Our Chicken Zucchini Poppers are one of my My MOST POPULAR RECIPES 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.
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?
Gather Your Ingredients
How To Make Chicken Zucchini Poppers, Step By Step
As always, you can find the full recipe, with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below!
- Prep Zucchini. If you haven’t already, place grated zucchini in paper towels or a clean kitchen towel. Squeeze all the excess moisture out of the zucchini. (You don’t want it wet!)
- Combine. In a large bowl, mix together chicken, zucchini, green onion, cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin (if using). Mixture will be quite wet.
- Scoop & Shape Meatballs. Next, 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 & Store. Enjoy warm with guacamole, salsa, ranch, or your favorite dip! Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge 3-4 days.
The Best Dipping Sauces For Chicken Zucchini Poppers
One of the best parts about these chicken zucchini poppers is dipping them! There are SO MANY delicious dips and sauces to serve with these chicken zucchini meatballs, but here are some of our all-time favorites:
- Citrus Avocado Sauce (Pictured in the photos!)
- Tomatillo Ranch (Paleo & Whole30-Friendly)
- Classic Guacamole
- The BEST Paleo Ranch Dressing
- Chipotle Ranch
- Pineapple Guacamole
- Smoky Chipotle Salsa
FAQ + Tips 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!
Did You Make This Recipe?
Tell me all about it! Leave a star rating below when you try our Chicken Zucchini Poppers recipe. I can’t wait to hear how it goes!
Chicken Zucchini Poppers
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken breast (raw)
- 2 cups 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 Tablespoons cilantro minced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin optional
- Optional if pan-frying: avocado oil, for cooking (or coconut oil, or ghee)
Instructions
- Prep Zucchini. If you haven’t already, place grated zucchini in paper towels or a clean kitchen towel. Squeeze all the excess moisture out of the zucchini. (You don’t want it wet!)
- Combine. In a large bowl, mix together chicken, zucchini, green onion, cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin (if using). Mixture will be quite wet.
- Scoop & Shape Meatballs. Next, 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 & Store. Enjoy warm with guacamole, salsa, ranch, or your favorite dip! Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge 3-4 days.
Notes
- CHICKEN: If you can’t find ground chicken breast, you can grind your own. Simply weigh 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.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition facts are an estimate only and will vary based on brands and amounts used.
Find it Online:
https://www.onelovelylife.com/chicken-zucchini-poppers-gf-df/
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?
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.
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!
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!
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 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.
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!
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.
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!
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!