Cheesy Zucchini Balls
By Carine Claudepierre
Published on 10/28/2015 - Last updated on 05/02/2023
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These cheesy Zucchini Balls are delicious quick bites for any party platter, barbecue, or as a simple appetizer for Christmas or Thanksgiving.
Zucchini Balls are not only scrumptious, but they’re also gluten-free, keto-friendly, and have only 1.6 grams of net carbs per serving.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Zucchini Balls are amazing because:
- Ready In 30 Minutes
- Gluten-Free
- Keto-Friendly
- Big Batch Ready
- Healthy
How To Make Zucchini Balls
These baked zucchini balls are perfect snacks or appetizers with a delicious cheesy texture and garlic flavor.
Ingredients
They are very easy to make using only a few simple ingredients:
- Zucchini – keep the skin on to add fiber and decrease the net carbs. Zucchini is a perfectly low-carb vegetable.
- Almond Flour – prefer ultra-fine almond flour over the grittier coarse almond meal. Learn how to choose the best keto flours.
- Psyllium Husk – a simple ingredient loaded with fiber and nutrients.
- Eggs
- Hard Grated Cheese – grated mozzarella is my favorite as it gives the best cheesy texture to those zucchini bites. You can also use mature cheddar or Emmental. Learn which cheeses are keto-friendly.
- Garlic
- Paprika
- Oregano
- Cumin
Making The Zucchini Mixture
Grate the zucchini with a food processor.
This recipe is better when the zucchinis are as dry as possible. To do so, place the grated zucchinis in a clean towel and squeeze it as hard as you can.
Measure the grated zucchinis and place them in a large bowl.
Beat the eggs with an electric beater or a fork in another bowl and pour them on the grated zucchinis.
Add the garlic, almond flour, psyllium husk, dried herbs, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, and mozzarella cheese freshly grated with a box grater.
Combine the zucchini ball batter with a spoon and start kneading with your hands when it becomes too sticky.
Baking The Balls
Form 18 zucchini balls using a mechanical ice cream scoop and roll the zucchini batter in your hands.
Place them on a large baking tray lined with lightly oiled parchment paper.
Bake the zucchini balls for 20 to 30 minutes at 400°F (200°C) until the zucchini balls start to turn golden and crispy.
Serving Zucchini Bites
They are delicious warm appetizers or snacks. But they become even better when dipped into 4-Ingredient Guacamole, Homemade Ketchup, or sour cream.
You can also serve them as a side dish to a delicious cooked steak, or next to a Keto Chicken Marsala or a Steak Alfredo.
Storage Instructions
You can store these zucchini balls for up to 3 days in the fridge in an airtight container.
If you want to make a large batch, double the recipe and freeze the baked zucchini bites in an airtight container leaving half a thumb of space between each ball to make sure they don’t stick to each other.
Rewarm the zucchini balls in a hot oven at 300°F (150°C) on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until hot in the middle and crispy outside.
No need to defrost or thaw them before rewarming.
Allergy Swaps
You can’t swap the egg in this recipe, but you can replace the psyllium husk and almond flour with non-keto ingredients.
- Almond Flour: Swap the Almond Flour and Psyllium Husk for Panko Breadcrumbs.
- Zucchini: if you don’t like zucchinis, make my Spinach Balls instead.
- Mozzarella: you can’t make this recipe without cheese, but if you don’t like the taste of mozzarella, you can use parmesan cheese instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can also cook them by frying them in an air fryer or in a frying pan over medium-high heat.
Baked Zucchini recipes are delicious with simple dips like guacamole, tomato sauce, or green goddess dip.
Zucchini Balls are best cooked in the oven, but you can also place them in an air fryer. Since you need to put them on a single layer, you have to bake several batches.
Zucchini Balls and courgette balls are the same things. Zucchini is the Italian name for the vegetable known as Courgette in France and several countries (UK, South Africa, etc.).
More Party Food Recipes
If you like this quick party-food recipe, I recommend trying the other low-carb party food below to pair with the zucchini bites.
Don’t forget to share your creation with me on Instagram!
