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    Home > Starters/Appetizers > Low Carb Zucchini Pizza Bites

    Low Carb Zucchini Pizza Bites

    Last updated February 6, 2021. Originally posted January 8, 2021 By Jyothi Rajesh Leave a Comment

    Recipe Video Print
    baked pepperoni pizza bites on baking tray with text
    zucchini pizza bites on baking tray with text overlay
    zucchini pizza bites on baking tray
    zucchini pizza bites on baking tray with text overlay
    baked pepperoni pizza bites on baking tray with text

    Zucchini pizza bites are great choice if you want to eat low carb meal. An instant pizza with all comforting flavors you would love. These are great as party appetizer; we eat it as a meal it’s filling and comforting!

    Do check out other low carb appetizers – cauliflower bread sticks, Parmesan crisps.

    zucchini pizza bites stacked up in ceramic plate

    Why You’ll Love This Zucchini Pizza Bites Recipe:

    1. Zucchini pizza bites are one of the healthier and delicious alternatives to carb and calorie loaded take out pizza.
    2. 8 ingredients are all you need to make this instant pizza bites.
    3. With very minimal prep work, low carb (can easily turn these into KETO friendly) pizza bites are ready in 20 minutes.
    4. It’s a great party snack or appetizer. It’s also great as a light meal.
    5. It has all the comforting flavors of pizza that you may look for, and it comes in bite size portion.
    6. It definitely satisfies pizza cravings only that it’s much healthier. You got spicy marinara sauce (can be substituted with your favorite pizza sauce), stretchy pully bully mozzarella cheese and cute mini pepperoni slices, everything you want on your pizza is put on zucchini slices.
    7. One of the favorite and smarter ways to make kids (and fussy family members) eat zucchini.
    8. It’s quicker than making the regular pizza. Saves you time and trouble of making pizza dough.
    9. I have great tips to prevent zucchini pizza bites from becoming watery/soggy!

    Ingredients You’ll Need:

    Here’s what you’ll need-

    all ingredients for zucchini pizza bites on white board
    • 2 large zucchini
    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    • 1 tablespoon olive oil
    • ½ cup spicy marinara sauce
    • 2 teaspoon oregano (or Italian seasoning)
    • 2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
    • ¼ cup mini pepperoni slices
    • Freshly ground pepper to taste
    • Garnish-
    • Fresh basil leaves

    Zucchini – use large zucchini to make bigger bites (remember large zucchini has more moisture content than smaller ones).

    Sauce – use spicy marinara sauce or pizza sauce. If using store bought, choose the low carb sauce.

    Cheese – you can use mozzarella or a mix of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

    Toppings:

    Pepperoni – if you can’t find mini pepperoni slices, buy regular pepperoni and cut them into mini rounds using melon baller. Don’t care about round shapes? Cut pepperoni into quarters.

    Italian Seasoning – use dried oregano or Italian seasoning.

    Additions & Substitutions

    You can add more toppings to your zucchini pizza bites.

    1. Instead of marinara sauce, you can use any pizza sauce (homemade or store bought) or tomato sauce.
    2. Feel free to use any topping you like – sausages, bell peppers, sautéed mushrooms, sliced black olives.
    3. For extra kick choose to add red pepper flakes or sliced jalapenos.
    4. Substitute fresh basil leaves with fresh parsley for garnish.

    How To Make Low Carb Zucchini Pizza Bites? (step-by-step pictorial)

    Wash zucchini well and pat dry.

    Slice zucchini ¼ inch thick slices.

    slicing zucchini step

    Salting Zucchini – Place slices in a bowl and add 1 teaspoon salt. Toss and let it sit for 20-30 minutes. Zucchini will seep out moisture. Remove the slices and wipe off all the moisture. You should see a good amount of water left in the bowl.

    salting zucchini slices in bowl
    salting zucchini slices in bowl

    Note: salting zucchini will prevent it from turning soggy or watery when you bake.

    drying zucchini slices om kitchen paper towel

    Arrange dry zucchini slices on a greased baking tray.

    zucchini slices arranged on baking tray

    Spray olive oil of the slices.

