share this post

Zucchini Pizza Casserole

4.95 from 636 votes
Jump to Recipe Pin This Recipe!

This recipe may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

This Zucchini Pizza Casserole with ground beef is an easy pizza bake ready in 30 minutes for a quick dinner or breakfast.

If you crave pizza but don’t want the carbs from the crust, this low-carb pizza casserole with zucchinis is the best option!

Keto Zucchini pizza casserole

What Is A Zucchini Pizza Casserole?

A zucchini pizza casserole is a large dish baked in the oven that has all the ingredients of a classic pizza without the crust.

It contains a layer of delicious zucchini, pepperoni, tomato base, and a lot of cheese.

Zucchini is a great keto-friendly vegetable to make healthy casserole recipes or zucchini noodles with just a few carbs. It adds texture to the dish, nutrients, and vitamins.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

We all love a good pizza, but it doesn’t mean you have to bake a pizza crust. Don’t get me wrong, I love my pizza crust recipe, but some days you want a quick healthy dinner and don’t feel like baking.

So, this zucchini pizza casserole has all the flavors of your favorite pizza, cheesy, fatty, loaded with meat and pepperoni with a healthy twist! It is:

  • Keto-Friendly
  • Gluten-Free
  • Made in 30 Minutes
  • Grain-Free
  • Nut-Free
  • Meal-Prep Ready
Zucchini Pizza Casserole

How To Make Zucchini Pizza Casserole

A zucchini pizza casserole is an easy-baked casserole made of sliced zucchini as a base ingredient married with tomato passata and your favorite pizza toppings.

Ingredients

You need the following ingredient:

  • Zucchini – zucchinis are a low-carb, keto-friendly vegetable. It’s super versatile as it can be used to make anything from a No-Noodle Lasagna, an Apple Crisp, or a Keto Zucchini Cookies.
  • Ground Beef or Italian Sausage. Pick your favorite pizza meat.
  • Onion – yellow or red onions work, but yellow brings the best taste.
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Garlic Powder
  • Italian Seasoning or Italian herbs. Make sure it doesn’t bring added sugar.
  • Tomato Pizza Base – make my Pizza Sauce or find unsweetened tomato passata.
  • Shredded Mozzarella or a combo of Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese.
  • Pepperoni Slices
  • Black Olives 
  • Green Bell Pepper – or red bell pepper.
  • Salt and Pepper

It is so easy to make a zucchini casserole as long as you follow the simple steps below.

Step 1: Kitchen Equipment

Before starting this low-carb casserole recipe, it is important that you collect the right equipment.

It may sound obvious, but the success of a casserole is very much linked to the size of your baking dish and to the preparation of the ingredients.

So, to make this zucchini pizza casserole, you need:

  • A large saucepan or cast iron pan, or a slow cooker with a 6-liter volume (24 cups) is the best. It must be large enough to stir fry 2 pounds of zucchini slices and 12 oz ground beef.
  • A large baking dish, glass or ceramic, the best size is 13 inches x 9 inches (33 cm x 22 cm).

Step 2: Preparing The Zucchinis

Option 1: Zucchini slices

First, make sure you wash and trim the ends of the zucchinis.

You can peel the zucchini, but unpeeled zucchinis add fibers and nutrients, so I recommend leaving the skin on.

Next, you want your zucchini pizza casserole to cook evenly, so you must cut the slices with precision.

The best is to cut the zucchini into regular 0.1-inch (5mm) thick slices.

In fact, cutting the zucchini too thin will result in a mushy casserole. On the other hand, cutting the slices too thick will take ages to bake or result in a crunchy uncooked zucchini casserole.

Option 2: Shredded zucchini

Some people prefer shredded zucchini in their pizza casserole.

In fact, grated zucchini cooks faster, and if you are not a big fan of zucchini, this will hide this keto-friendly vegetable really well in the casserole.

I chose the first option for this dish. However, I love using grated zucchini to make a zucchini crust.

Zucchini casserole in crockpot

Step 3: Precooking Ingredients

It is a quick 10-minute step where you cook the beef with the zucchinis and the pizza sauce.

The healthy pizza sauce is made of tomato sauce, homemade Italian seasoning, and garlic powder to avoid added sugar or carbs.

This pre-cooking step is crucial to remove the moisture from the zucchini, cook the beef, and blend the Italian seasoning flavors.

Note that you can swap the lean ground beef for Italian sausage or ground turkey.

However, Italian sausage is often seasoned with Italian seasoning, so you may want to decrease the spices in the recipe to avoid overpowering flavors.

Step 4: Layering The Dish

The last step of this recipe for pizza casserole is easy.

All you are left to do is alternate layers of the cooked zucchini mixture with grated cheese and repeat until the baking dish is full, keeping some mozzarella cheese for the top.