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Zucchini Balls
Ingredients
Keto version
- 1 ½ cup Grated Zucchini packed, squeeze to remove all juice
- 3 large Beaten Egg
- 3 Garlic Cloves finely crushed
- 1 cup Almond Flour
- 2 tablespoons Whole Psyllium Husk
- 1 tablespoon Dried Oregano or dried parsley, or Italian mix
- ½ teaspoon Cumin
- ½ tablespoon Ground Paprika
- 1 cup Grated Mozzarella or cheddar
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Classic version – not keto
- 1 ½ cup Grated Zucchini packed, squeeze to remove all juice
- 3 large Eggs
- 3 Garlic Cloves finely crushed
- 1 ¼ cup Panko Breadcrumb
- 3 tablespoons Dried Herbs parsley, oregano, Italian mix or mint or cilantro
- ¾ cup Grated Mozzarella or cheddar
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Homemade Sugar-free ketchup to dip
- 1 batch Homemade Ketchup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Wash the zucchini and remove the ends. Keep the skin on. Finely grate using a food processor or manual grater.
- Squeeze the grated zucchini in a clean towel to extract all the zucchini juice, then pack the dried grated zucchini into a measuring cup. Measure 1 1/2 cup, set aside in a bowl.
- Stir in the beaten eggs, crushed garlic, almond flour, psyllium husk, dried herbs, cumin, paprika, salt, and grated mozzarella cheese.
- Combine with a spoon, then knead with your hands, squeezing the batter to ensure that all the ingredients come together. It should take 1 minute of squeezing/kneading until it forms a consistent batter.
- Form 18 zucchini balls, golf size balls rolling the batter within your hands.
- Place each ball onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. If your parchment paper tends to stick to food, brush a teaspoon of olive oil on top to prevent the zucchini balls from sticking to the paper.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the outside is golden and crispy.
- Serve immediately with a dip of your choice like my homemade sugar-free ketchup or simple guacamole recipe, or sour cream.
Storage
- Store up to 3 days in the fridge in an airtight container.
- Freeze the baked zucchini bites in an airtight container leaving half a thumb of space between each ball to make sure they don't stick to each other.
- Rewarm in hot oven 150°C (300°F) on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until hot in the middle and crispy outside. No need to defrost before rewarming.
Notes
Tools
Getting Started What Is Keto? Macro Calculator Sweetener Converter Intermittent Fasting Keto Fruits Keto Vegetables Keto Flours Fighting Keto Flu Healthy SweetenersWant My Kitchen Equipment?
Nutrition
About The Author
Hi, I'm Carine, the food blogger, author, recipe developer, published author of a cookbook, and founder of Sweet As Honey.
I have an Accredited Certificate in Nutrition and Wellness obtained in 2014 from Well College Global (formerly Cadence Health). I'm passionate about sharing all my easy and tasty recipes that are both delicious and healthy. My expertise in the field comes from my background in chemistry and years of following a keto low-carb diet. But I'm also well versed in vegetarian and vegan cooking since my husband is vegan.
I now eat a more balanced diet where I alternate between keto and a Mediterranean Diet
Cooking and Baking is my true passion. In fact, I only share a small portion of my recipes on Sweet As Honey. Most of them are eaten by my husband and my two kids before I have time to take any pictures!
All my recipes are at least triple tested to make sure they work and I take pride in keeping them as accurate as possible.
Browse all my recipes with my Recipe Index.
I hope that you too find the recipes you love on Sweet As Honey!
Disclaimer
The recipes, instructions, and articles on this website should not be taken or used as medical advice. You must consult with your doctor before starting on a keto or low-carb diet. The nutritional data provided on Sweetashoney is to be used as indicative only.
The nutrition data is calculated using WP Recipe Maker. Net Carbs is calculated by removing the fiber and some sweeteners from the total Carbohydrates. As an example, a recipe with 10 grams of Carbs per 100 grams that contains 3 grams of erythritol and 5 grams of fiber will have a net carbs content of 2 grams. Some sweeteners are excluded because they are not metabolized.