    It’s time to add the toppings-

    Start off with sauce. Spread ½ to 1 teaspoon of marinara or pizza sauce on each slice (you might need more sauce depending on the size of the slice)

    adding topping on zucchini slices for making pizza bites

    Sprinkle generously dried oregano or Italian seasoning on top of the sauce.

    adding topping on zucchini slices for making pizza bites

    Next add generous amount grated mozzarella on each slice.

    adding topping on zucchini slices for making pizza bites

    Arrange a few pepperoni slices.

    adding topping on zucchini slices for making pizza bites

    Season each slice with freshly ground pepper. You can skip adding pepper, but it does seasoning the zucchini well.

    Bake in pre-heated oven at 400°F for 10-12 minutes or until cheese is melted and begin to brown.

    Serve hot.

    pizza bites with zucchini crust on baking tray with text overlay

    Frequently Asked Questions on Zucchini Pizza Bites

    Why Did The Pizza Bites Turn Soggy & Watery?

    Just like cucumber, zucchini too has lot of water content in it. If you bake it directly it will turn watery or soggy.

    You must dry zucchini slices first before you add the toppings and bake. There are many ways to dry zucchini slices

    Option 1: Once you slice, transfer zucchini into a bowl and salt it with 1 to 2 teaspoon kosher salt. Let it sit for 20 minutes. Zucchini will seep a lot of water. Drain zucchini and pat dry to make it completely dry.

    You can place zucchini slices in a colander and salt it and set aside for 20-30 minutes. Put it in the fridge while zucchini sits in salt. This will dry out zucchini. Pat dry with kitchen towel before use.

    Option 2: arrange zucchini slices on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Season with pinch of salt and ground pepper. Bake in oven at 350°F for about 5 minutes until zucchini barely starts to soften.

    Option 3: Sprinkle salt on zucchini slices. Broil or grill (using grill pan) zucchini slices for 3 to 5 minutes on each side

    My Zucchini Pizza Bites Tastes Bitter?

    Zucchini skin is edible. But sometimes skin of zucchini can taste bitter because of the wax on it.

    Stores wax zucchini on it’s skin so it stays fresh long. The wax on the skin can taste bitter when baked. I recommend you to wash zucchini well before using soft bristle brush.

    Try buying organically grown and sold zucchini.

    How To Add More Toppings on Zucchini Slices?

    If you want to add more toppings on the slices, try to cut zucchini slices a little thicker than usual. Using melon baller scoop out some of the inside flesh of zucchini making a small cavity on top.

    Now you have more space to add more sauce, more cheese.

    pizza bites with zucchini crust on baking tray

    Can I Make Pepperoni Zucchini Pizza Bites Ahead?

    I wouldn’t recommend making these ahead as the pizza bites turn soggy as they rest. It’s best made fresh and remember it only takes about 20 minutes to make it.

    But if you still want to make ahead, do all the prep work ahead. Slice zucchini, roast it in oven for 5 minutes and store refrigerated for a day.

    When you are ready to serve, remove slices from fridge, add topping and bake for 10-12 minutes.

    Can I Freeze Pepperoni Pizza Bites?

    I wouldn’t recommend freezing this as it will get all soggy when stored in freezer.

    What’s The Best Zucchini to Use for Pizza Bites?

    Green zucchini is best for making pizza bites. But yellow one works too. Recommend you choose even sized zucchini that have firm skin with no blemishes.