Zucchini casserole toppings

Step 5: Adding Pizza Toppings

That is the best part of any pizza casserole, the toppings. First, add the remaining cheese or grated mozzarella to cover the top of the casserole.

Next, add the flat ingredients. It can be pepperoni slices, mushroom slices, olive slices, or ham. Finally, add the extra toppings you love, like diced green peppers.

Keto zucchini casserole ground beef

Step 6: Baking Until Bubbly

The secret of a perfectly baked zucchini casserole is the fork-tender zucchini and melted-broiled cheese on top.

Depending on the size of the baking dish you are using, the baking time of the casserole will change.

For example, this healthy pizza bake casserole was baked in a 13-inch x 9-inch (33 cm x 22 cm) pan and was ready after 25 minutes in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) on a regular mode.

However, if your baking dish is larger, you will end up with fewer layers of zucchini, and your casserole will bake faster.

As a rule of thumb, your zucchini pizza casserole is cooked when the tomato passata forms bubbles on the side of the dish, cheese is melted on top, and the zucchinis pass the fork-tender-test.

If the zucchinis are too hard, keep baking but stop before they get too soft or mushy.

How to make a keto zucchini pizza casserole

Serving Zucchini Pizza Casserole

This is a great breakfast pizza casserole to start the day. If you are looking for healthy breakfast recipes without eggs, then this casserole is a nice alternative.

Plus, it is loaded with all you need for your morning macros: fat, protein, and vitamins.

Another option is to serve your pizza casserole as a healthy dinner. All your family will enjoy this dish, even the non-keto eaters.

After all, a zucchini pizza casserole is a healthy casserole for all pizza lovers!

Keto zucchini pizza casserole with ground beef

More Pizza Casserole Toppings

There are plenty of healthy pizza toppings you can add to your casserole. The most popular toppings are:

  • Pepperoni slices
  • Meat – add any extra meat like rotisserie chicken, sausage, etc.
  • Herbs – basil, oregano, marjoram, etc.
  • More veggies – like bell pepper – red pepper or green pepper, asparagus, olives, minced onion
  • More cheese – while mozzarella cheese is a classic for pizza there are other delicious cheeses you can use too. For example, I recommend Parmesan cheese or cheddar cheese as a top-layer cheese.
  • Mushrooms and Sundried Tomatoes

Storage Instruction

This zucchini pizza casserole is a dish perfect for your meal prep.

You can store the whole dish in the fridge for up to a week as long as it’s wrapped in plastic wrapping or in an airtight container.

Make sure the casserole has fully cooled down before storing it in the fridge.

You can also freeze individual portions in the freezer.

Defrost them in the fridge the day before and rewarm them over medium heat or in the microwave.

Keto Pizza Casserole without cauliflower

Have you made this easy casserole recipe? Share a picture of your dish with me on Instagram. I love to connect with you and see your creations. See you there!

Did You Like This Recipe?

Leave a comment below or head to our Facebook page for tips, our Instagram page for inspiration, our Pinterest for saving recipes, and Flipboard to get all the new ones!

Want To Save This Recipe?

Enter your email & get this recipe sent to your inbox.

Hidden
Hidden
Hidden

You'll also be added to our mailing list. We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Keto Zucchini pizza casserole

Zucchini Pizza Casserole

6.5gNet Carbs
This delicious Zucchini Pizza Casserole with no crust, ground beef, and zucchini slices is a simple pizza bake that can feed the whole family in under 30 minutes.
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
Total: 35 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
Serving Size: 1 serving
4.95 from 636 votes

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • ¼ cup Onion minced
  • 12 oz Ground Beef or Italian sausage
  • 2 pounds Zucchini trimmed, unpeeled, sliced into 0.1-inch (5mm)
  • ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning or italian herbs no sugar added
  • 1 ½ cup Pizza Sauce or tomato passata, no sugar added

To assemble the pizza casserole

  • 2 cups Shredded Mozzarella or half parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese
  • 2 oz Pepperoni Slices
  • cup Black Olive sliced
  • ¼ cup Green Bell Pepper chopped
This recipe may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Grease a 13-inch (33 cm) x 9-inch (22cm) baking dish with oil spray or butter. Set aside.
  • Heat oil in a large skillet or slow cooker (choose a big enough pan that fits all the zucchinis and meat, about 6 liters/24 cups).
  • Add minced onion and cook until fragrant and translucent.
  • Add ground beef – crumbling the beef is the best to create small pieces of meat, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Cook beef for 2 minutes until cooked through.
  • Stir in zucchini slices (or grated zucchini) and pizza sauce. Cover the saucepan and simmer for 3-4 minutes until the sauce forms bubbles on the side of the pan.

