22 Quick and Easy Recipes in 30 Minutes (or less) + 5 Chef Secrets To Make You A Better Cook!

Corn, Zucchini & Tomatoes with Goat Cheese

Tested & Perfected Recipes

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.

Need to the perfect side to jazz up simply grilled chicken, salmon, or steak? This corn, zucchini, and tomato sauté with creamy goat cheese will please all around.

creamy corn, zucchini and tomatoes

The inspiration for this recipe comes from one of my favorite new Southern cookbooks, Secrets of the Southern Table: A Food Lover’s Tour of the Global South by Virginia Willis. Virginia is a wonderful storyteller and her book is filled with stories that celebrate the heritage of Southern cooking. I made Virginia’s Roasted Tomatoes Stuffed with Summer Vegetables and thought the corn, vegetable, and goat cheese stuffing was so delicious, that it would make a wonderful side dish on its own. The genius is the addition of goat cheese, which adds loads of flavor and creaminess. This is the perfect side dish to jazz up simple grilled chicken, cedar plank salmon, or grilled flank steak.

What You’ll Need to Make Corn, Zucchini & Tomatoes with Goat Cheese

Ingredients including onion, olive oil, and goat cheese.

How To Make Corn, Zucchini & Tomatoes with Goat Cheese

To begin, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the shallots and cook until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more. Do not brown.

Garlic and shallots in a skillet.

Add the corn and zucchini and increase the heat to medium. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Skillet with zucchini and corn.

Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, and sugar and continue to cook for about 2 minutes more, until the tomatoes start to break down.

Tomatoes, zucchini, and corn in a skillet.

Break the goat cheese into chunks and stir it into the vegetables until creamy and well-combined.

Chunks of goat cheese over vegetables in a skillet.

Off the heat, stir in the fresh basil along with 3 tablespoons of warm water.

Basil in a skillet with vegetables.

Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt and pepper, if necessary.

Skillet of creamy corn, zucchini, and tomatoes with goat cheese.

Serve warm and enjoy!

Bowl of creamy corn, zucchini, and tomatoes with goat cheese.

YOu may also Like

Corn, Zucchini & Tomatoes with Goat Cheese

Need to the perfect side to jazz up simply grilled chicken, salmon, or steak? This corn, zucchini, and tomato sauté with creamy goat cheese will please all around.

Servings: 4 to 6
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 10 Minutes
Total Time: 30 Minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • ½ cup chopped shallots, from 1 to 2 shallots
  • 1 large clove garlic, minced
  • 2¼ cups fresh corn kernels, cut from 3 large ears corn
  • 1½ cups seeded and diced zucchini, from 2 small zucchini
  • 1½ cups seeded and diced tomatoes, from 2 to 3 tomatoes
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • 1 (4-oz) log creamy goat cheese
  • 2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil

Instructions

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the shallots and cook until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more. Do not brown.
  2. Add the corn and zucchini and increase the heat to medium. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, and sugar and continue to cook for about 2 minutes more, until the tomatoes start to break down. Break the goat cheese into chunks and stir it into the vegetables until creamy and well-combined. Off the heat, stir in the fresh basil along with 3 tablespoons of warm water. Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt and pepper, if necessary. Serve warm.
  3. Make-ahead: This dish can be made a day ahead of time and stored in a covered container in the refrigerator but wait to add the water until reheating.

Nutrition Information

Powered by Edamam

  • Per serving (6 servings)
  • Calories: 167
  • Fat: 7 g
  • Saturated fat: 3 g
  • Carbohydrates: 20 g
  • Sugar: 5 g
  • Fiber: 3 g
  • Protein: 7 g
  • Sodium: 420 mg
  • Cholesterol: 9 mg

This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.

See more recipes:

Comments

  • This was absolutely wonderful! I made it with Boursin because that’s what I had, and served it over pasta. It was a perfect summer meal!

    • — Yolanda on August 9, 2023
    • Reply
    • And the next day I added sautéed shrimp to make the leftovers into another delicious meal!

      • — Yolanda on August 11, 2023
      • Reply
  • Delicious, easy, not “goaty.” My large zucchini made larger cubes which lengthened cooking time, but by 2-3 minutes. Cheese sauce thickened as casserole cooled which I should have expected, but disappointing at a buffet. If I make this again, I’ll reduce the amount of cheese, keep water amount the same. Or mix in half the cheese to make creamy sauce, and sprinkle remainder over top.

    • — Laura on July 21, 2023
    • Reply
  • This was delicious! Like others, I didn’t add any cheese and it was a hit without it. I made 1/3 of the recipe as I had one ear of corn, and it was lots for two of us as a side dish. Thanks for the recipe!