    If you want to make large size zucchini bites, you have to use BIG zucchini, but remember big zucchini have lot of moisture content. Make sure you do salting zucchini slices to remove much of it’s moisture content.

    three zucchini pizza bites on white ceramic plate

    More Appetizers Recipe

    Baked Zucchini Bites

    Roasted Cauliflower Popcorn

    Baked Potato Roses

    Baked Potato Wedges

    Low Carb Deviled Eggs

    Chicken Enchilada Tortilla Roll Ups

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    pizza bites with zucchini crust on baking tray with text overlay

    Low Carb Zucchini Pizza Bites

    Zucchini pizza bites are great choice if you want to eat low carb meal. An instant pizza with all comforting flavors you would love. These are great as party appetizer; we eat it as a meal it’s filling and comforting!
    No ratings yet
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: appetizers, light meal, Snacks
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 5 minutes
    Cook Time: 10 minutes
    Resting Time: 20 minutes
    Servings: 6 servings
    Calories: 174kcal
    Author: Jyothi Rajesh

    Ingredients

    • 2 large zucchini
    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    • 1 tablespoon olive oil
    • ½ cup spicy marinara sauce
    • 2 teaspoon oregano or Italian seasoning
    • 2 cups mozzarella cheese grated
    • ¼ cup mini pepperoni slices
    • Freshly ground pepper to taste

    Garnish-

    • Fresh basil leaves

    Instructions

    • Clean and rinse zucchini well and pat dry.
    • Slice zucchini ¼ inch thick slices.
      slicing zucchini step
    • Salting Zucchini – Place slices in a bowl and add 1 teaspoon salt. Toss and let it sit for 20-30 minutes. Zucchini will seep out moisture. Remove the slices and wipe off all the moisture. You should see a good amount of water left in the bowl.
      salting zucchini slices in bowl
    • Note: salting zucchini will prevent it from turning soggy or watery when you bake.
      salting zucchini slices in bowl
    • Arrange dry zucchini slices on a greased baking tray.
      zucchini slices arranged on baking tray
    • Spray olive oil of the slices.
    • It’s time to add the toppings-
    • Start off with sauce. Spread ½ to 1 teaspoon of marinara or pizza sauce on each slice (you might need more sauce depending on the size of the slice)
      adding topping on zucchini slices for making pizza bites
    • Sprinkle generously dried oregano or Italian seasoning on top of the sauce.
      adding topping on zucchini slices for making pizza bites
    • Next add generous amount grated mozzarella on each slice.
      adding topping on zucchini slices for making pizza bites
    • Arrange a few pepperoni slices.
      adding topping on zucchini slices for making pizza bites
    • Season each slice with freshly ground pepper. You can skip adding pepper, but it does seasoning the zucchini well.
    • Bake in pre-heated oven at 400°F for 10-12 minutes or until cheese is melted and begin to brown.
    • Serve hot.

    Video

    Notes

    1. Just like cucumber, zucchini too has lot of water content in it. If you bake it directly it will turn watery or soggy. First dry zucchini using salting method or grill/broiling method. All details for drying zucchini mentioned under “Frequently Asked Questions” section. Check it out.
    2. Zucchini skin is edible. But sometimes skin of zucchini can taste bitter because of the wax on it. Peel skin off if you want, but mostly once you wash zucchini well it tastes just fine with skin. 
    3. Can’t find mini pepperoni slices? Buy regular pepperoni and cut small rounds using mini melon baller. 
    4. Optional Step – if you’d like to add more toppings – more sauce and more cheese on top of zucchini, slice zucchini a little more thicker than usual. Then using melon baller scoop off some of the flesh of zucchini on top making a small cavity. Now zucchini slices will hold more sauce and more cheese. Remember to adjust the baking time to cook thick zucchini. 
    Nutritional Info – Please keep in mind that nutritional information provided is only a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 174kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 34mg | Sodium: 817mg | Potassium: 288mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 483IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 212mg | Iron: 1mg
    DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?I love to see your creations. Tag me on instagram @CurryTrail or tag #CurryTrail!
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    I'm Jyothi. This is my creative space where I share my stories on my culinary adventures. You will find a variety of recipes from across the world. Read more...
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