Craving cheesy bread, but you’re on a low-carb or keto diet? My recipe for Cheesy Zucchini Bread hits the spot without compromising good nutrition.
This crust is amazing! Instead of using flour, you are going to combine eggs, shredded zucchini and cheese to make a melt-in-your mouth, crunchy bread substitute. It will be nearly impossible to stop at your first slice. But, then again, why would you? These “breadsticks” are easy on the waistline and a great recipe to have in your low-carb toolbelt.
Zucchini grows like crazy in my mother’s garden and my family gets to reap the benefits of her harvest each year. That being said, I have had a lot of opportunities to experiment with this vegetable and find ways to use it that are both irresistible and low-carb. This recipe for Cheesy Zucchini Breadsticks is one of my favorite creations!
If you love pizza, giving it up is perhaps one of the hardest parts about going keto. When I was dieting, I dreamed up this recipe out of desperation for an ooey, gooey slice of happiness and was surprised at how close I got to the real thing. I was even more surprised when my kids came back for seconds!
Tips for Zucchini Breadsticks
- Add a 1/2 tsp of salt to grated zucchini, let it sit for about 10 minutes before squeezing out all the liquids.
- Place the grated zucchini into a kitchen towel and squeeze out liquid. The more liquid you get out, the more crunchy and bread-like your crust will become.
- Bake your Cheesy Zucchini Breadsticks on high-heat. If you lower the heat, you will not get that caramelized look on the top. Plus, since zucchini “dough” has more moisture than traditional dough, it will need to bake at a higher heat to crisp up properly.
- It’s tempting to buy the cheapest, pre-shredded cheese you can find in the grocery store aisle. But, trust me, using higher-quality cheeses will significantly change the results of this dish. Try to buy blocks of mozzarella and parmesan and grate them on your own. This process unlocks oils and flavors that are lost in pre-shredded bags.
- Serve the breadsticks right away! They are best consumed right out-of-the-oven, when all the cheese is freshly melted.
- Make our Easy Marinara Sauce to dip your breadsticks in. Yum!
- Using parchment paper is absolutely acceptable when making Cheesy Zucchini Bread. However, if you plan on starting a keto diet and think you will make this dish a lot, invest in a silicone baking mat. You won’t have to spend money on parchment paper and you can rest assured that your crust will slide off the mat with ease every time!
Zucchini Pizza Crust
You can easily use this recipe to make a more traditional pizza crust. Form the dough into a round, pizza-shaped crust and pile on your favorite toppings. Here are some of my favorite, low-carb topping combinations:
- Chicken, spinach and my Easy Alfredo Sauce (5 Minutes)
- Blue cheese, uncured bacon and mushrooms
- Tomato slices, basil and Italian sausage
- Prosciutto and arugula
- Pepperoni, bell peppers and olives
Reheating Zucchini Breadsticks
Whatever you do, do not reheat your Cheesy Zucchini Breadsticks in the microwave. Like I said above, zucchini contains a ton of moisture. Microwaving your breadsticks will result in a soggy, non-pizza like crust. Instead, use your oven to reheat the breadsticks and make them crispy again. Heat your oven to 425°F and bake for 5-10 minutes.
Zucchini Recipes
It’s no secret that I am absolutely obsessed with zucchini and how versatile it can be. Feel the same way? Check out some of my other zucchini recipes!
Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cup Grated Zucchini
- 1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese
- 1/3 cup Parmesan Cheese
- 1 Egg
- 1 tsp Garlic Parsley Salt
- 1 cup Grated Cheese of Choice (topping)
Instructions
- Squeeze all of the juices you can, out of the grated zucchini. You can use your hands or a kitchen towel to do so.
- In a bowl, combine together grated zucchini, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, egg and garlic salt. Stir to combine everything together.
- On a lined baking dish with parchment paper or silicone baking mat, layout the zucchini mixture.
- It's best to lay out the mixture to at least half of an inch in thickness, it will shrink while baking. Bake at 425F for 15 minutes.
