SeasonSort Week of Sep 4 · updated Fri

Zucchini

Peak season in the Midwest · up 31% this week

$1.49 /lb

This week

↑31%

Vs last week

Calories/serv

1 g

Protein/serv

Seasonality of zucchini

This vegetable is at its local-harvest peak from June through September, and is generally in stores from May through October. This week it's peak season in the Midwest — buying it in season usually means better quality and, as the regional prices below show, a lower price.

Nutrition · per 120g serving

Calories

1.4 g

Protein

3.7 g

Carbs

0.4 g

Fat

1.2 g

Fiber

Per a typical 120g serving, scaled from the per-100g figures in USDA FoodData Central (Squash, summer, zucchini, includes skin, raw).

Cheapest zucchini this week, by region

Buying zucchini in the Northeast saves about 28% versus the Northwest this week.

Buying zucchini

How to pick a good one: Smaller is better. A zucchini under about eight inches has dense flesh and small seeds; the giant ones are watery and bland. The skin should be glossy and unscarred, and the stem end freshly cut rather than shrivelled.
What a good price looks like: Zucchini is one of the cheapest vegetables in the shop in season, commonly 99 cents to $1.50 a pound and often under a dollar in August. At the bottom of that range, buy more than you need and grate the surplus for the freezer. Above $2 a pound it has been shipped from somewhere out of season and the flesh will be waterier and seedier for the money.
What you actually get: A medium zucchini runs about 200 g and grates down to roughly 1.5 cups, which loses nearly half its volume once squeezed. Two medium zucchini serve four as a side, or make one loaf of zucchini bread. There is essentially no waste: skin, seeds, and flesh are all edible.

Storing and cooking zucchini

How to store it: Unwashed, loosely bagged in the crisper, for about a week. Moisture on the skin turns into soft brown patches quickly, so if you wash it, dry it thoroughly first.
In the kitchen: The enemy is water. Slice or plank it thick, get the pan properly hot, and leave it alone long enough to colour; anything thinner than about a centimetre collapses before it browns. If you are grating it for fritters or bread, salt the shreds, wait ten minutes, then wring them out in a tea towel — you will be surprised how much comes out, and the batter depends on it being gone.
Getting the most out of it: Zucchini is mostly water, so give it high heat and room in the pan or it steams into mush. When the price drops, grate and squeeze it for fritters or bread. Grated zucchini freezes well, which is the only sensible answer to a summer glut.

Cook with Zucchini · cheapest dishes first

See all 531 recipes with zucchini →Filter by diet, time, budget, and macros.

Price from the USDA National Retail Report. Nutrition per typical serving, computed from USDA FoodData Central.

Zucchini — FAQ

When can you buy zucchini in season?

This vegetable is at its local-harvest peak from June through September, and is generally in stores from May through October. This week the Midwest has zucchini marked peak season.

What's the price of zucchini right now?

As of the week of September 4, 2026, the price of zucchini in the Midwest is $1.49/lb, up 31% from last week. It's cheapest in the Northeast at $1.44/lb.

How many calories and how much protein are in zucchini?

A typical 120g serving of zucchini has about 20 calories, 1.4g protein, 3.7g carbohydrates, 0.4g fat, and 1.2g fiber, per USDA FoodData Central.

What can I make with zucchini?

SeasonSort indexes 531 recipes that use zucchini, each with its cost per serving computed from this week's prices — starting from about $0.06 a serving. The cheapest are listed on this page, with a link to the full filtered list.