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Cheesy Zucchini Balls

4.95 from 211 votes
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This recipe may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

These cheesy Zucchini Balls are delicious quick bites for any party platter, barbecue, or as a simple appetizer for Christmas or Thanksgiving.

Zucchini Balls are not only scrumptious, but they’re also gluten-free, keto-friendly, and have only 1.6 grams of net carbs per serving.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Zucchini Balls are amazing because:

  • Ready In 30 Minutes
  • Gluten-Free
  • Keto-Friendly
  • Big Batch Ready
  • Healthy

How To Make Zucchini Balls

These baked zucchini balls are perfect snacks or appetizers with a delicious cheesy texture and garlic flavor.

Ingredients

They are very easy to make using only a few simple ingredients:

  • Zucchini – keep the skin on to add fiber and decrease the net carbs. Zucchini is a perfectly low-carb vegetable.
  • Almond Flour – prefer ultra-fine almond flour over the grittier coarse almond meal. Learn how to choose the best keto flours.
  • Psyllium Husk – a simple ingredient loaded with fiber and nutrients.
  • Eggs
  • Hard Grated Cheese – grated mozzarella is my favorite as it gives the best cheesy texture to those zucchini bites. You can also use mature cheddar or Emmental. Learn which cheeses are keto-friendly.
  • Garlic
  • Paprika
  • Oregano
  • Cumin
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Making The Zucchini Mixture

Grate the zucchini with a food processor.

Tip: Remove The Water From The Zucchinis

This recipe is better when the zucchinis are as dry as possible. To do so, place the grated zucchinis in a clean towel and squeeze it as hard as you can.

Measure the grated zucchinis and place them in a large bowl.

Beat the eggs with an electric beater or a fork in another bowl and pour them on the grated zucchinis.

Add the garlic, almond flour, psyllium husk, dried herbs, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, and mozzarella cheese freshly grated with a box grater.

Combine the zucchini ball batter with a spoon and start kneading with your hands when it becomes too sticky.

Baking The Balls

Form 18 zucchini balls using a mechanical ice cream scoop and roll the zucchini batter in your hands.

Place them on a large baking tray lined with lightly oiled parchment paper.

Bake the zucchini balls for 20 to 30 minutes at 400°F (200°C) until the zucchini balls start to turn golden and crispy.

Serving Zucchini Bites

They are delicious warm appetizers or snacks. But they become even better when dipped into 4-Ingredient Guacamole, Homemade Ketchup, or sour cream.

You can also serve them as a side dish to a delicious cooked steak, or next to a Keto Chicken Marsala or a Steak Alfredo.

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Storage Instructions

You can store these zucchini balls for up to 3 days in the fridge in an airtight container.

If you want to make a large batch, double the recipe and freeze the baked zucchini bites in an airtight container leaving half a thumb of space between each ball to make sure they don’t stick to each other.

Rewarm the zucchini balls in a hot oven at 300°F (150°C) on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until hot in the middle and crispy outside.

No need to defrost or thaw them before rewarming.

Allergy Swaps

You can’t swap the egg in this recipe, but you can replace the psyllium husk and almond flour with non-keto ingredients.

  • Almond Flour: Swap the Almond Flour and Psyllium Husk for Panko Breadcrumbs.
  • Zucchini: if you don’t like zucchinis, make my Spinach Balls instead.
  • Mozzarella: you can’t make this recipe without cheese, but if you don’t like the taste of mozzarella, you can use parmesan cheese instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Fry Zucchini Balls?

Yes, you can also cook them by frying them in an air fryer or in a frying pan over medium-high heat.

What Can I Serve Zucchini Balls With?

Baked Zucchini recipes are delicious with simple dips like guacamole, tomato sauce, or green goddess dip.

How To Cook Zucchini Ball?

Zucchini Balls are best cooked in the oven, but you can also place them in an air fryer. Since you need to put them on a single layer, you have to bake several batches.

What’s The Difference Between Zucchini And Courgette Balls?

Zucchini Balls and courgette balls are the same things. Zucchini is the Italian name for the vegetable known as Courgette in France and several countries (UK, South Africa, etc.).

