Zucchini Garlic Bites With Cheese

Those zucchini garlic bites with cheese cooked in the oven on a traybake are an irresistible appetizer that your guests will go crazy after them. You will need to shred a few zucchini and mix them with parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, parsley, and garlic. To make the composition stick better together, you may consider adding 1-2 raw eggs.

Those zucchini garlic bites are a perfect savory and cheesy appetizer to please a crowd. They will come to the taste of everybody. They have light crispy skin and are super tender on the inside. Once your guests will taste them, they will get hooked on their deliciousness. They will ask for more.

You will love making them as they are very versatile and these zucchini bites can be customized to suit different tastes. Experiment with types of cheese, like mozzarella, feta, or goat cheese. Instead of garlic, you can substitute them with red pepper flakes for a little heat or some diced aromatic herbs like basil or parsley for extra color and freshness to your plate.

Also, those appetizers are great for a party or gathering as you can make them ahead of time so you can focus on enjoying your party without thinking about the food you should prepare.

Get ready to watch how they will disappear in no time!

Let’s get started!

🥰 Why You Will Love This Recipe?

• It is a perfect way to introduce more vegetables into children’s diets.
• It is convenient to take it with you on the road as a snack.
• It is delicious both cold and hot which means that you can also make it ahead of time.
• You can vary the recipe by adding other vegetables and spices to the mix.

🥘 Ingredients and Substitutes

• Zucchini. You can use any other type of vegetable from the summer squash family, but be careful that some types may be juicier and you will have to add more breadcrumbs to absorb the liquid excess. You can also add shredded carrots, pumpkin, onion, leek, spinach, and cabbage in the mix.
• Breadcrumbs. The role of the breadcrumbs in that recipe is to homogenize better the meal because the zucchini is watery and we need somehow to reduce the amount of water content from them. As an alternative, if you want to reduce the amount of breadcrumbs, then grate the zucchini, season them with salt and leave them for about 15 minutes to remove the excess water. After this, drain the zucchini well and follow the next steps of the recipe below.
• Eggs. We are using eggs to help all the components from our mix to stick better to each other and to keep their shape.
• Cheese. I used Parmesan for an extra nutty taste, but you could easily replace it with any other hard cheese that melts well.
• Fresh Garlic. I used a few cloves of fresh garlic because I like the pronounced taste of garlic in with the rest of the ingredients from this recipe. If you are not a big fan of the intense garlic taste, you could reduce its quantity, replace it with granulated garlic, or omit it altogether.
• Seasonings. I used a simple mix of salt, pepper, and olive oil. But feel free to experiment with other more complex spices. Some suggestions would be oregano, rosemary, basil, thyme, or other fresh herbs that you prefer. You can also use dry aromatic herbs or mixes of dry herbs. Such as Provence, and Mediterranean herb mix.

👩‍🍳 Step-by-step Directions

First, wash the zucchini well, and grate them. If they are too watery, you can squeeze a little of the excess their water content.

After this, grind the garlic with a smaller grater or use a garlic press.

Now, add the rest of the ingredients. Breadcrumbs, parmesan, black pepper, freshly chopped parsley and eggs.

Now mix everything well until you get a uniform and sticky composition.

Quick Note: If it seems to you that the composition is too watery and you cannot form balls from it, add a few more breadcrumbs. They will absorb all your excess fluids. But be careful not to exaggerate with the amount of breadcrumbs, because you will get a too-dry snack.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

In the meantime form balls of approximately equal size, and place them on the tray.

Quick Note: It is not necessary to respect a very large distance between them, because they will not increase very much in volume during the baking.

If when you form the balls you notice that they leave water on the pan, stop and add more breadcrumbs to the composition.

Quick Note: To make it easier for you to form all the balls of the same size, you can form them using an ice cream scoop or just a tablespoon.

After this, put the tray in the oven preheated to 400°F and cook them for 20-25 minutes using the convection mode (turn on ventilation that will make the air circulate more quickly.)

In the end, you can serve the zucchini bites with garlic both hot and cold near a sauce based on cream or yogurt.

Additionally, you can sprinkle some aromatic herbs on top, such as fresh chopped parsley or dill.

🍽️ Serving Suggestions

You could also serve them in combination with different types of sauces. Here are some suggestions: romesco sauce, marinara sauce, or sweet chili if you prefer something spicier.

🏆 Expert Tips. What to Pay Attention To?

• Ensure that you will form all the pieces of equal size to make sure that they will cook equally.
• Take care of the humidity of the composition. If it will be too liquid, it will not keep its shape. If you will add too much breadcrumbs, you will cover the fine taste of the vegetables and you will get a dry snack.

♻️ Make Ahead, Storage and Heating:

📋 Recipe Card: