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This Calabacitas recipe is a beloved Mexican vegetable dish made from sauteed zucchini and squash, corn, onions, peppers, tomatoes and cheese. It’s healthy, comforting and super satisfying, even for the biggest of meat lovers!
What is Calabacitas?
Calabacitas (which translates to “little squash” in English) is a Mexican dish made from sauteed zucchini or squash, corn, tomatoes and peppers.
It’s often served as a side dish, but is substantial enough to be served as a main vegetarian meal alongside some homemade flour tortillas.
There are many variations of this dish throughout Mexico and the southwestern United States. Some versions don’t include tomatoes, some are plain and feature only the sauteed vegetables, and some include a flavorful cooking liquid that doubles as a sauce.
This calabacitas recipe has a very light and delicious cheese sauce that’s made from adding a little shredded cheese and milk at the end of cooking.
Both ingredients melt and combine with the cooking liquid of the vegetables to create an irresistible sauce that will have you and your family coming back for second!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- zucchini
- yellow squash
- onions and garlic
- jalapeno and poblano peppers
- plum tomatoes
- canned corn
- salt, black pepper, ground cumin
- shredded cheddar cheese
- milk
How to Make Calabacitas
- Saute the vegetables: Saute the onions and peppers for 5 minutes. Then add the corn and tomatoes, and saute for 5 minutes. Lastly, add the squash and all the seasoning, and saute for 5 more minutes.
- Cover and simmer: Add in 1/4 cup water, reduce the heat to simmer, cover and cook for 5 minutes to tenderize the zucchini.
- Make the sauce: Add the shredded cheese and milk. Mix everything together until the cheese has melted and formed a light sauce. Immediately remove the pan from the heat.
- Garnish: Top with chopped cilantro and crumbled cotija cheese. Serve and enjoy!
This recipe is ready in only 30 minutes from start to finish, making it a great weeknight side dish that’s also healthy and delicious!
Helpful Substitutions
Calabacitas is super colorful and a great use of summer vegetables. But just in case you don’t have all of the ingredients in your kitchen, here are a few helpful substitutions you can make:
- You can use any type summer squash you have. Additionally, you can use all zucchini or all yellow squash.
- Instead of fresh peppers, you can use 1 4-ounce can of diced green chiles. Make sure to drain them before using them.
- If poblanos and jalapenos are too spicy for your liking, you can use 1 large or 2 small bell peppers instead.
- Don’t have cotija cheese? Substitute it with crumbled feta cheese or leave it out completely.
Storing and Reheating
Calabacitas can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
Leftovers can be reheated in a microwave on high for 1-2 minutes, stirring halfway through, until fully warmed through. You can also reheat it on the stove in a skillet or pot over medium-high heat until hot.
I do not recommend freezing leftovers.
More Side Dishes You’ll Love
Calabacitas
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 poblano pepper, diced
- 1 jalapeño pepper diced (seeds removed if you don't want it spicy)
- 1 15-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained
- 2 plum tomatoes, diced
- 1 large zucchini, sliced into half moons
- 1 large yellow squash, sliced into half moons
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup milk
- optional garnishes: crumbled cotija cheese, chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add onions, poblanos, and jalapenos. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to soften.
- Add corn and tomatoes. Cook for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add zucchini, yellow squash, garlic, salt, black pepper, oregano and ground cumin. Stir to combine and cook for 5 minutes, stirring every minute or so.
- Add water to skillet, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Uncover the skillet, add the shredded cheese and milk, and stir together until the cheese has fully melted.
- Remove from heat, garnish with chopped cilantro and cotija cheese, and serve.
Video
Notes
- You can use any type summer squash you have. Additionally, you can also use all zucchini or all yellow squash.
- Instead of fresh peppers, you can use 1 4-ounce can of diced green chiles. Make sure to drain them before using them.
- If poblanos and jalapenos are too spicy for your liking, you can use 1 large or 2 small bell peppers instead.
- Don’t have cotija cheese? Substitute it with crumbled feta cheese or leave it out completely.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Amazing recipe! My parents who are very particular loved these!
Excellent! This was my first time making Calabacitas and I was intrigued by the addition of cheese and milk at the end. Let me say, everyone loved it. So much flavor, really easy to make and pretty budget friendly.
Everyone we make this for loves it—even those who don’t care much for veggies or think they don’t like Mexican food. We appreciate the flexibility too—easy to sub canned or non-plum fresh tomatoes, thawed frozen or fresh corn, roasted poblanos or even jarred Hatch chiles.
This is one of the best vegetable dishes I’ve ever come across. Not faint praise, but man is it good!
This is my go-to recipe for calabacitas & my favorite way to eat cooked zucchini. It’s just as good reheated the next day too.
Soooooo good!!! Loved it and was simple to make!
As a kid growing up my parents always made this during the summer time when we would go to visit a relative on the rancho where they had just grown fresh vegetables. We cooked it more as a meal by adding mostly chicken. The one thing that we always used was what they call a Mexican calabaza . This squash zucchini is mostly light green with a sweet taste we did use zucchini but I found the zucchini to be more bitter. I decided to use your recipe more as a side dish I never had milk or cheese added, so it was the first time of trying something new. I found your version very good especially with the side of refried beans and flour tortillas. This recipe is very common in the southwest especially around Texas seems funny though that I never see any of the cooking shows come up with this type of dish using the calabaza.
This recipe is perfect. Exactly the way my mom used to make it (but without tomatoes)! This made me smile 😊.