Zucchini "Apple" Pie Recipe (2024)

If you’ve ever grown zucchini, you know how it can come on quick and in a fury. You’ll have so much zucchini, and you must find something to do with it all — or end up as that person who’s giving away buckets of zucchini to anyone who will take them.

In my effort to make good use of the zucchinis in our first garden at our new house (seriously, we are so excited), I took to trying what seemed like a pretty crazy idea. My husband has a co-worker who said that his wife makes an “apple” pie from zucchini and that it’s great – just like apple pie.

I started by having a look on Pinterest to see what was out there, but ultimately decided to simply modify my favorite apple pie recipe. I love it and thought that subbing in zucchini couldn’t be all that hard – and it’s not. We found ourselves pleasantly surprised by this zucchini mock apple pie and hope that you will be too!

First Things First – The Ingredients

You’re going to want at least two huge zucchinis (or a few large). Aim for 8 cups of zucchini (a bit less will still work). Cut the ends, half them, scoop out visible seeds, and then slice it up like an apple! I chose to leave the skin on for the extra nutrients, and actually found that the seeds weren’t noticeable when eating the pie — though you may choose to remove them for appearance.

I wanted to give the zucchini a shot at an ‘apple’ flavor, so I soaked them in a bowl of water flavored with a hefty squirt of lemon juice (tart apples make great pies!) and a bit of sugar (I made a simple syrup to make mixing it in easy).

You can pre-cook the zucchini a bit to soften them up if you choose. I found that the cook-time for this recipe is more than enough to soften them up, skins included.

Next you’ll need the ingredients needed to make it taste amazing:

• 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter
• 3 tbs Flour
• 1/4 cup Water
• 1/2 cup Organic Sugar
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla

Start by melting the butter and then mixing in the flour. This will help thicken the sauce. Next add in the remaining ingredients and reduce it to a simmer.

Go ahead and prepare your pie plate now. You’ll need a crust for two layers – top and bottom. Feel free make your favorite crust, but I chose to use a natural prepared pie crust.

Give the sugar mixture a stir and then drain your zucchini. Once strained (try to get out as much water as you can), it’s time to add cinnamon and nutmeg, if you want it. I used 1.5 teaspoons of cinnamon and a few shakes of nutmeg. Transfer this yummy mess to your prepared pie plate. Don’t be afraid to mound it up. It will cook down!

Now carefully pour your sugar mixture over the zucchini, being careful to keep it all inside the crust and reserving just a bit to brush the top crust with.

Apply your top crust, poke a few holes, do lattice work, or whatever it is that you enjoy in a pie crust, and then glaze it with the remaining sauce. You might want to dilute it just a bit with water to make it easier to brush on.

Bake it at 425°F for 15 min, then reduce the heat to 350°F for 40 minutes. Let the pie cool and serve!

Have you ever tried a zucchini pie? I’d love to hear what you think!