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Home » Vegan Lebanese Recipes

Delicious Zucchini Insides Dip (Lib Koosa)

Published: Jan 10, 2023· By: Janelle Hama

Jump to Recipe

Lib koosa is a juicy and sour Lebanese zucchini dip made from cooked zucchini insides in a lemon and mint sauce. Quick, easy and naturally vegan and gluten free.

a brown bowl filled with yellow zucchini flesh

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Jump to:
  • What is Lib Koosa?
  • 🌿Ingredients You'll Need
  • 👩‍🍳How to Cook Zucchini Insides
  • 🥄Serving Suggestions
  • ❓FAQ
  • Related Recipes
  • 📖 Recipe
  • 💬 Community

What is Lib Koosa?

Lib koosa is Arabic for zucchini insides also referred to zucchini flesh or pulp.

It can also be referred to as lib el kousa which translates to pulp of the zucchini.

It is used to name this zucchini dip recipe with the main ingredients being zucchini flesh cooked in a lemon, mint sauce.

It is generally served at breakfast time, as a side dish or part of a mezze and is generally the by-product of when making Kousa Mahshi (stuffed zucchini) each zucchini/gray squash is cored resulting in a mound of golden flesh. (which can also used in my delicious chickpea omelette recipe)

However, I have noted below (in the ingredients section) how to make this dish without coring a zucchini.

Click here to learn how to core a zucchini.

🌿Ingredients You'll Need

Zucchini of the varieties of green, grey or golden can be used. These are long cylindrical types that are the size of a hand generally.

I normally use either grey zucchini (aka Lebanese zucchini or grey squash) or green zucchini as they are the readily available ones in the shops.

The zucchinis are generally hollowed to make kousa mahshi (stuffed zucchini) and the leftover insides become the main ingredient of this zucchini dip recipe. Learn how to core zucchini using either a manual corer or an electrical corer (affiliate links).

Tip: If you want to make this recipe and not hollow out a zucchini, then you can go ahead and grate them on the large size, avoid small or fine grating as this will be mushy.

Freshly squeezed lemon juice is combined with a small amount of extra virgin olive oil to make the sauce of this zucchini insides recipe. Avoid using bottled lemon juice and a poor quality olive oil, both of these ingredients are important for this meal which can affect the taste.

Ground mint is used for a cool delicate flavoring. Finely chopped fresh mint can be used instead.

Salt and pepper are added to taste.

a yellow water chunky dip in a brown plate with a spoon in it

👩‍🍳How to Cook Zucchini Insides

Step 1 - In a small pot, over medium heat, cook zucchini flesh until tender, about five minutes. Stirring occasionally. 

Step 2 - Optionally discard excess water once flesh is tender, or you can keep the water and use bread to mop up the juices. Stir through the lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, mint, salt and pepper with cooked zucchini flesh. Serve warm or cold, with pita bread (topped additional olive oil)

Tip - zucchini flesh contains a lot of water which will cook out when heat is applied, so there is no need to add oil to the pot to cook.

🥄Serving Suggestions

Serve lib koosa with pita bread. Tear pieces of bread which are used to scoop out the flesh, hand to mouth eating. Use the bread to mop up the juices.

Generally, this meal is served as a breakfast meal, part of a mezze, a collection of small plates of food, such as musabaha, balila or foul moudamas and plenty of fresh vegetables.

Add this chunky zucchini dip to your toast for breakfast, it is magical (I love this so much!)

Whilst it is typically a breakfast food, my family loves to eat it any time of day. Because well why not?!

a hand holding a pita bread with yellow dip in it

❓FAQ

How to store lib koosa?

Once completely cooled down to room temperature, transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat the required portion, either on a stovetop or in a microwave.

How to store zucchini insides?

Once the insides of a zucchini has been taken out, place the flesh in a covered container in the fridge for up to 2-3 days until you are ready to cook the flesh. The color may change slightly, you can drizzle a small amount of lemon juice to stop this.

What color is zucchini flesh?

