Raw Zucchini Salad

Raw zucchini salad with feta, toasted pine nuts, and microgreens! An incredibly fresh, healthy, and crunchy salad that catches the eye!

This healthy raw zucchini salad with feta, toasted pine nuts, microgreens, comes with a tangy dressing made with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. It’s such a simple recipe with only a few ingredients that is ideal for summer.

Preparing zucchini salad raw is not only the quickest way, but leaves you with much more vitamins than if you cook the zucchini beforehand. Raw zucchini is high in vitamin c, very fresh, crunchy, and juicy. Perfect for making a salad with it.

You can arrange the zucchini slices beautifully on a platter and top it with the remaining ingredients. This way it’s a perfectly beautiful vegetarian summer salad that goes well with a barbecue, as a side dish, or appetizer. 

So if you are also a fan of zucchini, you should definitely try this zucchini salad recipe!

Ingredients

See recipe card for quantities.

• Zucchini → The main ingredient! It is best to use small or medium zucchini, preferably organic ones. Depending on availability, you can mix yellow and green zucchini, which makes for a more colorful salad.
• Feta Cheese→ Crumbled feta adds a creamy and salty note to the salad. Goat cheese or parmesan would work too. For a vegan version, use this vegan feta tofu recipe or skip the cheese altogether.
• Pine Nuts → Golden brown toasted pine nuts provide a delicious nutty flavor.
• Microgreens or Garden Cress → For decoration purpose! Feel free to use arugula or fresh herbs from your garden (fresh basil, dill, parsley, fresh mint leaves, chives) instead.
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Fresh Lemon Juice (or Lime Juice), Salt, and Pepper → This is all you need for the fresh dressing.

Visual Step-by-Step Instructions

This visual step-by-step instruction will help you along the way – definitely recommended if you’re a cooking beginner! 😉

• Toast pine nuts in a frying pan without oil until golden brown.

• Wash the zucchini and slice it thinly into thin ribbons using a vegetable peeler, mandoline, or a sharp knife. Place them in a bowl, season with a pinch of salt and pepper, add lemon juice, and olive oil.
• Gently toss it (make sure that the zucchini ribbons don’t break apart) and let it sit for 10 minutes.
• Arrange the zucchini slices individually by hand on a serving platter (it looks prettiest this way).
• Crumble feta cheese on top, sprinkle pine nuts as well as cress on top. Drizzle with a little more olive oil and lemon juice if needed. Serve immediately!

Make-Ahead & Storage Instructions

Raw Zucchini Salad tasted best when fresh, but can be made up to a few hours in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. It will stay fresh for up to 3 days.

More Zucchini Recipes

• Vegetarian Stuffed Zucchini Boats
• Pasta Salad with Roasted Zucchini
• Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

📖 Recipe