These Sharp Cheddar Zucchini Bites are an easy appetizer to serve at your next summer party! Plus, they’re a fantastic recipe to use up all that summer zucchini.
This post is sponsored by Cabot Creamery, who I adore. FYI, I only work with companies that I love and believe in. All opinions are my own.
ALL THE ZUCCHINI
Summertime is THE time for zucchini. It’s like summer comes and trucks full of beautiful zucchini arrive at the farmers market. Grocery store zucchini tastes better than ever and if you garden you end up with five times the amount of zucchini you were planning for. You need to find recipes to use it up all that perfectly ripe zucchini. If you love it, then it’s a wonderful time of year!
Personally, I’m all about getting seasonal produce from the farmer’s market as often as possible (don’t ask about my previous attempts at gardening). Usually, I skip the zucchini, unless I’m planning on having people over. It’s a great seasonal veg to serve at parties. I like to grill it or better yet...use it to whip up a batch of these Sharp Cheddar Zucchini Bites.
SUMMER PARTIES NEED KILLER APPS
When you have people over or are bringing an appetizer to a party, your main goal is to get your friends to say, “OMG” when they eat what you brought. Or how about seeing an entire tray of the recipe you made (from scratch!) completely disappear. It’s such a great feeling!
You’ll want to impress the party with your awesome cooking skills, right? These Sharp Cheddar Zucchini Bites will do just that.
Not only are they simple to make, but you should have most of the ingredients on hand! Just pick up some Cabot Vermont Sharp Cheddar Cheese, and a few farm fresh zucchini...you’ll be the life of the party in no time.
Plus, there is a super simple dip recipe that is a must for these bites. The dip is creamy, lemony and packed with parsley. It’s a wonderfully refreshing dip that pairs so well with the bites.
SHARP CHEDDAR + ZUCCHINI ARE THE PERFECT COUPLE
For this summer ready party appetizer, I knew I needed a killer cheese to pair with the zucchini. I wanted something that was going to add some richness and depth to the recipe. Cabot Cheese’s Vermont Sharp Cheddar was perfect!
Cabot, who is celebrating their 100th anniversary this year, makes a wonderful variety of cheeses (I love all of their cheddars). The flavors and texture of each cheese cannot be beat, which is why their Vermont Sharp found it’s way into these Sharp Cheddar Zucchini Bites.
Not only do I love Cabot for their delicious cheeses, but I also admire the way they structure their company. They are a co-op owned by farm families in New England and New York with 100% of their profits going back to the farmers. Talk about taking care of your people!
They also recently did a story called The Face of Farmers: Celebrating Cabot's Women Farmers. It’s a wonderful article and I highly recommend you check it out to see how much they value their people.
Alright friends! Are you ready to become the life of the party with the help of these Sharp Cheddar Zucchini Bites? I know you are and when you make them, be sure to snap a pic, share it on Insta and make sure to tag me so I can cheer you on!
SHARP CHEDDAR ZUCCHINI BITES RECIPE TIPS
- It’s super important to get as much moisture out of the zucchini as possible. Salting the zucchini helps extract a lot of the moisture, so make sure not to skip that step!
- Not only are these bites great hot, but they also taste wonderful once cooled a bit. That makes them fantastic for serving a crowd and not worrying about reheating them.
- Prep ahead! If you have a ton of prep to do before the party, you can make both the bites and the dip up to two days before the get-together. The bites reheat easily. Just pop them in the oven at 350 degrees on two parchment-lined baking sheets and cook until warm, about 15 minutes.
- You can freeze these babies! Make the bites, line them up on a parchment lined baking sheet and freeze them. Feel free to place them on a single baking sheet as long as they aren’t touching. Once frozen, place them in a freezer safe container, up to 3 months. When ready to serve, bake them following the remaining steps of the recipe!
Sharp Cheddar Zucchini Bites
Ingredients
- Sharp Cheddar Zucchini Bites
- 1 ½ pounds zucchini about 3 large, grated
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 6 ounces Cabot Vermont Sharp Cheddar Cheese grated
- 1 ¾ cup panko
- ½ cup finely chopped parsley
- 2 eggs
- 1 large shallot finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- Lemon Parsley Dipping Sauce
- ½ cup sour cream
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment and lightly spray with non-stick spray.
- Evenly salt the grated zucchini in a large bowl and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Using a colander or cheesecloth, squeeze out as much liquid as possible from the zucchini.
- Combine the zucchini and the remaining zucchini bite ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
- Scoop a tablespoon sized scoop of the zucchini mixture and place on the baking sheet. Keep going until you’ve used it all up!
- Gently press down on the tops of the zucchini bites to slightly flatten them.
- Bake for 30 minutes, flipping halfway through until browned on both sides.
- While your sharp cheddar zucchini bites are baking, you’ll want to make the dipping sauce. Just mix all the sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl and chill until ready to serve.
- Once your bites are done, serve them on a cute tray with the dipping sauce and enjoy!
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