Chicken Zucchini Poppers (Paleo & Whole30 Approved!)
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Chicken Zucchini Poppers – My MOST POPULAR RECIPE EVER! These chicken zucchini meatballs are squeaky clean, but not short on flavor! Gluten-free, Paleo, and Whole30 friendly!
Have you heard of Whole30? I first heard about it a few years ago when the book It Starts With Food came out. In essence, Whole30 is a chance to reset your body by eating squeaky clean for 30 days, giving you a chance to see if you have any latent food sensitivities, break any unhealthy patterns you may have, clear up any food-related inflammation and start fresh.
Well, it’s making a comeback. Several great bloggers are in the middle of theirs, so I’ve seen a huge resurgence of healthy recipes floating about the web. We aren’t on a Whole30, but we eat pretty darn clean most of the time. I’ve loved the huge variety of inspiration out there lately! These Chicken Zucchini Poppers are delicious, and while they may be squeaky clean, they don’t skimp on flavor.
First off: Michael H-A-T-E-S zucchini. Hates the texture, doesn’t like the flavor. BUT he loves these. Really loves them. Enough that he always asks when we can make them again. If you’re a zucchini hater, you should still give these a try! Grated, you don’t really get much of the squash texture, and they keep the meatballs nice and tender and juicy. So if you’re a zucchini hater, don’t hesitate to give these a try!
We LOVE them. They’d make great game-day food for something lighter or a great addition to a buffet table. We love them for dinner with some veggies and a little dish of guacamole or Citrus Avocado Sauce for dipping and some sweet potatoes or salad and fruit on the side. Not a guacamole fan? No problem. They’d be great with salsa or paleo ranch. If you’re not gluten free, they’d be awesome in a pita. (p.s. anyone have a good GF pita recipe?
The Best Dipping Sauces For Chicken Zucchini Poppers:
TIPS & TRICKS FOR THE BEST CHICKEN ZUCCHINI POPPERS:
DON’T SKIP THIS STEP! Squeezing the liquid out of your zucchini is *really* important here. Why? Well, zucchini has a lot of moisture (which is one of the reason these poppers are so great), but if you don’t squeeze out some of that liquid, your meatballs/poppers will have a harder time sticking together and if you pan-fry them, you run the risk of them scorching and falling apart.
PAN-FRYING VS. BAKING. My favorite way to make these is to pan-fry them. I’m not using a ton of oil here–just enough to cover the bottom of the pan. I use my cast-iron skillet for a really nice browning effect and keep the heat on the low end. That will allow the poppers to brown while still allowing enough time for the centers to cook. Baking is *really* convenient and fast, so I do that plenty as well. Do whichever works for you!
TRY ONE OF THESE VARIATIONS! This recipe is an awesome base recipe. Over the years, people have made it with pork, beef, turkey…even venison! Use your favorite. I also list the cumin here as optional. It gives these a tex-mex flavor that’s great with salsa, ranch, and guacamole. BUT. You can also easily swap the flavors by switching the cilantro for basil to give these a Mediterranean vibe. They’re great with my favorite pasta sauce and noodles, or you can use parsley or dill for other flavor combinations!
CAN’T FIND GROUND CHICKEN? TRY THIS! I get ground chicken breast at Sprouts, but when it’s not in stock, I make my own by buying boneless skinless chicken breast (or thighs) and pulsing them in a food processor until it’s ground and no large pieces remain. It’s one extra step, but it works great!
LOVE THESE CHICKEN POPPERS? YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE…
- Citrus Avocado Sauce (Paleo, Whole30)
- Buffalo Chicken Burgers (Paleo, Whole30)
- Healthy Beef & Broccoli (Paleo, Whole30)
- Paleo Slow Cooker Butter Chicken (Paleo, Whole30)
- Slow Cooker Paleo Beef Stew (Paleo, Whole30)
- The Perfect Paleo Meatballs (Paleo, Whole30)
- Paleo Chicken Lettuce Wraps (Paleo, Whole30)
Chicken Zucchini Poppers
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4–5 servings 1x
Description
My MOST POPULAR RECIPE EVER! These chicken meatballs are squeaky clean, but not short on flavor! Gluten free, Paleo, and Whole30 friendly!
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground chicken breast (raw)
- 2 c. grated zucchini (leave peel on and squeeze out some of the liquid with paper towels or a clean kitchen towel)
- 2–3 green onions, sliced
- 3–4 Tbsp cilantro, minced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 3/4 tsp cumin (optional)
- Optional (if pan-frying): avocado oil, for cooking (or coconut oil, or ghee)
Instructions
In a large bowl, mix together chicken, zucchini, green onion, cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin (if using). Mixture will be quite wet. Scoop meatballs with a small scoop or heaped tablespoon and gently smooth with your hands. I can usually get around 20-24 poppers. You may be able to get more or less, depending on how large you size them.
To cook on the stovetop:
Heat a drizzle of oil in a medium pan over medium-low heat. Cook 4-5 at a time for about 5-6 minutes on the first side. Flip and cook an additional 4-5 minutes, or until golden brown and the centers are cooked through.
To bake:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle a bit of olive or avocado oil onto a baking sheet lined with foil. Bake at 400 degrees 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through. If desired, place under the broiler for an additional 2-3 minutes or until browned on top.
Serve with guacamole, salsa, or your favorite dip.
Notes
CHICKEN: If you can’t find ground chicken breast, you can grind your own. Simply weight out 1 lb. chicken breast and pulse it in your food processor to “grind” until no large pieces remain. You can also easily substitute ground chicken thighs, ground turkey, ground pork, etc. Use what you like and what you can find!