- Top baked crust with your choice of cheese. I like to use mozzarella or Mexican cheese. Bake until the cheese melts. Serve while it's still hot.
My first time making them my husband was entertaining me while I was making them and surprisingly wanted to try one AND he doesn’t care for zucchini but he liked them so much he says “oh zucchini where have you been all my life” lol that was a joy to hear that from him
But I did add a twist to your recipe
I added Italian seasoning, overall his reply to them was decadent and flavorful thank you keep sharing 💕
Hi Patricia, oh you literally made me giggle with your husbands comments. I love it so much! I am happy that he discovered his new favorite veggie (maybe I am pushing it)... But next should be zucchini banana bread, its so so epic. Search for it on the the blog.
This is excelent! Delicious and easy. I rate it one of the top ten recipes I found on the Internet some 3 months ago, have already made a number of times. Soooo good! Thanks for sharing
Hi Nora, I am thrilled that you found a recipe that you love! Thank you for sharing your feedback with me. Enjoy it dear!!
I have never, ever rated a recipe before. This was a game changer. My husband was diagnosed with high sugar, so I have been on a mission for 2 weeks. He is really great with meals being low carb. The problem is he loves to snack, munch, crunch. This was a feat I was afraid I could not accomplish. I bought low card sundried tomato tortillas. Fried them myself in coconut oil. Winner.
I tried this recipe because we have a huge garden, (neighbors avoid me during zucchini season!). Anyway, I had shredded and froze 4C of zucchini in freezer bags for the perfect amount for zucchini bread.
Fast forward. Totally forgotten in freezer. The perfect amount already frozen for this recipe. I pulled frozen out and let it defrost in a colander over a bowl for a day. I then squeezed it through cheesecloth. I did not salt and set.(I forgot this step) I do this for eggplant though. I should have remembered.
I used the 2 Tbsp. of almond flour. I kind of winged the shredded cheese because I could not find my glasses. I read comments/reviews ahead of time so......
I whisked the 1 egg and added the rest of ingredients. I ended up using my hands to mix thoroughly and formed a ball. I used a regular sized cookie sheet sprayed with PAM.
Reading the comments, I spread the "dough" as far as it would go to a 1/4 inch. Not very far!!! It did not matter. I got a maybe 6x8 rectangle. Nowhere near the full sheet, which was not a concern. I wanted a good finished product; and boy it WAS!!
He was floored about how good this was. We pulled out our homemade marinara sauce and he was thrilled. I DID leave it in at 415 degrees until I saw edges getting crusty. Little closer to 20 min+.
I just wanted to thank and acknowledge all who test and invent and taste these recipes for all who are looking for low carb and newbys.
Again, this recipe is wonderful. Double for a larger "crust" but I would never make it thicker than 1/4 inch. Thank you, thank you
Hi Katrina, reading your review made my soul so happy. I am so glad that you found a recipe you love!! Thank you for sharing your story and the process of making this recipe!
Didn't have zucchini, so I used kale and very small cut broccoli. Also pepper jack instead of plain mozzarella. Refrigerator cleanout! Turned out perfect!
Hi Constance, how innovative!! I love it! Enjoy!
Thank you for the recipe! These are awesome!!
Kat, thank you for sharing! Happy to hear this.
Delicious. So good my husband took ALL the leftovers for his lunch and didn't leave me any! He never does that.
Hey Lorrie- that made me chuckle. That's a good sign 😀
How many are one serving?
Hi Dwona- the entire recipe is for roughly 6 servings. Depends how large or small you cut the pieces though, if you slice them into 12 then it's 2 per serving. Enjoy!
I followed the recipe and used 1 tsp of garlic salt as listed. It turned out WAYYY too salty... to the point that my tongue was numb! Had to throw most of it away. What a wast of the ingredients! But it's not edible. Did you REALLY mean 1 tsp of salt?
You might want to check the sodium content of the cheese brands you chose. Both those cheeses generally have high salt content particularly Parmesan cheeses. Try again and use garlic powder instead for the flavor.
