This Chicken Zucchini Casserole may become your favorite zucchini recipe. Learn how to make this quick, easy, and budget-friendly casserole for busy weeknight dinners.
We love easy casserole recipes like Easy Breakfast Casserole with Bacon, Creamy Chicken Enchilada Casserole, Butternut Squash Broccoli Casserole. And this Chicken Zucchini Casserole does not disappoint!
Why you’ll love this
- Incredibly tender and creamy - ground chicken in combination with soft baked zucchini under layers of sour cream and cheese - a total crowd-pleaser!
- Budget-friendly - a few simple, economical ingredients make this chicken zucchini casserole just from scratch without canned ingredients or cream soup needed!
- Easy to reheat - this chicken and vegetable casserole also re-heats super well - either in the oven at about 390 F (200 C) for approximately 10 minutes or simply pop in microwave.
- Easily Customizable - use ground beef or ground turkey with zucchini to make this casserole, but so far, chicken zucchini is my favorite.
If you like creamy chicken recipes be sure to check out these dishes: Creamy Chicken Pasta In White Wine Sauce, Creamy Chicken Taquitos (Baked Taquitos), Creamy Chicken With Spinach, Bacon And Sundried Tomatoes, Creamy Chicken Cheddar Cheese Sauce, Creamy Chicken Tacos, or simply type word ''chicken'' into the search bar.
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Ingredients
- Zucchini - also called courgettes, is the main star ingredient that in my opinion is the best veggie to pair with chicken. It has soft, delicate texture and is best to use in stuffings, patties, fritters, cakes and breads. If you haven’t yet tried my 4 ingredient Chicken Zucchini fritters then they're about to become a hit in your family too. We make these often. Easy and very much kid-friendly and kid-APPROVED too! Ask my picky-eater 2 year old!
- Garlic powder and onion - the essential combo you can’t forget in almost every savory dish. I used both garlic and onion powder in case I am short on time or want to achieve more ''softer'' and not overpowering garlic/onion flavor which is simply delicious in my opinion (BUT powders are a great alternative when serving to kids).
- Carrot - isn’t essential, but it does add a little pop of color and taste which in combination with chicken zucchini tastes superb.
- Ground Chicken - can be substituted with rotisserie chicken or diced chicken instead. But I prefer ground chicken as it is so tender and perfect for this type of chicken casserole recipe. Your next options are ground turkey, ground beef/pork.
- Italian herbs - another needed ingredient for chicken zucchini casserole. These herbs enhance any simple casserole! But not essential, if you don't have it on hand it will still taste very good.
- Cheese - make sure to cover the top generously so you’ll have a thicker layer of cheese once done. But it’s personal preference, you can also add the only ¾ of a cup or less depending on the baking dish. Cheese lovers will appreciate!
Instructions
Need a different visual? This recipe is also available as a story!
In a medium bowl grate the zucchini and add 1 teaspoon of salt, set aside for 10-15 min to drain off the excess water.
Remove the excess water using a strainer and spoon or wrap the zucchini in a thin kitchen towel (or a special fabric is also available on amazon) and squeeze tight to get rid of the water.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).
Once done, gather all the ingredients (except cheese and sour cream) in a large mixing bowl and stir with a spatula or hands until combined.
Prepare a 9x13 or slightly smaller baking dish, spray with cooking oil, and transfer the mixture into the dish. Even out the top with a spatula and layer the sour cream on top.
Bake the chicken zucchini casserole for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and add the cheese, bake again for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Your Chicken Zucchini Casserole is ready! Garnish with parsley or scallions, cracked black pepper. Enjoy!
Serving suggestions
Being loaded with plenty of zucchini and chicken, this dish doesn’t necessarily need a vegetable side dish or salad of some sort. But if you do wish to add a little fresh salad (I highly recommend this easy Marinated Cucumber, Tomato and Onion Salad - this goes with anything!) or even Mashed Potatoes.
Tips
- Sour Cream - depending on your casserole dish size, add more sour cream as needed to cover the entire area as instructed in the recipe. Sour cream used here is mainly to add a little flavor without creating a thick sauce. But feel free to add even more if you prefer this way.
- Onion - brown or yellow onion is preferred and you can feel the flavor in the dish. If not so much of an onion fan, use a smaller onion or reduce the quantity in half.
- I used a smaller oval casserole dish for this, and if using the standard 9 x 13 inch you'll need to adjust the quantities slightly to fill up the space.
FAQ
Gluten Free Zucchini Recipes
Easy One Pot Recipes
- Healthy Vegetable Breakfast Frittata
- Creamy Chicken Bacon And Spinach Pasta
- Ground Beef and Cabbage
- Creamy Chicken Taquitos (Baked Taquitos)
I hope you'll enjoy this chicken zucchini casserole recipe and if you make it, please let me know about it in the comments or by tagging @theyummy_bowl under your picture on Instagram.
