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This is a very Australian recipe and something that I grew up with. Now that we have backyard chickens, we often have excess eggs that we need to use up, and I always have a lot of sourdough starter that needs a purpose! Hence, my sourdough zucchini slice was born!
If you’ve never had zucchini slice before, think of it as somewhere between a crustless quiche and a savory slice. The sourdough discard adds a such a nice depth of flavor and helps make the texture soft and tender without being too heavy.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe!
- Active Starter or Sourdough Discard – You can use whatever you have on hand to make this recipe, it doesn’t make any difference to the final result!
- Eat It Hot or Cold – You can serve this warm from the oven or chill it down for picnics and lunchboxes.
- Swap It Out – Swap out the carrot and onion for whatever you have. We love adding red peppers, corn and green onions.
This is a family favorite recipe!
This sourdough zucchini slice is something that I grew up with in Australia. It’s a lunchbox staple and something we eat for dinner often, especially in the warmer months when our chickens are laying lots of eggs and zucchini are abundant in the garden! I love making this a little bit fancy by adding dollops of feta to the top before baking and serving it with my tomato chutney or spicy tomato relish (and a big slice of my simple sourdough bread on the side of course).
I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Ingredients
- Eggs – I’ve used 6 eggs with a total weight of 320g. If your eggs are smaller, I’d recommend adding an extra egg.
- Vegetable Oil – Keeps the slice moist and soft, even after it’s cooled.
- Sourdough Discard – You can use either discard or active starter here.
- All Purpose Flour
- Zucchini – I’ve used 2 medium zucchini. The zucchini weighed around 600g before I squeezed the moisture out and then 400g after squeezing out all the liquid. I’ve used the “squeezed” weight in the recipe above.
- Bacon – Adds a nice savory salty flavor. You can leave it out if you’d prefer a vegetarian version.
- Carrot – Adds a little sweetness and extra color. Plus I love adding extra veggies.
- Red Onion – I’ve used half a small red onion. You can use yellow onion if you prefer or even spring onions are lovely in this too!
- Cheddar Cheese – I’ve used a 50/50 blend of American Sharp Cheddar (Kirkland Brand) and Australian Cheddar, so you’ll notice that there are two different color cheeses in my bowl. This is just personal preference. You can use whatever cheese you like to eat.
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Pepper
How To Make Sourdough Zucchini Slice
Before you start, make sure you have all the vegetables prepared – shred the zucchini and carrot and dice the onion. You’ll also need to shred the cheese and dice the bacon too!
Place the shredded zucchini into a flour sack tea towel and squeeze all the excess moisture out. You want as little moisture in the zucchini as possible! This is the most important step. Too much moisture will make the slice soggy and stop it from setting properly.
Kate’s Pro Tip
Avoid a Watery Slice
I’ve used 2 medium zucchini. The zucchini weighed around 550g before I squeezed the moisture out and then 250g after squeezing out all the liquid. I’ve used the “squeezed” weight in the recipe above. To make sure I’ve gotten all the liquid out, I shredded the zucchini first and then added it to a flour sack tea towel with a little sprinkle of salt and left it for 20 minutes, before squeezing. This makes sure you get as much liquid out as possible.
Line a 9″ x 9″ pan with parchment paper and spray lightly with olive oil to ensure the sourdough zucchini slice doesn’t stick.
Add the eggs, oil, flour and sourdough discard to a large bowl and whisk until well combined.
Then, on top of the egg mixture, add the shredded zucchini and carrot, diced onion and bacon, shredded cheddar cheese, baking powder, salt and pepper. Stir all this together to form a thick batter.
Kate’s Pro Tip
Always Line The Pan!
I recommend using parchment paper to line your pan, even if you’re using a non stick pan like I am! Once the sourdough zucchini slice is cooked, it can be tricky to get out of the pan. But if you use parchment paper, you can use the edges as handles to carefully lift the slice out in one piece, making it much easier to slice cleanly.
Pour this into your prepared pan and bake at 180ºC/350ºF for around 50 minutes – or until the slice is baked through and golden on top. Make sure you check the middle – it should be set and not wobbly.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before carefully using the parchment paper to lift it out of the pan to cool on a wire rack.
How To Store + Freeze
Fridge – Store the sourdough zucchini slice in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. It’s delicious cold, straight from the fridge, which makes it perfect for lunchboxes.
Freezer – Slice into squares and freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. I like to place a little parchment paper between the pieces so they don’t stick together.
To serve, thaw in the fridge overnight and either eat cold or warm gently in the oven.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, absolutely. You can leave it out or replace it with extra vegetables. Diced pepperoni is also a good alternative if you have some on hand.
Yes. Any cheese that melts well will work, but a strong cheddar gives the best flavor. I keep a ziplock bag of bits and pieces of cheese and then shred that up whenever we want to make zucchini slice! It saves so much waste!
Usually this means the zucchini wasn’t squeezed enough before adding it to the batter.
Yes. In fact, it’s often even better the next day once the flavors have had time to develop.
Sourdough Zucchini Slice
Equipment
- Square Baking Pan (9" x 9")
Ingredients
- 6 Eggs, (total weight 320g)
- 90 g Vegetable Oil
- 100 g Sourdough Discard
- 200 g All-purpose Flour
- 250 g Zucchini, (shredded, moisture squeezed out – see notes)
- 100 g Bacon, (diced)
- 100 g Carrot, (shredded)
- 85 g Red Onion, (diced)
- 230 g Cheddar Cheese, (shredded)
- 10 g Baking Powder
- 5 g Salt
- 3 g Pepper
Instructions
- Before you start, make sure you have all the vegetables prepared – shred the zucchini and carrot and dice the onion. You'll also need to shred the cheese and dice the bacon too!Place the shredded zucchini into a flour sack tea towel and squeeze all the excess moisture out – you want as little moisture in the zucchini as possible!
- Line a 9" x 9" pan with parchment paper and spray lightly with olive oil to ensure the sourdough zucchini slice doesn't stick.
- Add the eggs, oil, flour and sourdough discard to a large bowl and whisk until well combined.
- Then, on top of the egg mixture, add the shredded zucchini and carrot, diced onion and bacon, shredded cheddar cheese, baking powder, salt and pepper. Stir all this together to form a thick batter.
- Pour this into your prepared pan and bake at 180ºC/350ºF for around 50 minutes – or until the slice is baked through and golden on top. Make sure you check the middle – it should be set and not wobbly.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before carefully using the parchment paper to lift it out of the pan to cool on a wire rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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