KETO ZUCCHINI CHEESE BALLS appetizers or snack with only 1.8 g net carbs #ketozucchiniballs #keto #zucchiniballs #zucchini #balls #glutenfree #snack #ketosnack #lowcarb #appetizers

More Party Food Recipes

If you like this quick party-food recipe, I recommend trying the other low-carb party food below to pair with the zucchini bites.

Don’t forget to share your creation with me on Instagram!

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KETO ZUCCHINI CHEESE BALLS appetizers or snack with only 1.8 g net carbs #ketozucchiniballs #keto #zucchiniballs #zucchini #balls #glutenfree #snack #ketosnack #lowcarb #appetizers

Zucchini Balls

1.6gNet Carbs
These Zucchini Bites are healthy cheesy zucchini appetizers or snacks to share with friends.
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 30 minutes
Yield: 18 zucchini balls
Serving Size: 1 keto ball
4.95 from 211 votes

Ingredients

Keto version

  • 1 ½ cup Grated Zucchini packed, squeeze to remove all juice
  • 3 large Beaten Egg
  • 3 Garlic Cloves finely crushed
  • 1 cup Almond Flour
  • 2 tablespoons Whole Psyllium Husk
  • 1 tablespoon Dried Oregano or dried parsley, or Italian mix
  • ½ teaspoon Cumin
  • ½ tablespoon Ground Paprika
  • 1 cup Grated Mozzarella or cheddar
  • 1 teaspoon Salt

Classic version – not keto

  • 1 ½ cup Grated Zucchini packed, squeeze to remove all juice
  • 3 large Eggs
  • 3 Garlic Cloves finely crushed
  • 1 ¼ cup Panko Breadcrumb
  • 3 tablespoons Dried Herbs parsley, oregano, Italian mix or mint or cilantro
  • ¾ cup Grated Mozzarella or cheddar
  • 1 teaspoon Salt

Homemade Sugar-free ketchup to dip

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).
  • Wash the zucchini and remove the ends. Keep the skin on. Finely grate using a food processor or manual grater.
  • Squeeze the grated zucchini in a clean towel to extract all the zucchini juice, then pack the dried grated zucchini into a measuring cup. Measure 1 1/2 cup, set aside in a bowl.
  • Stir in the beaten eggs, crushed garlic,  almond flour, psyllium husk, dried herbs, cumin, paprika, salt, and grated mozzarella cheese.
  • Combine with a spoon, then knead with your hands, squeezing the batter to ensure that all the ingredients come together. It should take 1 minute of squeezing/kneading until it forms a consistent batter.
  • Form 18 zucchini balls, golf size balls rolling the batter within your hands.
  • Place each ball onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. If your parchment paper tends to stick to food, brush a teaspoon of olive oil on top to prevent the zucchini balls from sticking to the paper.
  • Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the outside is golden and crispy.
  • Serve immediately with a dip of your choice like my homemade sugar-free ketchup or simple guacamole recipe, or sour cream.

Storage

  • Store up to 3 days in the fridge in an airtight container.
  • Freeze the baked zucchini bites in an airtight container leaving half a thumb of space between each ball to make sure they don't stick to each other.
  • Rewarm in hot oven 150°C (300°F) on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until hot in the middle and crispy outside. No need to defrost before rewarming.

Notes

Herbs: feel free to use dried mint if preferred. If you don’t like mint, the recipe works without herbs or replace it with your favorite herbs like parsley, cilantro, dill, or basil.
Cheese options: this recipe works well with any hard grated cheese like cheddar, Colby cheese, Emmental, or mozzarella. Low-fat cheese works as well. Use your favorite cheese flavor.
Psyllium husk: don’t use Metamucil fiber supplements in my recipes. This is not the same product as whole psyllium husk fiber. Metamucil is a husk powder that is not suitable for baking keto bread. It will turn the food dry, purple, or blue.
Tried this recipe?Mention @sweetashoneyrecipes
Serving Size: 1 keto ball
Yield: 18 zucchini balls
Serving: 1keto ballCalories: 62kcal (3%)Carbohydrates: 2.7g (1%)Fiber: 1.1g (5%)Net Carbs: 1.6gProtein: 4.1g (8%)Fat: 2g (3%)
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!

