This butter-sautéed zucchini succotash is loaded with sweet peppers, savory onion, juicy cherry tomatoes and lima beans. This crisp and easy side dish is filled with the flavors of summer in just 10 minutes!
Why You’ll Love This Succotash
Every time I make this colorful zucchini succotash, I am reminded why I make this every year as soon as the fresh summer zucchini show up at the farmers market. It is the perfect quick and easy side dish for adding more veggies and crunch to your meals. Here’s why I think you will love it too:
- So Flavorful: Packed with gorgeous, colorful and juicy vegetables, each bite is exploding with the fresh flavors of summer!
- Quick and Easy: The most time consuming part of this succotash recipe is chopping up the vegetables! With a super quick 5 minute sauté, you will be ready to serve this dish in just 10 minutes.
- Goes with Everything: From a bbq to grilled chicken, you can’t go wrong with serving this succotash. It pairs great with just about any dish you can think of!
What Is Succotash?
Succotash is a traditional, Native American-inspired side dish. Its main ingredients are sweet corn and tender lima beans. Other veggies like zucchini, peppers, mushrooms, and crunchy onions can be added for even more flavor and texture.
Key Ingredients
Lemon juice adds tang to balance out the zucchini, corn, and peppers’ natural sweetness. Below you will find helpful notes for key ingredients used to make this flavorful zucchini succotash. Scroll down to the recipe card for full ingredient list and exact amounts!
- Zucchini: You can also try this recipe with yellow summer squash!
- Corn: You can use fresh or frozen corn, but I do not recommend canned corn as it is too soft and won’t add any texture.
- Bell Pepper: Use red, yellow or orange bell peppers for a milder, sweeter flavor. Green bell pepper will add a pungent pepper taste.
- Lima Beans: I used frozen, defrosted, lima beans. You can use canned lima beans, make sure to drain them well before adding. We prefer frozen lima beans because the canned ones are softer and have a tendency to get mushy.
How To Make Zucchini Succotash
Making zucchini succotash is as easy as making a tossed salad, we just heat it up for a few minutes before serving. Scroll to the recipe card at bottom of the post for full detailed instructions.
- Sauté: Cook the zucchini, corn, and bell peppers in a pan with melted butter until soft and fragrant. You are just looking to fully cook them, just warming and softening them. Remove the sautéed vegetables from the heat.
- Toss: Transfer the zucchini mixture to a bowl. Add the lima beans, tomatoes, red onions, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Serve and enjoy!
Cook’s Tips & Tricks
- Make it herby: Finely chop up fresh cilantro, parsley, or oregano and mix it into the succotash right before serving. I recommend 1/4 cup.
- Skip the cooking: You can make this succotash without sautéing the vegetables, just omit the butter add all of the ingredients to a large bowl and toss to combine. I like to sauté the vegetables lightly first because it brings out the flavors a lot more, but it is optional!
- More veggies: 1 cup diced celery, jicama, and snap peas can add even more flavor and crunch to this recipe.
- Add heat: Thinly slice fresh jalapeños or serranos and toss them into the mixture for a bit of spicy heat. Add 1/2 tablespoon at a time until spicy to taste. For extra heat, leave the seeds in the peppers.
Serving Suggestions
- Chicken: I love to serve this succotash on the side of this baked lemon pepper chicken or underneath my favorite grilled chicken breasts.
- Beef: You can’t go wrong with a juicy cast iron steak, but I also enjoy this succotash alongside my air fryer hamburgers for an easy summer dinner that doesn’t heat up the kitchen.
- Pork: I know I say it every time, but you just can’t beat these extra juicy baked pork chops made with just 3 ingredients!
Zucchini Succotash
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 zucchini, cut into half moons
- 2 cups corn kernels
- 1 bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 1 cup lima beans
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 1 lemon, juiced
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the zucchini, corn, and bell pepper and sauté for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Transfer the zucchini into a serving bowl and add the lima beans, tomatoes, red onion and lemon juice.
- Season the succotash to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
This is our favorite side dish for all of our cookouts!