Hey Nadia- 1 tsp of garlic parsley salt shouldn't make the recipe so salty to the point of numbing your tongue, at least this hasn't ever been the case for us. What kind of garlic salt did you use? I think 1 tsp of regular salt would taste saltier than garlic salt, since it's just pure salt instead of part salt/part garlic powder.
Hi:
I saw the picture of your cheesy zucchini bread and it looks delicious. My zucchini plant is finally starting to produce so I was glad to see a recipe that looks so good. I found out within the last few days that zucchini flour is a thing. I was wondering if you have tried or had any suggestions for using zucchini in the "crust." Since zucchini flour is nothing but dehydrated zucchini, it seems using it in the recipe would be helpful with the sogginess issue.
Hey Cheryl! I recommend squeezing out the extra liquid from the zucchini in this recipe, that will definitely help with the sogginess. I haven't tried using zucchini flour before so I don't know how it would affect the recipe..but if you give it a try please do let us know how it went!
Thankyou Natalya for this recipe. M
You're very welcome, enjoy!
Wow, I just made this recipe, I used sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack mixed for the topping. Soooooooo good.
Thank you, Joel! It's always awesome to hear when readers love a recipe!
this recipe is fantastic! So easy and so good. Mine came out super flavorful and firm. We dipped them in homemade dill sauce. Yummy. Thank you so much.
Hello Marlon- I'm so glad you found this recipe and enjoyed it! Thank you for the kind feedback; dipping in a dill sauce sounds delicious!
just made this. I don't know how you got so much, but mine would not hold together. It was like mush. I squeezed the water out totally in 4 separtate towels and still it was like mush. Truly waste of ingredients unless you suggest some other way, I won't be trying again
Hi Linda, one of the other things that can help is how thick you make it. It will be mushy if you do a thick layer in a pan.
What size pan do you bake these Cheesy Zucchini Breadsticks? They look really delicious.
I am using 9x11, it doesn't always cover the entire pan. Enjoy the recipe!
Can these be frozen and then later heated in the air fryer? (I realize that fresh is best and I agree, but I have a lot of zucchini from the garden and I want to make things with it that I can eat fresh and also save for later so that I can make the most out of the zucchini.)
Hi Christy, I haven't tried freezing them but I don't think they would freeze well, the zucchini and cheese just wouldn't be the same. Here are some of my other zucchini recipes that would freeze well though 😊: https://momsdish.com/recipe/5… and https://momsdish.com/zucchini… freeze well. And this zucchini spread will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks: https://momsdish.com/vegetabl…
You are hurting your site by not having someone who actually knows how to spell. There is no bigger turnoff than seeing a recipe with spelling mistakes and there is absolutely no way you can justify such sloppy editing.
Good grief! You are such a downer to a good recipe site! Move on!
Seriously? I am a stickler for correct grammar, and I notice it a lot when I am online, but I certainly didn’t notice any that warranted your rude comments. I can think of a much more respectful way of pointing out errors without being so insulting. If you like the recipes, you could simply state that although the recipes sound appetizing, there were spelling errors that should be detected before publishing the information. I, for one, appreciate it when others share helpful information for free. Not everybody is that generous.
As long as I know what a person intends to convey, who cares? It doesn't even convey ignorance. The person possibly speaks 5 languages. Most likely the conveyer of nastiness may speak only one. Now ,who is ignorant?
Carol, ignore the grammar Nazis. They suck, friggen little tyrants. I am trying this tomorrow and don't give a tinker's toot about grammar. I didn't even notice. I am smart enough to gloss over any typos or grammar issues because I am not stupid and don't require validation putting someone else down.
Anyway, a friend grew some zucchini and gave me way too much. I need a recipe to try. The recipe looks good, so trying this tomorrow. Brian is a loser who finds his manhood in criticizing grammar, as that is all he has.
Sweety, you may have spelled friggin incorrectly. hahahah unless you also speak Spanish and then it's jajajaja.
Well, you are in the right place. I am not great with grammar 🙂 Hope you love the recipe!
