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This easy zucchini potato bake is quick to prep, full of flavor, easy to customize, and a perfect summery side dish for BBQs, potlucks, or weeknight dinners!
Why You’ll Love This Zucchini Potato Casserole
Looking for a way to use up zucchinis taking over your fridge (or garden)? I’ve already made 5 batches of vegan cheesy zucchini chips, a zucchini salad, and a zucchini tart – but, this zucchini potato bake is the perfect summer side. It comes together quickly for a light yet comforting side that pairs well with everything.
It’s budget-friendly, diet-friendly, and foolproof. All you need are a few pantry staples and one baking dish. Pop it in the oven, and bake until tender in the middle with a satisfying crunchy top – and no zucchini mushiness, thanks to the breadcrumbs! Plus, there are several ways to change things up; enjoy it light or make it creamy, ‘cheesy’, with extra veggies, etc. No matter what, it’s sure to impress.
Looking for more crowd-pleasing casseroles/bakes? Try my healthy vegan cauliflower casserole, vegetarian enchilada casserole, and black bean quinoa casserole.
Ingredient Notes
Recipe Variations
- Other starch: Sub potato for a pumpkin, butternut squash, or sweet potato zucchini bake.
- Other veggies: Bulk up the zucchini potato bake with mushrooms, carrots, eggplant, kale, cauliflower, broccoli, corn, and/or mushrooms.
- Seasonings: Boost flavor with smoked paprika, nutmeg, chili/cayenne pepper, dried oregano, and/or rosemary.
- Fresh herbs: Like rosemary, thyme, basil, and/or parsley.
- Creamy: For potato and zucchini gratin, add 1 ½-2 cups dairy-free cream, like coconut cream. Top with the breadcrumbs and, optionally, some vegan cheese. Alternatively, make a creamy sauce like my vegan scalloped potatoes.
- Protein: Lentils, chickpeas, white beans, crumbled tofu/vegan sausage, etc.
How to Make A Zucchini and Potato Bake
Keep scrolling to the recipe card for the complete list of ingredients and recipe instructions!
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400°F/200 °C. Also, rinse and slice the potatoes and zucchini. Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl (or in the casserole dish) and mix.
Step 2: Transfer to a 9×13-inch casserole dish and bake the zucchini potatoes casserole for 50-60 minutes, carefully stirring after 30 minutes. Remove the zucchini potato casserole from the oven. Let it cool for 5 minutes and serve. Enjoy!
Optionally arrange the potato and zucchini slices into alternating, overlapping rows.
FAQs
Slice and store potatoes in water up to a day in advance. The remaining casserole can be fully assembled. When ready, pat the potatoes dry, stir them with the other ingredients, and bake.
If you have a BBQ/grill going and don’t want to turn on the oven, mix the ingredients, separate them into portioned foil packets, and grill for 15-25 minutes until tender.
Not unless you’d prefer to! The peels are packed with fiber and nutrients.
Pro Recipe Tips
- Don’t slice the veggies too thin: Otherwise, they’ll become mushy. I recommend ¼-½-inch even slices. Thicker ones have a little more ‘bite.’
- If it browns too much: Cover the potato and zucchini bake with foil and continue to bake. For a softer middle, bake it covered for 30 minutes, then uncover for the remainder.
- For a crisper top: Broil it for a few minutes at the end.
What To Serve with Potato Zucchini Casserole
This is a versatile side that pairs with tons of proteins and mains, including:
- BBQ dishes: Like grilled tofu steaks or kebabs, Southwest black bean burgers, mushroom red lentil meatballs, etc.
- Bread: Like easy vegan garlic bread, quick and easy vegan biscuits, jalapeno cornbread, flatbread, etc.
- Salads: i.e., a simple leafy green salad, Greek cucumber salad, carrot cucumber salad, mixed bean salad, a Fattoush salad, etc.
Using leftovers: The baked zucchini and potatoes are easily repurposed in vegan frittatas, omelettes, or as a filling for wraps.
Storage Instructions
Store: In an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Freeze: I don’t recommend it, as it can become mushy/grainy.
Reheat: In a microwave (though it’ll be soft) or oven (covered with foil at 350F) until heated through.
Other Vegan Zucchini Recipes To Consider….
Vegan Lunches
Easy Zucchini Stir Fry
Vegan Appetizers
Baked Zucchini Fries
Soups
Vegan Zucchini Soup
Vegan Dinners
Vegan Zucchini Boats
If you tried this zucchini potato bake recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks!
Zucchini Potato Bake
Video
Ingredients
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 small garlic cloves minced
- 1 small red or yellow onion diced
- 1 small red or green bell pepper diced
- 3 medium zucchini halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
- 3 large russet potatoes halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
- ¾ cup nutritional yeast
- ½ cup dry bread crumbs
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, garlic, onion, bell pepper, zucchini, potatoes, nutritional yeast, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper. Toss until everything is evenly coated.
- Transfer the mixture to a 9×13-inch casserole dish and spread it out evenly.
- Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Carefully stir the casserole, then return it to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes. Keep an eye on it during the final 10 minutes to prevent burning.
- Remove from the oven and let it sit for a few minutes before serving.
