Cheesy Calabacitas

Tacky Calabacitas is a dish of summer season squash with onions and inexperienced chiles, and it’s the right aspect dish to make with zucchini. My recipe omits the corn and/or tomatoes which are typically utilized in Calabacitas which makes this a low-carb aspect dish!

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Calabacitas is a fast and straightforward option to prepare dinner summer season squash once they’re ample, and in case you like the concept of tacky zucchini with inexperienced chiles you’ll most likely get pleasure from this recipe. Some recipes for Calabacitas embrace issues like corn or tomatoes, however for my lower-carb model I think about the flavors of the squash, onions, inexperienced chiles, and naturally loads of cheese.

That is undoubtedly a recipe that needs to be made to particular person style, and after I first made this I assumed a 4 oz. can of diced inexperienced chiles was a lot spicy, however now I exploit two cans! 

And this Tacky Calabacitas recipe can definitely be used for a vegetable aspect dish, however when I’ve a variety of zucchini and summer season squash I’d fortunately eat a giant plate of this for a meatless lunch or dinner.

What substances do you want for this recipe?

(That is solely a listing of substances; please scroll down for full printable recipe. Or in case you use the JUMP TO RECIPE hyperlink on the prime of the web page, it would take you on to the entire recipe.)

• onion
• zucchini or yellow summer season squash
• Olive Oil (affiliate hyperlink)
• Minced Garlic (affiliate hyperlink)
• Spike Seasoning (affiliate hyperlink), or different all function seasoning mix
• canned diced inexperienced chiles (affiliate hyperlink) (see notes)
• Mexican cheese mix
• salt and contemporary floor black pepper to style

What’s Calabacitas?

Calabacitas is the identify that’s used to explain a option to prepare dinner summer season squash or zucchini that’s widespread in Mexico or the American Southwest. This recipe is typically referred to as Mexican Zucchini. Calabacitas all the time contains zucchini or summer season squash, onions, inexperienced chiles, and cheese, and a few variations add different substances like corn, tomatoes, or purple pepper.

How low in carbs is my Tacky Calabacitas?

My tacky model of this favourite summer season squash recipe with out corn or tomatoes has solely about 10 web carbs per serving!

What kind of Inexperienced Chiles are utilized in Calabacitas?

There are fairly just a few completely different kinds of Mexican Chile Peppers which are inexperienced. However for this recipe I’m simply utilizing the diced inexperienced chiles which are discovered within the grocery retailer. The canned inexperienced chiles you discover will normally be comparatively gentle Anaheim Chiles or Hatch Chile Peppers. Until you actually like spicy meals I wouldn’t use hotter chiles on this recipe.

An essential tip for making Calabacitas:

Calabacitas is a simple recipe that’s fast to make. However one key to get wonderful taste right here is browning the onions after which the squash as they prepare dinner; so long as you handle to allow them to prepare dinner with out turning lengthy sufficient to get properly browned, you possibly can’t go incorrect with this straightforward recipe.

Need extra recipes for Zucchini?

For extra concepts for utilizing zucchini or summer season squash, try a few of these posts:

The best way to Make Tacky Calabacitas:

(That is solely a abstract of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for full printable recipe. Or in case you use the JUMP TO RECIPE hyperlink on the prime of the web page, it would take you on to the entire recipe.)

1. Chop onions and open one or two 4 oz. cans of diced inexperienced chiles (affiliate hyperlink), relying on how a lot warmth you like.
2. Minimize the squash lengthwise into fourths, then slice the items into slices about 3/4 inch thick. 
3. Warmth the olive oil over medium-high warmth after which prepare dinner the onions till they’re barely beginning to brown, about 3 minutes.
4. Add garlic and Spike Seasoning (affiliate hyperlink) and prepare dinner 1-2 minutes longer. 
5. Add the squash and prepare dinner about 3 minutes with out turning to get the squash evenly browned.
6. Add the cans of inexperienced chiles, stir, cowl the pan, and prepare dinner about 3 minutes extra or till the squash is barely beginning to soften. 
7. When the squash is barely tender, season nicely with salt and fresh-ground black pepper.
8. Add a lot of the two cups of grated cheese (kind of to style), stir gently, and prepare dinner about 2 minutes to soften all of the cheese.
9. Sprinkle slightly extra cheese on on the finish and let it soften as you serve it.
10. This received’t win any magnificence contests when its accomplished, but it surely’s actually scrumptious.

Extra Tacky Summer time Squash:

Low-Carb Weight loss program / Low-Glycemic Weight loss program / South Seashore Weight loss program Solutions:
Zucchini and yellow summer season squash are each nice low-carb substances, and Tacky Calabacitas can also be an ideal dish for any section of the unique South Seashore Weight loss program. South Seashore would suggest decreased fats cheese, however low-carb diets would undoubtedly like full-fat cheese for this recipe.

Discover Extra Recipes Like This One:
Try Zucchini Recipes for extra concepts to make use of up that zucchini! Use the Weight loss program Kind Index to seek out recipes appropriate for a selected consuming plan. You may additionally wish to comply with Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Fb, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the nice recipes I’m sharing there.

Historic Notes for this Recipe:
This Calabacitas recipe was first posted in 2006. The recipe was up to date with higher pictures and dietary data in 2020 and up to date once more with extra data in 2024.

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