Cheesy Zucchini Chicken Meatballs
The beauty of these meatballs is not only their physical appearance but the fact that they are just about as easy to make as you can get. The only part that has a tad bit of labor to it is the zucchini grating and squeezing. Everything else is coasting – you can pan fry them or bake them.
ingredients:
The simplest of recipes with only ground meat, zucchini, cheese, panko, eggs, olive oil and seasonings. You can use most any ground meat like chicken, turkey, beef, lamb or pork. I used two medium zucchini and I grated them using the second to largest shred size. So they come out looking like little worms.
method:
Once you incorporate all the ingredients and form your meatballs, now you will either pan fry or bake them in the oven. I split the meatball population and did half in a pan and half in the oven. We definitely enjoyed both, I especially liked the baked ones because they seemed juicier. My daughter liked the pan fried ones better. To each their own! Serve with my Lazy Tzatziki and LOVE YOUR LIFE!
This last photo on the post below, are the meatballs when baked. As you can see they retained their shape and over all look more uniform.
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Cheesy Zucchini Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground chicken
- 2 medium zucchini
- 3/4 cup mozzarella, shred
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder
- 3/4 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp salt
- black pepper to taste
- Serve with Lazy Tzatziki + Lemon
Instructions
- Shred your zucchini with the second to largest shred size. My shreds looked like small worms. Place half the shreds in a cheese cloth or clean cotton dish towel and squeeze like hell. Get all of the liquid out. Repeat with the remaining shreds.
- In a large bowl, using your hands, combine the ground meat with your zucchini shreds. Add in the remaining ingredients and mix with your hands until all are incorporated. Form medium small meatballs and you can either pan fry them in 2 tbs olive oil (heat high them lower the temp to medium low). Cook for 6 minutes per side, until done. OR you can bake them in a 400°F oven for 20 minutes and then broil at the end to get that golden brown color (if needed).
These were amazing flavorful and moist pan fried in safflower oil! Have to smush them a little to a patty to get them to cook through if using oil. Or, you can toss them in the oven after frying to heat for 15 min at 350 and they are still moist. Next time, I will try baked.
Hi DK, I think pan fried always look better and taste great but i have a soft spot for baked meatballs and burger too. That method produces a nice soft and juicy texture too! Thank you for trying out the recipe! Cheers!
I used feta and added lemon zest and oregano. Your recipes are the best!
Fabulous oven baked meatball. It has replaced all of my previous chicken meatball recipes. Don’t skip the broil. It is worth the quick broil for the crispy outside if you’re baking these.
What could you use instead of breadcrumbs?
Hello Stella! Do these meatballs freeze well?
Hi Charlotte, yes you should have no issues freezing them..
turned out really nice! did them in the oven and had a hard time getting them golden, going to try the pan next time!
Stella! These are amazing! So moist and flavorful. I had to use feta because I already started to mix the meat and shredded zucchini when I realized someone had eaten all of my mozzarella. LOL They are so good. My 14 month old ate 3 right out of the oven. We are huge fans! Can’t wait to try them again with the mozzarella. I can definitely see these being added to my meal prep menu. Thank you!!!
Hi Erika! I love them with feta too – your baby knows whats up! lol .. Thank you for taking the time to leave your comment and feedback!
How many meatballs does this make?
Hi Jen.. this makes 34-35 meatballs.
Would you make these with feta?
Hi Nadia, absolutely! I make these with feta – amazing!