You should always calculate the nutritional data yourself instead of relying on Sweetashoney's data. Sweetashoney and its recipes and articles are not intended to cure, prevent, diagnose, or treat any disease. Sweetashoney cannot be liable for adverse reactions or any other outcome resulting from the use of recipes or advice found on the Website.
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Hi do you have to drain the water out of the courgettes?
Yes it is better to squeeze out any water from the grated courgette.
Ideas for dipping sauce?
Hi, We love to dip them in my homemade ketchup. It is also a great recipe to pair with guacamole or spinach avocado dip. Enjoy them ! xoxo Carine.
I swapped the mint for parsley and these were delicious! Would pair really well with a marinara sauce…tasted like mozzarella sticks!
Hi, thanks for your lovely comment! Those zucchini balls taste great with any fresh herbs. Parsley is a great swap to mint! I hope you will find even more delicious recipe around ! Carine.
Could something but substituted to remove the cheese?
Hi Julie, I never tried this recipe without cheese. I like the taste ad texture it adds to those simple zucchini balls. You may have to add more breadcrumbs until you obtain a consistency that makes balls easily. It will helps the batter to hold together but the result will be more dry. Let me know if you try to adapt this recipe ‘cheese free’. I am sure this will interest lots of others readers that don’t eat dairy. Thanks for reading my blog Julie. I hope you’ll find even more delicious recipe here – I have got plenty of others cheese free finger foods recipe, just browse! xoxo Carine.
I don’t usually comment, but I must say I was pleasantly surprised by this recipe. I find most zucchini recipes like this one to be wet or very eggy. These were really good. Would make a great appetizer. Had it with a little yoghurt dip. Also, since I’m not a big fan of mint, I used half mint and half fresh basil. I also used cheddar instead of edam. Yummy!
Hi Emily, thank you so much for taking a minute to share your lovely feedback with this recipe. I must tell I love those zucchini balls too and all my friends are always surprised by their texture. Cheddar is a great substitute for edam I will give it a go next time. Thanks again for following the blog and for your kind comment. xoxo Carine.
Hi Carine, I just wanted to let you know I featured this recipe in my Low Carb Gluten-free Zucchini Recipes roundup. I hope you’ll get some visits coming your way!
Hi Maya, thank you SO much! very appreciate 🙂
Do you have any idea if I can freeze those? After baking maybe?
Hi Anna,
I do freeze those zucchini balls before baking them. Then, no need to defrost before baking. Simply lay the frozen zucchini balls on a baking tray covered with baking paper and bake as indicate until crispy outside and soft in the centre. It works like magic as a quick make ahead appetizer! Enjoy the recipe. Carine.
Do you know what the macros are per serving? Calories, Fat, protien, and carbs ?
Hi K, I just updated the recipe with the nutrition panel. Here it is, Nutrition panel per zucchini balls. This recipe makes 16 zucchini balls. [Recommended serving size 3-4 balls per persons as a light dinner with green salad or as an appetizer] Calories: 62.6 kcal | Carbs: 7.5 g | Sugar: 0.5 g| Protein: 3.1 g| Fat: 2.9 g| Fiber: 1 g| Net Carbs: 6.5 g
I hope you will make some ! It is delicious. Carine.
Is this per 1 ball? Or 3-4?
Hi, The nutrition panel is per zucchini ball. The recipe makes 16 balls. I recommend to serve 3 to 4 zucchini balls per person. Enjoy the recipe. xoxo Carine.
Sorry! Just re-read the ingredients and answered my own question. I’m an idiot!
no problem Carolina ! 🙂 you are welcome
I am making these as a Christmas app, and I’m so excited! If frozen about how long should I bake and at what temp to defrost/cook?
Thanknyou!
Don’t pre bake them before freezing then I recommend to defrost 2-3 hours before on a baking tray covered with parchment paper, at room temperature. This way they will be like fresh before baking and you could simply follow the same baking instruction, as if they were not frozen! Always check the color, when golden on the outside and crispy they are all good to eat! Merry Christmas and thanks for bringing my recipes on your table this year. XOXO Carine.