How to Core Zucchini

Learn how to core zucchini to make foods like kousa mahshi using traditional and fast methods.

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Jump to:

• Why Core Zucchini?
• What You Will Need
• How to Core Zucchini?
• Pro Tips
• How To Core A Zucchini Without A Corer?
• Ways to Cook Zucchini Flesh
• How to Core Zucchini

Why Core Zucchini?

Coring zucchini is needed to make foods that require the vegetable to be filled with other foods. Such as  Lebanese stuffed zucchini (Kousa Mahshi) stuffed with rice and vegetables.

The by-product is the remaining pulp, which is then used to make foods such as lib koosa or Lebanese squash with burghul.

What You Will Need

Zucchini are the long cylindrical fruits that are either yellow or green in color. It is best to choose ones that are good quality and not bent in shape, a straight fruit is easy to work with when coring and then stuffing.

A coring tool either manual or electric. A coring tool in Arabic is called a manakra (affiliate link) these tools are available with smooth or serrated sharp edges. Buy it from The Home Depot (affiliate link).

The electric corer (affiliate link) is conveniently faster than the traditional manakra. It generally takes a quarter of the time to manual core.

Two bowls - one to catch the pulp as it is taken out of each vegetable and the other to collect the hollowed zucchini.

A paring knife (affiliate link) for trimming off the ends.

How to Core Zucchini?

Step 1 - Thoroughly wash and dry zucchini

Step 2 - Using a paring knife, cut the ends off. Do not cut too much off the tip as you want to be able to maintain the shape. See note 1.

Step 3 - Using a corer, place the tip into the center of where the opening will be (this is where the stem was attached and not the flower, which is the larger end) See note 2. 

Step 4 - Gently start turning the corer using slight pressure to push into the flesh. Move the corer as if it were a screwdriver to push into the vegetable whilst rotating the zucchini. See video.

Step 5 - As the flesh is carved out, pull out to remove flesh and collect the pulp into a bowl. Clear any buildup on the coring wand. As the hole widens, the motion will become more like carving and you will move the corer around the inner perimeter scraping flesh out. Visually check the inside to know where more needs carving and where flesh may need to be scraped out.

Step 6 - Repeat step five, until there is no more flesh, every so often shaking out any loose flesh. Leave a perimeter of about 3mm of skin. 

Pro Tips

Cut off the ends straight and not on an angle, this will make coring a lot easier and help to avoid cracking of the skin.

The vegetable must be pierced in the center to avoid cracking. See the end of the video of how piercing off center will result in cracking.

Perfecting the coring process can be daunting, if you lack the confidence, only carve out as much as you can to start.

Take note of the length of the vegetable and the coring device to understand how far the corer can be pushed in.

Emphasis should be placed on avoiding piercing the skin. Intact skin as it helps to cook the rice (or stuffing) once it is pierced, the rice will bust out and may cook unevenly

Be comfortable whilst fleshing zucchini, have a clear workbench.

Use your thumb and index finger to control the manakra/corer, similar to how you'd hold a screwdriver

How To Core A Zucchini Without A Corer?

Whilst I strongly recommend a manakra (corer), as its sole purpose is to hollow out vegetables, here are a few other kitchen tools that may help.

However, it is important to note that these methods may not yield the desired result.

• Try using an apple corer (affiliate link) if the zucchini's have a big enough opening.
• Melon baller (affiliate link) with a thin handle
• Grapefruit spoon (affiliate link)
• A potato peeler (affiliate link) the long scoop pencil version

Ways to Cook Zucchini Flesh

Here are several easy ways to cook zucchini flesh

A delicious naturally vegan Lebanese breakfast called lib koosa, featuring a sour lemon dressing.

Simmered Lebanese squash with burghul, onion and bell peppers creates a simple wholesome pilaf.

Try it in my chickpea omelette packed with herbs and veggies,  which is based on my vegan ejjeh recipe, an open faced omelette.

Another use is in my sweet potato and zucchini fritters.

Make savory muffins, they are great for any time of day, try these savory zucchini muffins.