This can differ between zucchinis and can range from a bright yellow, pale yellow, pale green and almost white. All of these colored flesh are perfectly normally and taste the same.

a brown bowl with chunky yellow zucchini dip with a couple of spoons on the side

Related Recipes

You might also enjoy these vegan Lebanese breakfast recipes

  • Lebanese zucchini with burghul is another way to use zucchini insides
  • Fresh oregano salad - great on toast
  • Ejjeh - you can also use zucchini flesh with this recipe
  • Balela - a chickpea salad
  • Fatayer bi sabanekh - spinach hand pies

Did you enjoy making this vegan recipe? I would love to hear from you, leave me a comment below and give me a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating. This will help me sustain Plant Based Folk. 

Alternatively, did you happen to take a photo? Tag me @plantbasedfolk on Instagram to be featured via stories.

📖 Recipe

a brown bowl filled with yellow zucchini flesh

Delicious Zucchini Insides (Lib Koosa)

Lib koosa is a juicy and sour Lebanese zucchini dip made from cooked zucchini insides in a lemon and mint sauce. Quick, easy and naturally vegan and gluten free.
Print Pin Rate Save Recipe Saved Recipe
Course: Breakfast, Side Dish
Cuisine: Lebanese, Middle Eastern
Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 1 bowl
Author: Janelle Hama

Ingredients

  • 6 small Lebanese zucchini flesh see notes (grey squash)
  • 1 small Lemon juiced, or to taste
  • 1 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil or to taste
  • ½ teaspoon Dried Mint ground
  • ½ teaspoon Salt or to taste
  • ¼ teaspoon Cracked black pepper or to taste
Metric - US Customary
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Instructions

  • In a small pot, over medium heat, cook zucchini flesh until tender. Optional, Discard excess water once flesh is tender. See notes.
    6 small Lebanese zucchini flesh
  • Combine lemon, olive oil, mint, salt and pepper with cooked zucchini flesh. Serve hot or cold with Lebanese bread and topped with additional olive oil if desired.
    1 small Lemon, 1 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil, ½ teaspoon Dried Mint, ½ teaspoon Salt, ¼ teaspoon Cracked black pepper

Video

Notes

To flesh zucchini, see how to core zucchini post. Alternatively, grate zucchini on the large size. Avoid fine/small grating as it will result in mush.
Dried mint can be replaced with fresh finely chopped mint leaves.
Discarding of excess water is optional, I alternative between doing this and not. It just means this zucchini dip can be juicier with the water (which is delicious) and can be mopped up with bread.
This recipe is generally the by product of kousa mahshi
 
 

Equipment

1 Corer

Nutrition

Calories: 69kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 306mg | Potassium: 502mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 367IU | Vitamin C: 46mg | Calcium: 37mg | Iron: 1mg

N.B., nutrition info is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. This will vary based on the specific ingredients you use.

Tried this recipe?Mention @Plantbasedfolk or tag #plantbasedfolk


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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dani

    December 11, 2022 at 12:00 pm

    how long can this keep in the fridge?

    Reply
    • Janelle Hama

      December 12, 2022 at 8:25 am

      Hi Dani,

      It should keep for 3 days.

      Reply
  2. Marwa

    September 12, 2020 at 9:06 pm

    5 stars
    Thank you! Thank you! for years I couldn’t find this recipe but knew it as a child. I love it.

    Reply
    • plantbasedfolk

      September 14, 2020 at 9:33 am

      You're more than welcome! It's so important to keep our childhood foods going.

      Enjoy!
      J 😀

      Reply
  3. Eddie

    April 14, 2020 at 5:32 am

    5 stars
    Made this the other day. Had it on toast. Lebanese recipes are always versatile.

    Reply
    • plantbasedfolk

      April 14, 2020 at 5:33 am

      better than any store bought condiment on toast - great idea!

      Reply

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Heya, I'm Janelle! I've been a messy but delicious cook for a couple of decades now.

In the last few years, I've converted to a vegan diet and have fallen in love with the flavors that can be created from plants.

I specialize in vegan Lebanese food and I'm excited to share these amazing recipes with you.

Let's cook together!

More about me →

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