A delicious vegetarian casserole that’s a favorite dinner of stuffing lovers! Filled with zucchini and carrots, along with lots of creamy mushroom sauce and sour cream, this Zucchini Stuffing Casserole is perfect for summer dining.
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The mushroom soup can be made ahead, even make it in large batches. Making this casserole the perfect weeknight dinner that will be a family favorite.
Year-round stuffing
I love stuffing. And I love it year-round. Why is it that we just tend to have it at Thanksgiving and Christmas?
Well, I say that we should have it year-round! It’s that good!
Photo above: I wanted you to be able to see how finely I chop the mushrooms. Here they are cooking with the onions for the soup.
Need to use up some summer garden zucchini?
What better way to make stuffing summer friendly, than to add in a bunch of summer zucchini.
And this casserole is a great way to use up some of that summer zucchini that may be growing out of control in your garden (or in your neighbor’s garden).
Of course, the nice thing is that zucchini are available pretty much year-round at the grocery store. So, if you wan to make this at, say Thanksgiving, go right ahead. It’s great then too!
Classic vegetarian casserole
This is a casserole I’ve been making for years. It’s a great vegetarian casserole (be sure to buy a stuffing that doesn’t have chicken or turkey on the ingredient label if you want this to be vegetarian) with lots of flavor going on. (Heck, you could even serve this as a vegetarian stuffing at the holidays).
The photo above: cooked veggies being drained with the steam still coming off of them.
Classic casserole with updates
When I first started making this casserole, I made it with a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup. Well, I don’t eat those canned soups any longer; they have too much sodium for my tastes now.
So, I developed this recipe using my favorite homemade condensed cream of mushroom soup.
Photo above: the casserole is ready to go in the oven. When you combine the butter and the stuffing mix for the topping, you don’t need to toast the bread crumbs because the casserole goes into the oven uncovered, where the bread crumbs toast up inside as it bakes.
Want to switch it up even more?
I also love to eat this casserole cold, straight from the fridge. I think it’s delicious that way. Give it a try! Leftovers rock!
This casserole also lends itself to the addition of chicken, if you’re so inclined. I know that lots of my readers like chicken, and this is another way to make dinner so that everyone is happy.
Use up some leftover rotisserie chicken if you want.
Swap the sour cream for plain Greek yogurt.
You could also use yellow summer squash in this instead of green zucchini. Or, a mixture of both would be great.
For a burst of color, add some chopped red bell pepper or chopped pimento.
I’ve added potatoes to it as well, and it’s great like that too!
Use your favorite broth
What already tastes good to you is what will end up being your favorite.
I use Better Than Bouillon vegetable base for pretty much all of my cooking (if it’s not homemade broth). I like that it isn’t too salty, and how little space it takes to store so much broth.
Oh, and by the way, they have lots of different flavors of Better Than Bouillon to choose from.
If you aren’t used to vegetable broth, and you prefer chicken broth, use that.
The saltiness of the broth you use will decide how much salt to add at the end of the cooking. If you have a salty broth, you may not need to add any salt at all. But do taste the sauce and see if you need to add more salt and pepper.
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Zucchini Stuffing Casserole Recipe
Zucchini Stuffing Casserole
Ingredients
Mushroom soup:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or light tasting oil of your choice divided use
- ½ small onion finely chopped
- ½ cup mushrooms finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ cup flour
- 1 cup milk
- ¾ cup vegetable broth
- ½ teaspoon salt
Casserole:
- 4 medium zucchini sliced ½-inch thick
- ¾ cup peeled & sliced carrots
- 2 ¼ cups herbed stuffing mix divided use
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
Make mushroom soup:
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until onion has released its water and begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Add chopped mushrooms, and cook until mushrooms release their juices and the pan looks dry again, about 5 minutes. Add remaining tablespoon oil, garlic powder, and flour to pan. Cook for about 2 minutes. Slowly add milk, stirring as you add so that there are no lumps. Add broth. Reduce heat, and cook for about 5 minutes longer, or until it reaches desired consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Soup can be made ahead up to 3 days, and kept in the fridge.
Make Casserole:
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Grease a casserole dish with butter or non-stick spray.
- Combine zucchini and carrots in enough boiling, salted water to cover. Cover pan and simmer 7 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Drain.
- In a large bowl, mix together mushroom soup, 1 ½ cups stuffing mix, and sour cream. Gently stir in cooked drained veggies. Transfer veggie mixture to the prepared casserole dish.
- Melt butter in a small saucepan, and add the remaining ¾ cup stuffing mix; gently toss and sprinkle buttered stuffing over the casserole.
- Bake in preheated oven, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations, and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
This is such a wonderful family meal. This is going to be a very busy week for me, so, your recipe is going to be very useful.
I have plenty of fresh veggies. I can’t wait to try this casserole!
I would love to try this Zucchini Stuffing Casserole, but I can’t get the whole recipe to load? Could you please help me out or email a copy? Thank you!
Samantha, thanks again for letting me know. I fixed it! This is what happens when I try to work too fast! Thanks again!
This is the perfect summer casserole! My kids loved it! Thanks!
Such a delicious way to use summer zucchini!
Oh how I love this recipe! My new favorite stuffing! Delicious!