    • — Julie on July 19, 2023
    • Reply
  • Thanks Jenn for another amazing recipe. My daughter tasted before goat cheese since she’s not a fan. Claimed it delicious while filling her plate. Luckily I had extra ingredients and quickly made another batch with cheese. Everyone loved it💕no leftovers!

    • — Chris on July 17, 2023
    • Reply
  • I made this several times as one of my all time faves. Today I served it over a bed of plain arugula and I am hooked on this combo now, the flavors go really well together!

    • — Alexandra on May 27, 2023
    • Reply
  • Hi,

    Silly question… but I assume the corn needs to be cooked before making the recipe? I also saw someone asked about frozen corn… would you thaw that? Thank you!!

    • — Samantha on May 16, 2023
    • Reply
    • Not silly! It doesn’t need to be cooked as you’ll be sauteeing when you make the dish. And no need to thaw the frozen corn.

      • — Jenn on May 19, 2023
      • Reply
  • Made this for a family dinner…huge hit ! Made as per recipe…even my Husband who is not a fan of zucchini enjoyed it. I can honestly say I have been following you and enjoying your recipes for the last 6 years and have never had a disappointment! Thanks you so much for your attention to details and your pro tips and ALL the fabulous recipes!

    • — Cynthia on October 5, 2022
    • Reply
  • so amazing! found this recipe a couple of summers ago- it is perfect for impressing guests! love new ideas for using zucchini.
    just read the ratatouille recipe and thinking about adding a little eggplant- i know i’ll have to cook it seperately but it seems like all the flavors will work with eggplant.
    thanks for such a wonderful collection of recipes : )

    • — margaret in mn on August 7, 2022
    • Reply
  • Delicious. I love all the ingredients so it was kind of a no brainer that I’d be a fan. Super easy, tons of flavor, and typically stuff I have on hand. Jen often when I make your recipes I think of my parents who are no longer with me. I rarely cooked for them because my dad was a pretty darn good cook (of the short order variety), my mom had her specialities you didn’t bother trying to top, and I pretty much hate anything to do with food planning, procurement, and preparing. But after discovering your website I really wish I could go back in time and impress my folks with all the recipes of yours I’ve made. I often say to my husband “Oh my mom would love this so much!”. Thank you for all you do.

    • — Dawn on August 1, 2022
    • Reply
    • 💗

      • — Jenn on August 2, 2022
      • Reply
  • Another great recipe! Made good use of the ingredients in this week’s CSA box. I didn’t have fresh basil so I used crumbled goat cheese with tomato and basil from Aldi’s . Thanks Jenn!

    • — Paula on July 23, 2022
    • Reply
  • Absolutely delicious! I didn’t have goat cheese but the TJ Greek Feta made with sheep’s milk worked great. I’m so glad my sister introduced me to you with our favorite…Big Italian Salad. Honestly all of your recipes are so good!

    • — Cyndee Stusiak on July 14, 2022
    • Reply
    • 💗

      • — Jenn on July 15, 2022
      • Reply
  • I have been on this site for about 6 months and we have enjoyed making many of Jenns recipes. We have yet to be disappointed and this one is no exception. This is an outstanding resource for tasty meals. Thank you.

    • — Harvey on July 11, 2022
    • Reply
  • Would it be okay to use frozen corn?

    • — Purpleicious on July 4, 2022
    • Reply
    • I like this best with fresh corn, but you can use frozen too. Hope you enjoy!

      • — Jenn on July 5, 2022
      • Reply
  • Would feta work? – I haven’t made it yet but it sounds delicious!

    • — Lynne Margaret on April 17, 2022
    • Reply
    • Hi Lynne, it won’t melt like goat cheese does, but feta will work. Please LMK how it turns out!

      • — Jenn on April 19, 2022
      • Reply
  • A delicious new way for my husband and I to enjoy the corn harvest.

  • I made this last night for dinner. It was absolutely delicious even though I only had a bit over 1/2 the amount of fresh corn. Thank you so much for sharing it!
    I served it alongside baked salmon.

  • I LOVE goat cheese, so I was really excited about this recipe. Surprisingly I actually thought that the dish was better without the goat cheese. The flavors were so amazing, then I added the goat cheese and I found that it overpowered the fresh flavors of corn, tomato, zucchini, and basil. Great recipe, just stop before the goat cheese

    • — Kathleen Roevens
    • Reply
  • Recipe was delicious! Thanks again for another great recipe idea. Love your website!!

  • Jennn I notice in your Ingredient picture you have goat cheese with honey. However, in the recipe it just calls for “ goat cheese “ which I assume is plain. Do you recommend a honey goat cheese or just plain in this recipe?

    • Hi Ang, That’s a mistake in the photo that I never noticed! I recommend plain here (although the honey flavor would probably be good too!).

  • This is my favorite side dish for meat entrees. The whole family loves it, a very satisfying side dish and so easy to make.

Add a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.