Here’s Meghan Markle’s famous recipe for zucchini bolognese pasta and my verdict!
This recipe is more like a “look what I did” and a “I tried it so you didn’t have to” type of thing. My friend Thomas sent me a text that said, “have you tried Meghan Markle’s zucchini sauce?!” And I knew I needed to try it after more reading about how incredible it was. Delish interviewed Meghan Markle and she talked about this “filthy sexy mush” (which sounds a little explicit!) and they developed this recipe from her description.
And so my journey with the Meghan Markle zucchini bolognese had begun. The first thing that put me off about this recipe is that you’re supposed to cook it on the stove for FOUR HOURS and stir it all the time. I made this one when I was mowing the lawn, so I’d come in every 10-15 minutes to give it a stir and get a drink of water (it was all an ordeal). Because it was going to take so long, the first time, I tried to pressure cook the zucchini to form the sauce. Good news: it formed a sauce, alright! Bad news: it was just basically zucchini soup. Like a gallon of it. The pressure cooker didn’t let any liquid evaporate, so the Maillard reaction that makes it smoky and meaty flavored was severely lacking. I realized there would be no shortcuts and I was just going to have to do it the real way.
About three and a half hours in, I was tired of it, so once it was all pretty soft, I threw it into a food processor to make it “saucy.” I also added pasta water to thin it out a little. And topped it with cheese.
Here’s my verdict: It wasn’t bad… It needs salt, and cheese. But what doesn’t? But it most certainly did not change my life that so many people were talking about. So…if you’ve tried it and it totally shattered your reality, please chime in and tell me what I need to do to make this “sexy mush” speak to me. The time it took, especially, just made it hard to justify for me. Don’t feel bad if you don’t make this. It was a nice experiment to try something a famous person swears by every once in awhile! Maybe the queen tasted it and that’s why pasta got banned…
Local Spotlight: The one thing I did do that wasn’t as similar to the recipes were the bone broth instead of a bouillon cube, but seriously, it could only make it better.
Have you had a celebrity recipe go wrong on ya? Tell me about it!
xxHillary
Meghan Markle’s Zucchini Bolognese Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 T. butter
- 1/4 C. onion or shallot
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1.5-1.7 lbs. zucchini roughly chopped into 1 1/2 inch cubes
- 1 C. bone broth
- 1/2 t. salt
- 1 C. penne pasta
- 1/3 C. parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Cut zucchini into around 1 inch chunks.
- Mince garlic and shallot and saute in butter until onion is translucent.
Add in zucchini and half of the broth, and let simmer on low, stirring occasionally, for up to 4 hours. Add in remaining broth if it gets too dry.
- After around 4 hours, it should look saucy enough to pour over some pasta. (Optional step: place in a blender or food processor to form even sauce)
- Prepare pasta according to directions and toss with zucchini sauce.
- Toss with parmesan and salt to taste.
- Garnish with additional cheese and serve immediately.
I like zucchini, but zucchini sauce (or soup) sounds TERRIBLE, lol. Even just from a texture perspective.
Hahaha! Texturally it was actually pretty good!
I’m eating it right now. 🌈 delicious
Glad you like it!
My husband hates zucchini, I put this on his plate and said it was pesto. He loved it and said I could make it again.
WOW! That’s a compliment to the chef! (You!)
I tried this recipe in the slow cooker, and it was really easy! It takes about 6 1/2 hours on high, and I used a potato masher to break it down into a sauce with about an hour left. It was actually a pretty big hit, and I think it’ll become a staple in our dinner rotation. I love that you can make a lot of it and freeze it for quick weekday meals!
Wow! So glad you found a use for it!!!
I am not giving stars yet as I am still in the simmering stage and I made some additions to recipe. I using chicken stock, I added broccoli that needed to be used a’s well as the onion called for. I also raided my garden of thyme, sage, Italian parsley and a bit of oregano. My home smells divine! I chopped all my veg small. Began with just olive oil, salt and fresh cracked pepper. Going to follow this through. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. It looks beautiful, smells it too. I’m hopeful,💜
Wow! You are braver than me! Hope you enjoy!
How was it?? I’m dying to know!!
I have been wanting to try this, but I think I want to use yellow squash. Do you think it will work well? For some reason, the green of the zucchini is off putting to me. 🤔
Great question, I think they have a similar flavor profile so it might yield similar results. Report back if you give it a try!
15 to 17 POUNDS of zucchini? Is that remotely correct? Who would even have a pot that big? and you only need 1 CUP of pasta?
Hi Pamela!
There are some decimals in there, 1.5-1.7 lbs. 😊 and one cup of dried pasta is two servings, which is what size most of the recipes on this site tend to be (between 2-4). Hope that helps!
I’m going to try this recipe as I grew far too much Zucchini in my garden and have run out of ideas. The families getting tired of zoodles.
Thanks for the recipe
It makes a big difference whether you’re using a flavor-packed cube of bouillon vs a watery, unseasoned bone broth.
That’s a good point! I’ll make sure to give it a try with bullion maybe.
I just made this tonight based on the rave reviews I heard. I sauted the onion and zucchini in my Insta pot and then added the bouliion and water and cooked 6 hours on med. Like you said, zucchini soup. I used a masher to get it “saucy” and I had to put a lot of parm to thicken it enough for pasta. It thickened as it cooled also. When I tasted it….bland city. Added more bouillon and lots of salt so I could eat it. I have basil in my garden so I put it in chopped with the water before slow cooking. Did the basil made any difference to make me want to make it again trying it on the stove? Probably not. Good way to use up a bounty crop of zucchini though.
Right?! I wasn’t overly impressed. Needed lots of salt. Zucchini doesn’t have much flavor on its own.
I too thought it was plain the first time I made it. I doctored it up with MORE freshly crushed garlic and adding tomato paste..
That sounds tasty!
Bouillon makes all the difference, that’s what I always used, and for me, it turns out amazing. I do think you need to melt the bouillon with the garlic and onion to get the flavor out before you add the zucchini (and I do add a lot more garlic because I love slow-cooked garlic). To cut down on the cooking part, just grate or blend the zucchini beforehand! That way it takes maybe 2hours which is really fine for me because I don’t have to watch the pot at all after that- I just add some of the pasta water if it starts to get too tight. The starches from that also keep it from getting too soupy.
Okay, I’ll definitely try that!