Hi Brian- we do our best but mistakes or typos do happen. When we catch them, we fix them. Sorry to disappoint!
I'd love to follow you for recipes...can you add me, please? There is no easy way to do this here other than putting in my Facebook or Google passwords, which I don't even know anymore since they are always just turned on on my phone. Your recipes are wonderful! Thanks !
Hi Michelle- I don't know that there is a way for me to add you, but you can subscribe to my email newsletter (and get a lot of my recipes that way) at this link here: https://momsdish.ck.page/fc72…
Oh my goodness these are so so good. I ate them with marinara sauce so yummy. Thanks for the easy and delicious recipe. They are also low in carbs since I have to be checking my sugar because I'm diagnosed with gestational diabetes this is a really delicious snack idea.
Vera, thank you for sharing feedback. So happy that you found a wonderful recipe that is low carb and you can enjoy without worry!
Good morning
Would you please add me to your regular recipe mailouts
Thank you
Don ( Australia )
Hi Don, you are all set. Thank you for joining the family!
What size baking sheet and what is a serving size?
Hi Deb, the recipe makes 6 servings, so the calories are listed for 1 serving. The pan I used is a 9x11 pan and we typically don't cover the entire pan. Hope this helps. Let me know how it goes 😊
My hubby and I love this recipe. They were delicious. We grow zucchini in our garden and this is one of the recipes we make over and over. We dip the zucchini breadsticks in pizza sauce. yummy!
Hi Diane,
I am so glad you loved the recipe, and that you have found a delicious way to use your homegrown zucchini, thank you for taking the time to comment your feedback!
They didn't look or taste like a substitute breadstick. I squeezed every bit of moisture out, but they taste like a zucchini egg dish. I really liked the taste, though!
Hey Runner, the cheese does help with making it into a cheese brad but definitely a veggie base. 🙂
These were so good! I definitely will make them again. ❤️
Glad to hear that!
Can you freeze these?
Hey Mikayla, I wouldn't recommend freezing them.
Really tasty. Is it possible to use frozen zucchini? My garden exploded and I would love to use zucchini from my garden during the winter months - as opposed to store bought.
Zucchini is good in a pot of chili and frozen diced can be used!
Oh! I love this tip, Laura. You can totally sneak so many different veggies in a pot of chili (great for kids).
Hey Monica, if you squeeze out all the juices from zucchini, it could work out. My only worry is that zucchini will be mushy.
How many pieces does this make? How many pieces in a serving? Thank you! It looks delicious.
Hi Linda, the recipe makes 6 servings, so the calories are listed for 1 serving. I hope you enjoy the recipe.
Just made this yummy recipe. I reduced the recipe and only used 1/4th of ingredients. Did not want any left overs. No salt, used garlic powder, fresh mozzarella, shredded mozzarella on top. Sprayed pan with olive oil, layer over with wax paper, sprayed with olive oil again, and spread zucchini mix on top. Cooked in oven for 15 minutes, cut in squares, and ate every delicious morsel. Thank you for sharing this yummy recipe. I feel full and satisfied
Edith, I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thank you for your feedback and tips!
This may seem silly…I’m making this right now and it doesn’t seem like enough for a regular sized cookie sheet…the one in the picture does look smaller to me. So I guess my question is…what size pan to bake it in?
You can always add more zucchini, this is a 9x11 pan and we typically don't cover the entire pan. Hope this helps!
What is a serving size for the calorie amount listed? I'm on a calorie ased diet and need to know how many I'm allowed to eat. 😀
Hi Amy, this recipe makes 6 servings and the calories are per serving. Hope that helps.
This recipe was FABULOUS!! I really salted and squeezed the Zucchini juices out with cheese cloth (until 4 cups shredded became about 1 cup), added 2 Tblsp almond flour, sea salt, garlic powder, oregano and basil, and I also used light mozzarella and mexi blend cheeses. I dipped mine in pizza sauce! I will definitely be making this again! 🙂
Amanda, I am so glad you loved these breadsticks, thank you for taking the time to share your feedback and tips.