Never Make Soggy Roasted Zucchini Again With A One-Ingredient Fix

There is much more to zucchini than just shaving it down into a no-carb noodle replacement. Personally, I love zucchini simply sautéed with some olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, or breaded and fried into zucchini fries, but I grimace whenever I'm served a bowl of green "pasta." Zucchini is not spaghetti, and it never wanted to be!

Although there are dozens of ways to prepare zucchini beyond a bowl of zoodles – from roasting it, grating it up into sweet zucchini bread, or even cooking it down into Stanley Tucci's favorite pasta sauce for Spaghetti alla Nerano –many cooks dislike the summer squash because of how easily it cooks down into a wet and squishy mess.

The added water can lend itself well to some recipes, like moist and tender zucchini bread, but can be off-putting when served in a wet heap on a plate. There are ways to mitigate all the excess moisture with the help of one common kitchen ingredient: cornstarch.

Up to 95% of a zucchini's weight comes from water, which makes it one of the most hydrating vegetables out there. While this is good in some situations, the excess water also lends to zucchini's reputation for being overly wet and mushy when cooked.

If you are roasting or sautéing your zucchini for a side dish, you can add cornstarch to help absorb extra moisture and keep it from going mushy. Cornstarch makes for an extra crispy coating when used for deep frying. When flour is usually used to coat zucchini, the breading absorbs the water, which develops the gluten from the wheat, and could lead to a gummy texture. Using cornstarch, however, is more efficient at absorbing moisture because the pure starch can take on more water weight than flour, but it also doesn't contain any gluten, so you can avoid the gummy texture altogether. Cornstarch also makes for a lighter and crispier coating than flour, making for an altogether better texture.

To avoid making soggy zucchini, all you have to do is add a sprinkle of cornstarch to absorb any water that may leak out. Start by chopping your zucchini in equal pieces, either sliced into coins or long spears. Add the prepped zucchini to a bowl and add your seasonings of choice along with a scant amount of cornstarch — just a teaspoon or so is all you need. Toss the zucchini to coat, and then place it on a sheet tray and pop it into a hot oven. Baking it at a high temperature, like 450 degrees Fahrenheit, allows the zucchini to get crispy and brown on the outside before overcooking too much on the inside, hopefully helping you avoid ever ending up with wet zucchini again.