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    60 Thoughts On Cheesy Zucchini Balls
    1 2
  1. I am going, low carb, and nut free
    Would love to make these but a lot of recipes call for almond flour! Please help me with some substitutes

  2. 5 stars
    Love this recipe! The next time I would use less cumin, but that’s a personal preference. I dipped in low carb marinara. Would definitely recommend this recipe!

    • Sure, but don’t use husk powder supplement like metamucil, its not suitable for baking. Otherwise husk powder made that is suitable for baking can be used in same amount as whole husk. Enjoy! XOXO Carine

  3. May I sub yellow summer squash if firm? I am having some success growing them this season and would love to share with grandkids…thank you! Love your recipes…going to find your sugarless ketchup recipe next!

    • Definitely a great idea! And these zucchini balls will taste amazing dipped in the sugar free ketchup recipe ! Enjoy the recipe with your grand kids. XOXO Carine

  4. 5 stars
    I’ve made these twice, second time with only 2 eggs (all I had) and bacon bits chopped really small. I also used mature grated cheese as I had no Mozzarella. They were so yummy second time round that I think they may be a regular item in my recipe book

  5. made these yesterday, did not care for the paprika flavour. Would increase cheese and garlic in future.

    • Psyllium husk is pure fiber often used in keto baking to hold low carb flour together, absorb moisture and give a bready texture to food. Here you need the husk or the balls will sprea an flatten, no chew at all. You can find this online (this is my amazon affiliate link) or in the healthy food section of most supermarket. Enjoy the recipe, XOXO Carine

  6. Below nutritional panel is the following: “Nutrition panel is for one zucchini ball using pork rind.”
    There is no pork rind in the Keto version, although substituting them for the panko would seem to be an easy change. Also wondering why the significant difference in the herbs for Keto….to cover almond flour taste?

    • Sorry for that, I updated that line as the nutrition panel is for the keto recipe, no pork rinds. Many of my readers are vegetarian so the pork rinds option can be used if you eat meat, swap the breadcrumb in the regular recipe by pork rinds. The variations of spices in the keto recipe cover the slighty yeasty flavor of husk. Enjoy the recipe, XOXO Carine.

    • More cheese Miriam ! They don’t shape as well into ball but more cheese works well yes. Otherwise, almond flour with coconut flour but I am not sure how much I didn’t try this option yet. Enjoy, XOXO Carine.

    • That is a very good idea but as I didn’t try I am unsure how it will turn out. Let me know if you try! Enjoy, XOXO Carine

        • There is no better comment possible ! If kids are happy I am happy too 🙂 you made my day. I know how difficult it could be to sneak zucchini to your kids plate – mine are not big fan of this veggie but they love my zucchini balls too. Enjoy all the recipes on the blog. XOXO Carine.

  7. Hi – these look good, but i’m doing keto. Do you have a recommendation for swapping out the panko crumbs (maybe some mix of almond and coconut flour)? Thanks

    • Many people report success using ground pork rinds. I didn’t try myself by I guess this will work well 🙂 Enjoy the recipe XOXO Carine.

    • The only thing I can think about is baking time. You probably overbaked them. I would recommend you to remove them from the oven as soon as they are crispy outside and golden. Pick with a skewer and see if it is set in the middle. If so, don’t bake longer. Also, grated mozarella makes them softer and cheesy – my kids prefer this cheese. Let me know if you try again ! Have a lovely time baking those. XOXO Carine.

  8. 5 stars
    Thanks for sharing this recipe! I just made them and they’re delicious. I can’t wait to try out the spinach balls.

    • Hi Emily, Thnk you SO much for this lovely comment 🙂 You will definitely love the spinach balls as well I always have a batch of those in the freezer to serve as an appetizer or fill the kids lunchbox. So good! Thanks to read the blog and try my recipe. XOXO Carine.

    • Hi, based on the breadcrumb and cheese I bought in New Zealand you have got 54.5 mg of sodium per zucchini balls. I updated the nutrition panel for you but be careful or the breadcrumb and cheese you buy from the store! It will impact the sodium very much. That is why I usually don’t show the sodium information, it is not really relevant depending on each ingredients. For example emmental or mozzarella will contain less sodium than cheddar etc. Enjoy the recipe. XOXO Carine.

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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.

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