Assembling the casserole

  • Remove from heat and transfer one layer of zucchini beef mixture into the prepared baking dish.
  • Add shredded mozzarella and continue layers until the pan is full.
  • Cover the top of the dish with remaining mozzarella cheese, add pepperoni slices, sliced olives, and green bell pepper. Be creative and add more variety of cheese or meat like ham, chicken, cheddar cheese.
  • Bake uncovered for 25 minutes until cheese is melted.
  • Cool the baked casserole for 5 minutes before serving and avoid burning yourself.
  • Divide the whole dish into 6 even portions and serve one portion per meal as a breakfast or dinner.

Storage

  • Make sure the casserole has fully cooled down before storing it in the fridge in an airtight container or freezing it in individual portions.
  • Defrost in the fridge the day before and rewarm in a sauce and under medium heat or in the microwave.
Tried this recipe?Mention @sweetashoneyrecipes
Serving Size: 1 serving
Yield: 6 servings
Serving: 1servingCalories: 267.9kcal (13%)Carbohydrates: 9.5g (3%)Fiber: 3g (13%)Net Carbs: 6.5gProtein: 14.8g (30%)Fat: 19.6g (30%)Saturated Fat: 6.4g (40%)Cholesterol: 50.2mg (17%)Sodium: 654.8mg (28%)Potassium: 797.4mg (23%)Sugar: 6.9g (8%)Vitamin A: 620.1IU (12%)Vitamin C: 36.8mg (45%)Calcium: 53.7mg (5%)Iron: 2.6mg (14%)
Carine Claudepierre

About The Author

Carine Claudepierre

Hi, I'm Carine, the food blogger, author, recipe developer, published author of a cookbook and many ebooks, and founder of Sweet As Honey.

I have an Accredited Certificate in Nutrition and Wellness obtained in 2014 from Well College Global (formerly Cadence Health). I'm passionate about sharing all my easy and tasty recipes that are both delicious and healthy. My expertise in the field comes from my background in chemistry and years of following a keto low-carb diet. But I'm also well versed in vegetarian and vegan cooking since my husband is vegan.

I now eat a more balanced diet where I alternate between keto and a Mediterranean Diet

Cooking and Baking is my true passion. In fact, I only share a small portion of my recipes on Sweet As Honey. Most of them are eaten by my husband and my two kids before I have time to take any pictures!

All my recipes are at least triple tested to make sure they work and I take pride in keeping them as accurate as possible.

Browse all my recipes with my Recipe Index.

I hope that you too find the recipes you love on Sweet As Honey!

Posted In:

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    17 Thoughts On Zucchini Pizza Casserole
  1. 5 stars
    I first ate this dish at my daughter’s house. I loved it so much, of course, I had to make it. It’s in the oven right now!

  2. Could this be prepared the night before? I was going to make for a family potluck and would like to be able to save time the day of the event.

  3. 5 stars
    Yummmmmy. Made it last night for the family, it was an absolute success. I normally struggle to make my kids eat zucchinis, but not this time. 10 stars out of 5!!!

  4. 5 stars
    I made this for dinner and it was amazing! I used goat cheese since I can’t tolerate cow’s cheese. It would be great with buffalo mozzarella too. So many ways to change this up.

  5. 5 stars
    Ok! Now I’m hooked on your recipes!!! 1st the Blueberry Bread and now this! What a phenomenal recipe! My boyfriend & I absolutely loved it. I made it with sweet Italian sausages, added eggplant & a few slices of ham that needed to be used up, red pepper instead of green, but you can do anything with this recipe. So much flavor. He’s not low carb but is very supportive and loves good food. I certainly will be cooking more of your recipes. Thank you so much, Carine. So grateful! ????

    • 5 stars
      I have made this recipe twice so far and it has been a hit every time. I have got my mom on board now, love this recipe, can’t wait to try more of your recipes. Thank you so much!!

Disclaimer

The recipes, instructions, and articles on this website should not be taken or used as medical advice. You must consult with your doctor before starting on a keto or low-carb diet. The nutritional data provided on Sweetashoney is to be used as indicative only.

The nutrition data is calculated using WP Recipe Maker. Net Carbs is calculated by removing the fiber and some sweeteners from the total Carbohydrates. As an example, a recipe with 10 grams of Carbs per 100 grams that contains 3 grams of erythritol and 5 grams of fiber will have a net carbs content of 2 grams. Some sweeteners are excluded because they are not metabolized.

You should always calculate the nutritional data yourself instead of relying on Sweetashoney's data. Sweetashoney and its recipes and articles are not intended to cure, prevent, diagnose, or treat any disease. Sweetashoney cannot be liable for adverse reactions or any other outcome resulting from the use of recipes or advice found on the Website.