Thank you for reading,
Love,
Julia
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Chicken Zucchini Casserole
Ingredients
- 11-12 oz (300 g)Ground chicken
- 1 egg
- 1 carrot medium grated
- 1 large zucchini grated
- 1 medium brown/yellow onion chopped
- 3-4 tablespoon sour cream or more as needed
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste + for zucchini
- 1 ½ cup Cheddar or Colby Jack Cheese
- 1 teaspoon of Italian herb spice or a mix of dried oregano, garlic, thyme
Instructions
- In a medium bowl grate the zucchini and add 1 teaspoon of salt, set aside for 10-15 min to drain the excess water out.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).
- Remove the excess water using a strainer and spoon or wrap the zucchini in a thin kitchen towel and squeeze thightly.
- Once done, gather all the ingredients except cheese and sour cream in a large mixing bowl and stir with a spatula or hands until combined.
- Prepare a 9x13 or slightly smaller baking dish (I used a smaller oval shaped dish), spray with cooking oil, and transfer the mixture into the dish. Even the top with a spatula and layer the sour cream on top.
- Bake for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and add the cheese, bake again for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Garnish with parsley or scallions, cracked black pepper.
Note: Nutrition information is estimated and varies based on the products used.
Full Nutrition Disclaimer can be found here.
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?
If you made this recipe I would love to see it and share it! Please tag me on IG @theyummy_bowl, using the hashtag #theyummy_bowl.
Made this yesterday night for dinner and surprisingly very creamy and delicious. Thank you for the zucchini idea!
thank you so much, zucchini and chicken is the best combo we love!
Made this yesterday following directions exactly. This was not a creamy casserole dish. It was a meatloaf with a lot of veggies in it. The layer of sour cream replaced the ketsup on many meat loaves. The onions were overwhelming and too raw to blend in the mix. Maybe some instructions were left out? Might have been better if ground chicken and chopped onions were sautéed then mixed with remaining veggies and a larger amount of sour cream to make a more casserole like and creamy dish. Won’t make this again.
Hi Linda, thank you for the feedback, and so sorry this casserole was not to your liking. For me personally, the casserole is more of a one-pot, super easy to make without extra separate cooking. You can fill the casserole dish with anything you like, right? Maybe you were expecting something else from this recipe, sorry for the dissapointment! If you decide on trying this one more time, here are my suggestions:
- Onion. You can use both, white or yellow/brown onion for this recipe, and each time they will vary in taste, this is normal. The casserole is in the oven for 35 minutes and if you cut the onion thin enough or small diced this is more than enough for the onion to soften and give flavor to other ingredients. Maybe use half less?
Another alternative is to saute the onion first separately on the stovetop, but this will change the whole purpose of an easy casserole dish and is not necessary as the onion will be cooked through if following the instructions. Also depends on the oven.
- Ground chicken is tender and soft enough to place in the casserole and will cook very quickly unlike ground beef for example. I do not recommend cooking the chicken twice like you are suggestions, there will be way less or no nutrients left in it anymore.
- Sour cream. Yes, I agree, you can add more, this is personal taste. Feel free to add an extra 2-3 tbsp if you feel like it. But there is plenty of cheese already in the dish that is even more than I usually add to casseroles. The sour cream is added a little bit for the flavor, not to make it look and taste like a cream sauce.
I hope you still try this again and feel free to let me know how it will go with the changes you've made.
Thank you!
I made this last night and everyone loved it. I added a little extra sour cream on top and a bell pepper to the mix. I will definitely make this again. Thank you for sharing it.
Thank you Marilyn, glad you liked it, thank you for leaving a comment!
I made this last night for dinner and was very good. I did have to drain the watery juice off when I took it out of oven to put cheese on top. I think my veggies could have cooked awhile longer also. Otherwise it was great! We will make it again real soon.
Thank you Georgene, I am very glad you liked it!
Lovely casserole! Thanks for such a delicious recipe.The family loved it.
Thank you so much Tavo, glad you liked it!
I love the creamy dressing. It is so so tasty!
Thank you so much Jacqueline!
This is such a great way to use up zucchini! I love how it incorporates chicken and lots of veggies while the cheesy goodness makes it comfort food.
I agree, A true comfort meal in one dish, thank you Andrea!
Oh my gosh this looks so creamy and delicious!! I love the chicken and zucchini combo, I’ve never tried that in a casserole before but now I am craving this!
Thank you Alejandra, we loved it too!
I love this idea, I'm going to give it a try tonight!
Thank you, hope you'll enjoy!