Notes
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- Don’t slice the veggies too thin: Otherwise, they’ll become mushy. I recommend ¼-½-inch even slices. Thicker ones have a little more ‘bite.’ I also love using this mandoline at 1/4-inch to make sure everything is evenly sliced.
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- If it browns too much: Cover the potato and zucchini bake with foil and continue to bake. For a softer middle, bake it covered for 30 minutes, then uncover for the remainder.
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- For a crisper top: Broil it for a few minutes at the end.
Hi there! I am dying to try this however we are not big fans of russet potatoes. Van you suggest another type please? Thanks
Toni thank you for another fantastic recipe. This was so easy to throw together and I had all the ingredients on hand. I made this exactly how you had it posted and it turned out perfect. The flavors work so well together. Another 10+++++ recipe!
This makes me so happy! Glad you enjoyed it!
this was excellent. I’ve tried it twice and it’s came out perfect. both times even tastes. I think better the next day
Wohoo! So glad you enjoyed this simple zucchini potato bake!
This was a nice casserole and a way to use up some garden zucchini. I added a can of beans, just because I can! I put a little BBQ sauce on my first serving to jazz it up a little more since I was serving it as a main dish, not a side. Thanks for the recipe.
So glad you enjoyed this casserole! Love the BBQ sauce addition!
What kind of casserole dish is best? I have 1.5 quart deep dishes but also 13×9 dishes. Not sure which would be better.
As long as it is semi-large, it should turn out great 🙂 Hope you enjoy it!
Wow! I had in-laws visiting for a few days and decided to try this recipe. It was a hit with everyone. Very tasty for sure! I did have to bake it a little longer only because I probably didn’t cut my potatoes small enough. Sister-in-law took recipe home with her! This is going on my rotation! I didn’t change a thing!
So glad everyone enjoyed the casserole! It’s such a yummy dish!
Sounds so yummy. Is there a way to make it more oil-free, or using just
less oil
We at Plant-Based on a Budget haven’t tried reducing the oil yet so can’t guarantee the results. But please let us know how it turns out if you give it a go! 🙂
What can I substitute for nutritional yeast?
Hi! You could use some of your favorite melty dairy-free cheese! 🙂
The zucchini casserole was so good and comforting! It came out creamy with the zucchini and the potatoes were creamy and crunchy (put it under broiler for a few minutes) . I served it with root beet hummus. Definitely will make it again! Thank You!
Right?! Such a comforting dish!
Loved this. I cooked it in my airfryer at 380 for 48 minutes. So crispie and delicious. Thanks for sharing.
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing your air fryer experience with it 🙂
looks good
Hope you enjoy it if you end up giving it a go!
This came out so good! I had to tweak the recipe because I only had two small potatoes so I added two small sweets potatoes and OMG game changer!! The sweetness of the sweet potato with the rosemary and the spices was delicious. Making this dish for thanksgiving from now on. Thanks for sharing!
Love the addition of sweet potatoes for this recipe! Will have to give that a go myself!
Really delicious!
For reference, I cut the squash & zucchini at 5/16″ on the mandolin; the potatoes were cut at 3/16.” Perfect.
Thanks for the input! So glad you enjoyed this casserole 🙂
For a creamy style, do you think nondairy sour cream or cream fraiche would work? I will be making it Italian style. What about yogurt, added while cooking or a dollop on top as serving?
That sounds delicious! I’ve never tried that, but if it works for you, please let me know. 🙂
This zucchini and potato casserole was absolutely delicious! The prep was super easy and non-time consuming. I especially enjoyed the fact that I had most of the ingredients already on hand. I’ll definitely be preparing more dishes using recipes from plantbasedonabudget.com..
It’s so nice when recipes consist of super simple ingredients! So glad you enjoyed this casserole! 🙂
Wow!! just made this. I thought the zucchini would turn mushy but it didn’t at all! I did cut the potatoes a little smaller to ensure they would cook all the way. This was also my first time cooking with nutritional yeast, and I was VERY pleasantly surprised with the taste! Delicious and healthy, thank you for a great recipe!
Love that you enjoyed it! This casserole is something special!
Loved this so much! Don’t skip the nutritional yeast!
Nothing like a yummy veggie-packed casserole!
Absolutely delicious & so easy! I sub’d French fried onions for bread crumbs & we loved it!
Love the bread crumb addition!
As usual this time of year I have way more zucchini than we can eat. Even after giving away some I find myself looking for recipes that use a decent amount of zucchini. I came across this recipe and decided to give it a try not thinking that it would be anything special, but it would use up some of the over production from our garden. Wow was I wrong! Super simple, fresh, and amazing! We had this for dinner along with some sautéed mushrooms and jasmine rice. I have also brought it for lunch two days in a row. Great meal, great recipe, thanks!
Love that! Toni hit the nail with the hammer on this yummy recipe!
Made this today, and both myself and my wife loved it. Simple ingredients but definitely tasty. The nutritional yeast is a must-have. Just make sure to start the roasting in plenty of time.
That’s so awesome! I’m so glad you and your wife loved it 🙂
What can I use in place of oil?
You can try using veggie broth instead!
Hi Kathleen, I don’t use oil either. I am wondering if you tried this recipe with the vegetable broth and if so, how it turned out? Thank you.
I’ve made it both ways and actually prefer using vegetable broth instead. I do 1/3 cup of vegetable broth instead of the 1/3 cup oil.