Easy Zucchini Tots
A kid-friendly recipe for zucchini tots, a healthy variation of tater tots, and cheese sticks. Recipe from the Natural Baby Food cookbook.
This month’s theme for The Recipe Redux is about creatively using our summer harvest in different shapes, ribbons, noodles, or cuts. Zucchini Tots were the first thing that came to my mind, it utilizes one of my favorite summer vegetables, I just can’t get enough summer squash!
I love shredding zucchini for recipes, it’s incredibly versatile. Summer squash is a nice compliment to sweet or savory dishes, adding moisture to bread and extra nutrition to savory dishes while lightening up the calories.
Zucchini Tots are the perfect substitute for tater tots and cheese sticks!
They are a tasty variation of both kid-friendly favorites.
A couple of other family favorite zucchini recipes include this zucchini bread and a simple and flavorful spiralized zucchini salad. They are both summer staples in this house!
This recipe for Zucchini Tots was developed by a fellow Recipe Redux member, Dr. Sonali Ruder. It’s featured in her new cookbook Natural Baby Food. I’m always happy to share recipes and cookbooks from my healthy foodie friends. Not to mention, Sonali is both a physician and chef! How cool is that?!!
Dr. Ruder combines her medical knowledge with her culinary knowledge to develop recipes that are both nutritious and pleasing to the palate. I’ve tasted quite a few and I’ve never been disappointed. 🙂
I have shared recipes from a few of Dr. Ruder’s other cookbooks in previous cookbook review posts. Check out my post for The Greek Yogurt Diet Cookbook and The Natural Pregnancy cookbook. I was honored to have a few of my blog recipes featured in Sonali’s cookbooks.
The Natural Pregnancy Cookbook is for everyone!
They are all fantastic resources for your kitchen, even if you don’t have kids and aren’t pregnant or planning to become pregnant. My kids are now teenagers and I’m definitely done being pregnant. However, I love ALL of the recipes in these cookbooks!
You can grab your own copy of Natural Baby Food and feel great feeding your little one nutritious, whole-food-based recipes. New moms will appreciate the tips in this book for helping their children develop healthy habits from the start.
Not only do you get great recipes (over 150 of them!), you get important information for safe and effective ways to feed your child. Parenting is definitely not easy! This book will help make establishing good eating habits a breeze.
Ingredients
- 1 heaping cup grated zucchini
- 1/4 cup finely chopped shallot or yellow onion
- 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup whole wheat panko I used Ian’s organic brown rice breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- olive oil
- marinara sauce for dipping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Place grated zucchini in a cheesecloth or kitchen towel and wring out all excess water (there will be a lot!)
- Place zucchini in a bowl along with all other ingredients, except olive oil
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Take a tablespoon of mixture and form into a round ball or oval shape
- Repeat until all mixture is used
- Arrange tots on the baking sheet and spray or brush the tops with olive oil
- Bake until puffed up and lightly golden, about 20 minutes flipping half way during cooking time.
- Serve with marinara for dipping
Nutrition
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These are super cute! Great for kids but I think adults will love them too!
Thank you Natalie! We sure did! 🙂
Thanks so much for the wonderful review, Amee! I’m so glad you liked the book and the recipe! I love using zucchini in my recipes too- it’s so versatile. It looks like the zucchini tots came out great- you got some beautiful color on them! Hope you’re doing well! 🙂
You’re welcome Sonali! I’m so impressed with all that you’ve accomplished, you really are inspiring!
These are so awesome Amee! I may be able to convince my little one to eat them too, so thank you! 🙂
Thank you Sara! I give Sonali all the credit for the great recipe!
These look delicious!
They were a winner Rebecca! 🙂
Yum!! I love this idea! I would have to try without the cheese, might take some messing with, but sounds so good!
There’s not a lot of cheese in the recipe, so they would probably do fine without it. If you are lactose intolerant, Cabot cheese is lactose free and delicious! It would be a good one to use. I have issues with dairy, so I try to stick to lactose free versions.
These look wonderful– such a deliciously perfect snack!
It’s hard to eat just a few Courtney! 🙂