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April 14, 2021

by Olena

Chicken Zucchini Casserole

Name: Chicken Zucchini Casserole {Low Carb Squash Recipe}
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 75 min
Ingredients: 2 lbs zucchini (cut lengthwise into 1/8" thick slices); 1 lb chicken thighs or breasts (boneless & skinless); 28 oz tomato sauce (low sodium); 3 tsp taco seasoning (low sodium, divided); 1 tbsp jalapeno (minced); 2 tsp maple syrup or honey; 1 tsp cumin (ground); 1 tsp garlic powder; 1/4 tsp salt + more for zucchini; 1/4 tsp black pepper (ground); 1 tsp avocado oil; 1/4 cup quinoa (uncooked); 1 1/2 cups any hard cheese (7 oz, shredded)

Olena Osipov

Published on April 14, 2021

4.9 from 22 votes

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cheesechickenzucchini

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Low Carb Chicken Zucchini Casserole with layers of cooked shredded chicken, zucchini noodles sheets and super easy healthy enchilada sauce. Loaded with fiber, vegetables and protein.

This chicken zucchini casserole recipe, zucchini lasagna and zucchini bake are my favorite dinners to cook during July-August!

Chicken Zucchini Casserole in a baking dish garnished with parsley

Chicken and Zucchini Casserole
Ingredients for Chicken and Zucchini Bake
Can I Make Ahead and Freeze this Chicken and Zucchini Recipe?
What to Serve Chicken Zucchini Squash Casserole With?
How to Make Chicken Zucchini Casserole
How to Store Leftovers
More Savory Zucchini Recipes

Chicken and Zucchini Casserole

I make this chicken zucchini casserole and zucchini lasagna during super hot July and August months when zucchini is garden fresh. If you have zucchini and chicken in your fridge, you need to make this summertime dinner!

Both zucchini noodle recipes are time consuming and might not be considered an easy baked chicken and zucchini recipe but I don’t care. I just love to throw everything together and see what happens (many food Gods prayers are usually involved). Accompanied by a glass of wine, of course.

This chicken and zucchini casserole is Mexican version of lasagna. Cooked chicken layered in between sheets of low carb zucchini noodles along with super easy and healthy enchilada sauce. Tex Mex zucchini lasagna brings a southwest vibe to your dinner table, be sure to check our zucchini noodles with chicken and crazy popular Tex Mex chicken and zucchini for another Mexican inspired dinner idea.

What I like about this chicken and squash casserole recipe is that its ingredients are versatile and you can use depending what you have on hand.

Let’s do it! Just look at all this cheesy veggie goodness!!!

slice of chicken and zucchini casserole on a spatula

Ingredients for Chicken and Zucchini Bake

Zucchini: If you happen to have giant garden zucchini, just slice it in thin rounds. See more zucchini tips in this collection of 30 zucchini recipes.
Chicken thighs or breasts; ground chicken or ground turkey: Any type of poultry works. Just cook it first. For chicken breasts, you can use my baked, grilled or Instant Pot chicken breast recipes.
Tomato sauce: Regular plain one. Just make sure it’s low sodium.
Cheese: Tex Mex, Colby or any yellow cheese works.
Simple spices: Cumin, garlic powder, jalapeno or use chili powder, taco seasoning, fajita seasoning, cayenne to taste. All works.
Quinoa – What is quinoa for? We sprinkle a little bit of dry and uncooked quinoa at the bottom of baking dish to help absorb moisture. No matter how hard we try to get rid of extra liquid in zucchini, it still releases more during baking. We are talking about vegetable that is 90% water. You can skip if have none or use breadcrumbs.

Can I Make Ahead and Freeze this Chicken and Zucchini Recipe?

You can make chicken zucchini and noodles ahead. Meal prep, assemble and refrigerate tightly covered for up to 24 hours. Meat is cooked, so it is safe. Then bake as per recipe.

We cannot freeze it. Not ahead, nor the leftovers. Because again going back to the same “issue” that zucchini is 90% water. When defrosted casserole will release so much water…The vegetables will be almost non-existent.

It is a good idea to freeze shredded zucchini in portions for baking healthy zucchini bread in January, for example.

What to Serve Chicken Zucchini Squash Casserole With?

Chicken zucchini enchilada casserole recipe is low carb dinner on its own.

If you are more hungry than that or live with 3 hungry boys like I do, here are great healthy accompaniments to scoop up all the bake’s juices and sauces:

Brown rice or quinoa: if you have Instant Pot, it’s a matter of 30 seconds to prep any of them. I am obsessed with my Instant Pot!!!
Whole wheat pasta: Choose tubular pasta like penne, rigatoni, fusilli or elbow macaroni to scoop up the sauce. Unlike white pasta, whole grain pasta contains fiber, vitamins and nutrients from the bran. Also whole foods pasta like chickpea, lentil, quinoa etc. is great!
Crusty bread: A chunk of fresh crusty baguette or sourdough dipped and enjoyed with chicken and squash casserole is priceless experience on a hot summer day.
Healthy mashed potatoes: Serve veggie and meat in sauce zucchini casserole over creamy mashers. I always do so with baked chicken and peppers, either makes the best sauce type gravy with the substantial volume.

