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 recipe, zucchini lasagna and Parmesan zucchini tomato bake are my favorite dinners to cook during July-August!
Chicken and Zucchini Casserole
I make this chicken zucchini casserole and zucchini lasagna during super hot July and August months.
Both recipes are time consuming 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.
What I like about this 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!!!
Ingredients for Chicken and Zucchini Bake
- Zucchini – If you happen to have giant garden zucchini, just slice it in thin rounds.
- 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 It?
You can make chicken zucchini casserole ahead. 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 Casserole With?
Chicken zucchini casserole 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 magic pot!!!
- Whole wheat pasta – Choose tubular pasta like penne, rigatoni, fusilli or elbow macaroni. 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!
- Bread
- Healthy mashed potatoes
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.
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.
Enjoy this chicken and zucchini bake!
How to Store Leftovers
Chicken zucchini 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 to Try:
- Chicken zucchini and corn
- Tex Mex chicken and zucchini skillet
- Pesto ground turkey and zucchini
- Parmesan zucchini sticks
- Zucchini casserole
Chicken Zucchini Casserole
Low Carb Chicken Zucchini Casserole with layers of chicken, zucchini noodles and easy enchilada sauce. Lots of fiber, vegetables and protein.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Casserole
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Mexican
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 low sodium organic taco, 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 (7 oz) any hard cheese, shredded
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: Assemble and refrigerate tightly covered for up to 24 hours, then bake.
Freeze: Do not.
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.
Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating in the comments.
So tasty! The Mexican flavourings and chicken instead of beef was a real treat. My husband is not one to veer away from traditional lasagna and swears that he does not like quinoa, but he loved this and so did I! It’s a delicious way to use those large zucchinis that hide in the garden and became gargantuan. We’ll be making it again! Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
You are so welcome Lorna!
Due to a lack of certain things I followed the recipe pretty close. Instead of slices I cubed my zucchini and added onion. Used spaghetti sauce and added the spices. My gf is kinda picky on some things but she had 3 servings she liked it so much. I also thought is was delicious and will definitly make it again. Thank you
★★★★★
Such a great recipe!
The quinoa is key and also helps create a delish sauce!
★★★★★
I’m so happy to read this! Thanks for your positive feedback, Melissa!
I love this recipe. I’ve made several times. Always soooooo good.
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoy this casserole so much, Sandra.
Very good. I used fresh tomatoes instead of tomato sauce. I like the quinoa for the thickener. Great recipe for summer garden veggies!
★★★★
So happy to hear this Kim!
Super yummy! It was filling and light- and my partner who hates both zucchini and quinoa had a second helping!
★★★★★
Delicious recipes! Keep up the good work.
★★★★★
Awe, you are so welcome! So happy to hear you are enjoying my recipes! Please don’t be shy to leave me a comment with a star review once you make any recipe. Have a great week!
We really liked this recipe. I usially don’t change a recipe the first time I make it, but we aren’t fans of tomato sauce. I substituted spicy red pepper spaghetti sauce in place of the tomato sauce, and used rotisserie chicken. It was fast and flavorful. Thanks for sharing!!
★★★★★
Made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious!! Forgot to add the jalapeño and honey but it still turned out amazing! Thanks for sharing!!
★★★★★
You are welcome, Jaynee!
This chicken zucchini casserole is 5 stars! Thank you!
★★★★★
I’m confused… ingredients calls for tomato sauce but instructions list enchilada sauce??? Pls clarify 🙂 Thx!
Fixed. Tomato sauce combined with all those spices in step 3 makes homemade enchilada sauce. And I would like to be kissing dolphins right now as well.:)
Delicious and nutritious! I made this with sliced zucchini that I then halved and thought it worked well. If I made it again, I would use fresh tomatoes and garlic, since I rarely use canned goods, but all in all, this was something I would definitely make a again! Took about one hour to prepare and slightly more than one hour to cook.
★★★★
I currently have 2 large pans of these in oven now. I added some chopped olives, corn and sauteed onions and made homemade roasted green chile enchilada sauce as I had a mess of green chiles I picked from the garden. Of course zuchinni from garden as well. Yummy smelling as we wait for eclipse this morning in the totality zone. ( I would rather be quilting and cooking though!?)
Those are great additions! Totality zone was good for a few minutes and now let’s move on to more fun stuff haha. I get you. Solar eclipse was great but it’s a quick fun.
Any ideas how far in advance you can assemble it and let it sit in the fridge before putting in the oven?
A few days for sure. Nothing will happen to it.
Can’t wait to try this, looks yummy. Thanks for posting
All ready for oven…can’t wait to try this…I didn’t have pepper jack cheese so I spread Pace jalape~o pepper jack dip on it with other cheese!
Should be good!:)
Love the idea of a casserole with zucchini and uncooked quinoa where the quinoa will obsorb the extra water from the zucchini. You could take this idea in a hundred directions. I can’t wait to experiment with this!
A million of directions! I have this idea of a zucchini casserole with quinoa and turkey…
I saw this recipe and it is great for someone like me with celiac disease and is watching her carbs. My friends and I loved it for brunch!! Delicious ?. I read the other comments and I used my mandolin to slice the zucchini and wrapped them in towels overnight in the fridge to get some of the moisture out of the zucchini without salt. It turned out awesome!! Thank you for being this delicious, gluten free and healthy recipe!!
Liz
You are welcome, Liz.
Wonderful dish. Great for meal prep.
Love this dish. So good.
I am making this recipe again today. It’s delicious. I made my own taco seasoning, it’s so easy and worth it. Zucchini has high water content, so I am going to salt it, let it sit, and pat dry to avoid all the excess liquid. I am also using eggplant and zucchini this time.
Sounds awesome!!! Yes, I never buy taco seasoning again!
Should the chicken be cooked all the way before you shred?
Yes otherwise it won’t shred.
This dish was brilliant! Thank you for this recipe. It was a huge hit with my family!!!
Ps-shared this!!
Glad to hear, Jess! And thank you for sharing. Now I am heading over to check out your blog.:)
I am interested to know why you use / add quinoa in this recipe. Thanks
To soak up some of the zucchini juices released during baking.
Can you suggest an alternative to quinoa, and an amount for the substitution?
Breadcrumbs?! 1/2 cup.
try quick frying zucchini in pam and then use as directed.
Yes, you can do that, Grace Ann. But PLEASE do not use toxic PAM! Buy yourself a Misto and spray healthy oils away.:)
Super yummy!!!
Yay!
I made this tonight for the family because I didn’t have much time and had many chicken breast and zucchinis. It was DELICIOUS. Everyone loved it.
We are dairy free so I used Daiya shredded cheese in place of the cheese and added chopped cilantro to the enchilada sauce.
Will make again!
Happy to hear that, Aimee!:)
You can make your own enchilada sauce, like store bought, but way better. Just add 2 TBLS oil, 2 TBLS flour,(cook for one minute) then add 4 TBLS Chili powder to the above sauce recipe. It will make a thicker more traditional sauce.
Thank you, Renee! I will try next time for sure!!!
I love this recipe! I use leftover crock-pot taco chicken for my meat, and this suggestion for the enchilada sauce is spot-on!
OH MY YUM!!! I made this tonight and it was so flavorful and filling. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I will definitely be making this often.
You are welcome, Krista.:)
looking foreward to cooking and eating this
I was wondering is there a reason why you can’t freeze this dish??
Zucchini doesn’t freeze well. It will be mushy, watery and stringy. I personally don’t like it and I’m not picky.