ZUCCHINI: Don’t be tempted to skip drying out your zucchini a bit with a paper/kitchen towel. Zucchini has a lot of moisture, and if you don’t squeeze it out beforehand, your meatballs may stick more to the pan if you’re pan-frying and have a bit more trouble holding together during baking.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: main dish, appetizer, chicken
- Method: stovetop, oven
- Cuisine: American
These Paleo poppers are perfect! They’re so good, I’ve decided to include them in my list of Top 10 Paleo Appetizers! Thank you for such a wonderful creation!
Love this recipe and the comments that everyone ELSE loves it. I can’t wait to try them. One question: The little “meatballs’ look like they’ve been flattened a bit. Almost like a mini patty. Am I looking at the picture correctly? Does this happen through cooking? Do you flatten them a bit in the pan while cooking? I can’t wait to make them!
Kimberly – They do sometimes flatten a bit when you cook them in a pan. If I’m baking them, the underside of the meatball gets a bit flat sometimes, too. If you want them quite round, I’ve found that refrigerating or even freezing the formed meatballs before cooking them helps them retain their shape. Hope that helps!
Fantastic! Just showed my hubby the recipe and he’s excited to have them tonight. Thank you so much!
Hi Emily,
I absolutely adore this recipe, I saw the post just yesterday on pinterest, and i couldnt wait to get home and make some.
I used the exact same recipe, just added some more zucchini because im trying to eat healther, the only thing is that it was late night and i had no avocados at home, and i am a lazy donkey and i didnt want to go to the store.
So instead i served them with buffalo wing sauce, and blue chesse on the side. Those were the BEST boneless EVER!
I also made mashed cauliflower with butter and garlic as a side dish, so I was able to get rid of the carbs, and had an amazing dinner.
Thanks so much for sharing. :* 🙂
Oh WOW! Buffalo sauce sounds like SUCH a great spin! We’ll have to try that.
Thank you Emily!
These really are delicious. I was searching for Zucchini recipes and stumbled on to your site. Its the middle of summer in New Zealand and I have about 10 Zucchini plants in my garden just dripping with Zucchinis. My finance doesn’t really like them and I had run out of ways of cooking them. I didn’t have any minced chicken so chopped up breasts finely. this made the pops a little wet, but problem solved with 1/4 cup of GF breadcrumbs. Sooo easy to make and my guy loves them 🙂
I cant wait to try more of your recipes!
I had just started the Whole30 and needed a dish for a potluck! I didn’t have ground chicken, so I used ground turkey and baked them. They were delicious! People didn’t even know they were eating healthy until I told them! Will definitely make them again.
Not sure what I did wrong. Made it per recipe but kept falling apart when tried to turn in pan. I even tried a little fresh grated parm and still the same. Was using coconut oil. Trying to bake them now in mini muffins pan hope it works cuz it smells great 🙂
Oh no! I’m so sorry they fell apart on you. How did the mini muffin pan go?
I made these last night for dinner and had them again for lunch. They are totally awesome! I used ground turkey because I had it on hand and also shredded up a medium carrot because I got excited about it haha. I served them with strawberries and homemade chips and salsa. I will definitely be making these again soon! I’m thinking about trying to freeze some for lunches during the semester… we’ll see if it works out. Thanks for such a great recipe!
Yum! I freeze them all the time and they work out great. Hope you have the same results!
So, I’m a college student and I do NOT know how to cook. I just discovered Whole30 and I found this recipe as I was browsing pinterest. I figured I was going to completely screw it up and burn it or do something wrong but your directions and recipe was so easy to follow and they turned out PERFECT!!! Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
I’m so glad! That’s great!
Delicious! Made these tonight. Just used chicken, zucchini and adobo- nothing else.. Baked them and ooh lala- delicioso. It’s a keeper of a recipe, thanks so much.
I made these for dinner last night and oh. my. heavens. They were delicious! Who knew that doing the Whole 30 could taste so good?
We tried these for our first night of Whole 30 and they were AMAZING!! I love your blog and your recipes! 🙂
I’m so glad you liked them! Happy eating and best of luck on your Whole30
I wonder how these stack up on calories. I’m trying to log them into my fitness pal app and it seems with the word “popper” the app thinks these are deep fried.
You can import the recipe to My Fitness Pal, or you can click on the “Magic – Get Nutrition Info” directly above the recipe for the nutrition facts. Hope that helps!
OH MY GOODNESS!! I’ve been wanting to try these for ages. I finally did yesterday. I loved them (and ate way too many while I was cooking them) but wasn’t sure how my kids would like them. One of the kids has declared she doesn’t like any green foods. Well… all three kids (and hubby) gobbled them up! Yay!!! What a wonderful, delicious way to get some veggies in! Thank you for yet another fabulous, healthy recipe, Emily! I could hug you. 🙂
What good is this recipe without the nutritional facts?
Joe G – The nutritional facts are available by clicking the pink and white “My Recipe Magic – Get Nutritional Info” button immediately above the recipe. You can also plug the ingredients in (or import the recipe) to My Fitness Pal. Hope that helps!
Emily, I’m sorry if someone has asked this already – But, did you press the grated zucchini before mixing it with the chicken? I usually have problems using zuchs in recipes because it will make them too wet. Love this recipe & can’t wait to try it. Thanks for sharing it!
I didn’t the first dozen times I made the recipe. Someone mentioned their poppers were too wet with the zucchini, so I started patting mine dry a bit with paper towels before mixing them in. It does seem to work a bit better. In my experience, there’s no need to completely wring them out with a dishtowel before proceeding with the recipe. I hope that helps!