Easy Cheesy Baked Zucchini Balls – Italian recipe

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Can kids get addicted to a vegetable recipe? Yes, if it’s easy cheesy baked zucchini balls.

These little balls are loaded with flavor, crunchy outside and creamy inside. Most important thing, they pass the melted mozzarella sting test! Pull them apart when still warm and a long mozzarella string will keep them together. Kids will giggle at the sight.

Easy recipe perfect to use that awesome summer zucchini. Green or yellow, you choose the color.

Great idea for a quick lunch, appetizer for adults or savory treat for a kids’ party. You choose!

PROCEDURE

Let’s start grating the zucchini using the large holes of the grater. Do not squeeze the extra water out, simply transfer them in a bowl. 

In a skillet add the olive oil and the garlic. Cook at medium heat for 1 min up until the garlic starts getting a golden color. Add the grated zucchini, adjust with salt and cook stirring for 4-5 min up until the zucchini will release their water and it will be absorbed. Turn the heat off and let cool down for 5 minutes.

Transfer the zucchini in a bowl. Add breadcrumbs, the egg, the mozzarella, grated Parmesan cheese and basil leaves roughly chopped. Mix well to combine the ingredients. 

With your hands create small balls with 1 tablespoon of the zucchini mix. In a bowl add 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs and coat the zucchini balls. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Keep going to use all the zucchini mix. You should obtain 16 zucchini balls.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes to get the zucchini balls firm and compact. Baking them after refrigeration will also help getting a crispy crust. Remove the tray from the fridge and drizzle 3 Tbsp of olive oil on top before baking in preheated oven to 400F for 15 min. Add 5 extra minutes in broil or grill mode. Remove from the oven, let the zucchini ball cool down for 5 min and serve warm.

EGG FREE RECIPE? 

If you have any egg allergy in the family and you would like to try the egg free version simply substitute the one egg with 1 Tbsp flex seeds meal mixed with 3 Tbsp water. You can also substitute the one egg with 1 Tbsp chia seeds mixed with 3 Tbsp water. 

PICKY EATERS TRICK: SWITCH THE GREEN WITH YELLOW

Kids are not color blind and sometimes green can be a suspect color. I totally understand. To introduce the taste of zucchini in your kids’ diet you can use for this recipe the yellow summer squash. The result will be exactly the same and the color will be yellowish beige, out of any suspect 🙂 

Once your kid will start liking the recipe I would suggest to switch from the yellow zucchini to the green ones. You can slowly increase the proportions and be open about it with your little one. 

READY TO FREEZE?

This is a great recipe to freeze!

You can either freeze the zucchini balls before baking them or after. Same timing: for up to 3 months in the freezer. To thaw them from uncooked simply place them in the oven and bake for 15min +5 broil . To thaw them from cooked you can either microwave 4-5 of them for 1-2 min or reheat them in the oven to 350F for 10 min. If you have an air fryer, that works too!

HOW TO STORE LEFTOVERS

Store any cooked leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

MY OVEN IS BROKEN…

It happens. Or the weather is so hot outside that you simply do not want to heat the house up. 

You can cook the zucchini balls on the stove. Drizzle some olive oil in the skillet and cook for 3-4 min on each side. 

CAN THE RECIPE BECOME GF?

If you need the recipe to become gluten free you can substitute the breadcrumbs with rice breadcrumbs or with almond meal. Almond meal will not get you the crunchy crust but will add a lovely nutty taste to the recipe.

DO YOU HAVE MORE ZUCCHINI TO USE? CHECK OUT THESE OTHER ZUCCHINI RECIPES!

• Zucchini pesto pasta
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