herbs.