Zucchini casserole with chicken and carrots makes for the perfect low carb, high protein meal. Paleo, gluten-free and dairy-free while also being packed with veggies. The ultimate dinner to feed a crowd. Only 4 key ingredients required.
Zucchini casserole with chicken and carrots makes for the perfect weeknight dinner recipe. This is both low carb and high protein, while being paleo, gluten-free and dairy free too. And did I mention that you really only need four key ingredients for this zucchini casserole recipe?
Those key ingredients are simply
- thinly sliced zucchini
- ground chicken
- grated carrots
- diced onions
Now, there are a handful of other ingredients that will really help take this zucchini casserole to the next level – namely olive oil, salt, pepper, herbs de provence, breadcrumbs, crushed walnuts, mayo and Sriracha – but I promise you could actually make this zucchini casserole without the extras (well except for the olive oil, salt & pepper) and it would still be amazing.
If you follow the correct order for this recipe, you can have the prep word done in no time. You’ll want to start by lightly pan frying the carrots and onions in a bit of olive oil. Once that’s going thinly slice the zucchini and lay the zucchini slices on paper towels, lightly salting the zucchini. After a few minutes flip the zucchini over and salt again. Then you’ll want to pat the zucchini slices dry with the paper towel.
This step is important to get the moisture out of the zucchini. If you’ve cooked with zucchini before you know how much liquid there is there.
While the carrots & onions are cooking, and the zucchini is drying, prep your chicken by mixing it with salt, pepper and herbs. I used a mix of herbs de provence (which always makes me feel a lot fancier when repeating those words in my head, than say regular old oregano).
*If you don’t have herbs de provence on hand add some oregano, thyme, dried basil, dried parsley, etc. Any of those will work.
And now for the assembly. Use a large deep baking dish and start the layers with the zucchini slices, placing them side by side. Then add one third of the onion and carrot mix. Then the ground chicken. Then repeat again once or twice more.
This part is entirely optional – you can mix a bit of mayo and Sriracha together and spread that out on top of the top zucchini layer. Then sprinkle that with a mix of crushed walnuts and panko breadcrumbs. I also like to add 1/2 cup of water to the pan to keep everything from getting too dry. For a paleo version make sure to use a paleo mayo and simply omit the breadcrumbs.
Pop that into the oven and relax with a glass of wine while you wait.
45 minutes later your zucchini casserole with chicken and carrots will be ready. Now this recipe requires a bit of prep work but the finished product easily serves 6-9 and makes for a super hearty and healthy meal. Low in fat, low in carbs, high in protein – what more could you ask for?
With each bite of this zucchini casserole you get those soft veggies with the hearty chicken, lightly spicy aioli, and crispy nutty breadcrumbs. This dish can make for a full meal on it’s own but if you’re looking for a side to serve it with, it would pair perfectly with my avocado chickpea salad with vegan pesto.
Looking for other chicken dinner recipes? Check out my:
- Paleo One Pan Chicken and Veggies –> PIN for Later
- Paleo Roasted Red Pepper Chicken with Almonds and Cilantro –> PIN for Later
- Paleo 4 Ingredient Artichoke and Garlic Broiled Chicken Thighs –> PIN for Later
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2-4 zucchini thinly sliced on a diagonal (about 1/2 inch thick)
- 1 onion diced
- 2 carrots grated
- 1 1/2 pounds ground chicken best if you can get ground chicken thighs
- salt/pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon herbs de provence
- 2 tablespoons mayo use Paleo mayo if paleo
- 1-2 teaspoon Sriracha optional
- 1/2 cup gluten free Panko breadcrumbs optional, omit for paleo
- 2 tablespoons crushed walnuts
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
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Heat oil over medium heat in pan. Add onions and carrots. Cook for 10 minutes. Add salt/pepper to taste.
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Place sliced zucchini on paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Leave for a few minutes, flip over and sprinkle with salt again. Pat fry with paper towels.
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In a bowl mix ground chicken with salt, pepper and herbs de provence.
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In a small bowl mix mayonnaise with Sriracha.
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Mix breadcrumbs with walnuts.
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In a large deep baking dish start to layer the ingredients. First add a layer of the zucchini slices, lightly overlapping, top with 1/3 carrot onion mixture, with 1/3 ground chicken mixture. Repeat two more times. Last layer should be the zucchini slices.
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Spread mayo mix on the zucchini slices.
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Add 1/2 cup water to the baking dish on the side.
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Top casserole with breadcrumb walnut mix.
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Bake for 40 minutes.
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Broil on high for 5 minutes.
Mindy Fewless says
This sounds delicious!! Always love dishes that add in lots of veggies!
Vicky says
Yes this one does a great job of adding in carrots, zucchini and onions!
Dannii says
That is some veggie packed casserole! Who says that comfort food can’t be healthy too! Yum!
Vicky says
Yep comfort food can and should be healthy too!
Emma @ Supper says
It’s not quite what you’d recognise as a casserole in the UK but it looks delicious! I love dishes like this that just get thrown in the oven but taste amazing!
Vicky says
What qualifies as a casserole in the UK? I actually was thinking what to call this dish for a bit and deciding between casserole vs bake.
Kavey says
I really love zucchini (or courgette as we call it!) and chicken together, it’s one of those comfort food combinations for me!
Vicky says
Zucchini + chicken definitely makes a great combo!
Cricket Plunkett says
I usually can’t get my family to eat zucchini, but I think this casserole would do the trick. Can’t wait to try it!
Vicky says
Yes, maybe here it’s hidden enough that you can get them to eat it : )
Julia says
I love your photos! I am not a big fan of zucchini but I bet I’d love it in this recipe as it’s sliced thinly – looks so good and cozy. Perfect for hot and cold weather.
Vicky says
Yes the zucchini taste is not super strong in this dish so you might like it here!
Maritza says
Is the chicken added raw to casserole?
Vicky says
Yes, add the chicken raw!
Sue says
Thank you for the recipe it was really delicious. I made a couple of mods still came out excellent. 1. Used no salt at all, am on low salt diet. 2. Added sweet pepper to the veggies mix in the pan . 3. Instead of salting and draining, put green and yellow zucchini slices on large cookie sheet into 350F oven while cooking onions , peppers, and sliced carrots 3. Rather than grinding, sliced chicken meat thinly, like for stir fry.. 4. Sprinkled top with herbed and lightly oiled home made bread cubes. 5.Baked as directed, but Covered.. I will be making this again and again.
Vicky says
Love you additions and spin off my recipe! Need to try it your way next time!
Sue says
Forgot to give it 5 stars in my prior comment.
Vicky says
Thanks for taking the time to go back and rate the recipe!
Maggie says
Can I prep and freeze this?
Vicky says
I have never prepped and frozen this but I do feel like this should be a freezer friendly meal! If you do end up freezing it please let me know how it heats up!
Tina says
This was so good! I used ground turkey instead of chicken as that’s all I had…it still turned out amazing! Thanks for this recipe!
Vicky says
So happy to hear that! Ground turkey is a great substitute for ground chicken.