Chicken zucchini meatballs are a nutritious and delicious twist on classic meatballs. This recipe can be made gluten and dairy free and is ready in less than 30 minutes!
Meatballs are taken up a notch with the addition of parmesan cheese, and zucchini! Zucchini adds extra moisture to these meatballs, so you’ll never again have to have a dry meatball in your life!
Growing up I was never a huge fan of meatballs. I think because I didn’t know what they were or what exactly was in them, I just always steered clear. Fast-forward to now and I think delicious meals are great because you can prep them ahead of time, and eat them with a variety of other foods like pasta and spaghetti squash!
The inspiration for these chicken zucchini meatballs came from eating at one of my favorite restaurants in Chicago, Aba. They have some of the best Mediterranean food in Chicago, and nothing on the menu disappoints! One of my favorite things to get is the chicken kefta kebob, and the last time I was eating one I looked a little closer at it and noticed there was grated zucchini in it!
I borrowed that idea and ran with it to create these extra delicious and simple chicken zucchini meatballs!
Zucchini not only adds nutrition to these chicken meatballs but prevents them from being super dry (there’s seriously nothing less appetizing than a dry meatball!). This recipe is super kid-friendly, and freezer friendly too. I bet your kids wouldn’t even know that there’s zucchini in them when you put a little parmesan and cheese on top!
ingredients for chicken zucchini meatballs
- lean ground chicken or turkey
- zucchini
- grated parmesan cheese or feta cheese (omit to make this recipe dairy free)
- oat flour (opt for gluten free to make this recipe gluten free)
- egg
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- dried oregano
- salt and pepper to taste
how to make chicken zucchini meatballs
This chicken meatball recipe is SUPER easy. You basically add all of the ingredients into a bowl, mix them together and roll your meatballs and then bake them!
The only step that takes slightly longer is grating the zucchini and squeezing out the extra moisture before adding it to the rest of the ingredients.
Pair these meatballs with noodles, spaghetti squash, with a side of veggies like asparagus, or roasted sweet potatoes for a quick and healthy weeknight meal!
gluten and dairy free modifications
Make this meatball recipe gluten free by using gluten free oat flour. Omit the cheese for a dairy free version that is just a delicious! I haven’t tried substituting nutritional yeast, but that could also be an option!
Chicken Zucchini Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground chicken or turkey
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp. oat flour
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/3 cup grated zucchini
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. onion powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper and a little cooking spray.
- Wash and grate 1/3 cup of zucchini. Use a paper towel to squeeze out excess moisture from the zucchini. It can still be a little wet, just not dripping.
- Mix all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
- Use a cookie scoop to portion out the meat and then roll them into balls with your hands.
- Place on baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Top with your favorite marinara sauce, plus a little extra parmesan cheese and enjoy!
Notes
more zucchini recipes you’ll love
- turkey pumpkin meatballs
- zucchini bread oatmeal
- turkey and zucchini noodles stuffed peppers with quinoa
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Hi. Could I omit the oat flour or is there a non flour substitute? Thanks.
Oh my goodness. I made these yestersay but added pumpkin to it as well along with capsicum, parsley, shallots, onion, oregano & the flavour was out of this world. Thank you thank you thank you!!! xx
Awesome! Everything you added sounds so good! I will have to try that! 🙂