Read more about the courgette on Veggipedia.

Cleaning and cutting courgettes

Wash the courgette with water before use and cut off the crown. Peeling is not necessary and you can just eat the white soft seeds. You can cut the courgette in half, into strips, slices and/or cubes. If you want to grill the courgette, you can also cut it into long, thin slices. Use a vegetable slicer or cheese slicer, for example.

Courgette preparation

The courgette is a versatile vegetable that can be eaten raw. You can fry the courgette (in a frying pan or wok), grill it or prepare it in the oven. Preparation times are shown below.

You can also dice courgettes and pickle them in vinegar with herbs, just like a gherkin.

Courgette preparation times

Cooking: 5 minutes
Stir-frying: 3 minutes
Grilling/barbecue: 5-10 minutes
Oven: 25 minutes

Storing courgettes

Instead of storing the vegetable in the fridge, keep the courgette in a cool place, such as a pantry. Because fruiting vegetables like courgette, capsicum and cucumber do not cope well with cold. The courgette then ripens post-ripening, giving it even more flavour. Courgette will keep for 1-2 weeks.

It is best to keep leftover raw courgettes in the fridge. Keep them wrapped in cling film.

Cooked courgettes will keep for 2 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer.

Storage times

Raw
Cool place: 1-2 weeks

Cooked
Refrigerated: 2 days
Frozen: 3 months

When is the courgette no longer good?

How can I tell if a courgette is no longer good? The courgette will have rotten spots or go mouldy. You can quickly detect decay by using your senses. So look, smell or taste and you will know!