Chicken and Zucchini Bake sliced in baking dish

How to Make Chicken Zucchini Casserole

1. Slice and Salt Zucchini + Cook Chicken

You can slice zucchini using mandoline or grater with slicing blade. I highly recommend to wear cut resistant gloves.
In 9 x 13 baking dish, place sliced zucchini in a single layer and sprinkle with salt, repeating with remaining zucchini. Set aside for 30 minutes. Salt will pull away moisture from zucchini making less watery chicken and zucchini casserole.
Sprinkle chicken with taco seasoning and using tongs toss to coat. Preheat large skillet on medium heat, swirl oil to coat and add chicken. Cook for 5 minutes or until white edges appear, turn and cook for 5 more minutes or until cooked through.
Transfer to a cutting board and shred with 2 forks. Set aside.

2. Make Sauce and Remove Moisture from Zucchini

In a medium bowl, add tomato sauce, taco seasoning, jalapeno, cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper; stir to combine and set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Pat dry each zucchini layer with paper towels transferring to another dish (plate). You want to absorb moisture between each zucchini layer as much as possible.

tomato sauce, spices and jalapeno in a bowl with a spoon

sliced zucchini noodles covered with paper towel to absorb moisture

3. Assemble and Bake

Wipe dry the baking dish, spread a few tablespoons of enchilada sauce and sprinkle with quinoa.
Place sliced zucchini overlapping a bit to create a single layer. Top with 1/3 of shredded chicken, then a bit of cheese (reserving a bit more than half for the top) and 1/3 of enchilada sauce. Inside layers of zucchini don’t have to look perfect.
Repeat until you run out of ingredients finishing with a layer of zucchini, topped with a bit of enchilada sauce, then sprinkled with remaining cheese. If you would like a nice weave of zucchini on top, reserve a bit more zucchini noodles than for a regular layer.
Bake covered with aluminum foil or silicone lid for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for another 20 minutes. Let stand for 20 minutes before slicing. Cut into 8 slices and serve hot.

quinoa sprinkled on a bottom of glass dish

layered chicken, zucchini and tomato sauce

Enjoy this low carb Mexican chicken zucchini lasagna!

How to Store Leftovers

Chicken and zucchini noodle casserole leftovers keep well in the fridge for up to 5 days. It is one of those foods like borscht and stew that taste better the next day.

Make sure container has a tight lid and I always prefer glass to plastic for health and taste reasons.

More Savory Zucchini Recipes

Chicken and corn with zucchini
Low carb ground turkey recipe with zucchini
Parmesan zucchini sticks
Pasta with zucchini and tomatoes
Zucchini boats

Chicken Zucchini Casserole {Low Carb Squash Recipe}

Low Carb Chicken Zucchini Casserole with layers of chicken, zucchini noodles and easy enchilada sauce. Lots of fiber, vegetables and protein.

4.91 from 22 votes

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Course: Casserole

Cuisine: Mexican

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings: servings

Calories: 234kcal

Author: Olena Osipov

Ingredients

2 lbs zucchini cut lengthwise into 1/8″ thick slices
1 lb chicken thighs or breasts boneless & skinless
28 oz tomato sauce low sodium
3 tsp taco seasoning low sodium, divided
1 tbsp jalapeno minced
2 tsp maple syrup or honey
1 tsp cumin ground
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt + more for zucchini
1/4 tsp black pepper ground
1 tsp avocado oil
1/4 cup quinoa uncooked
1 1/2 cups any hard cheese 7 oz, shredded

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

In 9 x 13 baking dish, place sliced zucchini in a single layer and sprinkle with salt, repeating with remaining zucchini. Set aside for 30 minutes. Salt will pull away moisture from zucchini making less watery chicken and zucchini casserole.
Sprinkle chicken with 1 tsp taco seasoning and using tongs toss to coat. Preheat large skillet on medium heat, swirl oil to coat and add chicken. Cook for 5 minutes or until white edges appear, turn and cook for 5 more minutes or until cooked through. Transfer to a cutting board and shred with 2 forks. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, add tomato sauce, 2 tsp taco seasoning, jalapeno, maple syrup, cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper; stir to combine and set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Pat dry each zucchini layer with paper towels transferring to another dish (plate). You want to absorb moisture between each zucchini layer as much as possible.
Wipe dry the baking dish, spread a few tablespoons of tomato sauce mixture and sprinkle with quinoa (helps to absorb liquids). Place sliced zucchini overlapping a bit to create a single layer. Top with 1/3 of shredded chicken, then a bit of cheese (reserving a bit more than half for the top) and 1/3 of tomato sauce. Repeat until you run out of ingredients finishing with a layer of zucchini, topped with a bit of tomato sauce, then sprinkled with remaining cheese.
Bake covered with aluminum foil or silicone lid for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for another 20 minutes. Let stand for 20 minutes before slicing. Cut into 8 slices and serve hot.

Store: Refrigerate in an airtight glass container for up to 5 days.

Make ahead: Meal prep, assemble and refrigerate tightly covered for up to 24 hours. Meat is cooked, so it is safe. Then bake as per recipe.

We cannot freeze it: Not ahead, nor the leftovers. Because again going back to the same "issue" that zucchini is 90% water. When defrosted casserole will release so much water…The vegetables will be almost non-existent.

Notes

You can use any cooked chicken.
You can slice zucchini using a mandoline or grater with a slice blade (I highly recommend to wear cut resistant gloves). If you would like a nice weave of zucchini on top, reserve a bit more than for a regular layer.
If using not low sodium tomato sauce, reduce salt.

See Recipe Post for more Tips.

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