This keto zucchini grilled cheese sandwich is my extra healthy take on traditional grilled cheese! In fact, this low carb sandwich is completely breadless. It uses a tasty, crispy zucchini egg bake similar to a zucchini pizza crust. You slice it into sandwiches, melt your cheese of choice in between and enjoy!
Do you like grilled cheese sandwiches? To me, they are perfect comfort food. Well, anything with melted cheese is, right?
Before I started a low carb diet, I’d use sourdough bread to make grilled cheese. However, bread made with grains is off the menu when you’re cutting the carbs. Here’s an article that explains why and lists all foods to avoid on Keto.
Of course, it’s possible to simply use keto bread recipes for a quick grilled cheese. I have two recipes on my site that work especially well for this – my almond flour bread and this popular low carb everyday bread. Take a couple of slices, add cheddar, under the grill (that’s what we call a broiler over here), done!
The thing is, there’s not always keto bread in the house. And I’m here to make your life more interesting. See this low carb zucchini grilled cheese as a crazy healthy twist to a cheese sandwich, low carb or not!
Quick side note – here in the UK we do call a zucchini a courgette, but I’m German and in Germany a zucchini is a zucchini so I’m just sticking with that.
I decided on baking the zucchini “bread” in a casserole dish and cutting it into eight slices afterwards. This is simply faster than forming toast sized square patties and baking those.
Another note – I chose using the oven for ease. But in theory, you could also fry the zucchini base in a skillet. In this case, it would probably easier to form patties so you can flip them.
These crispy sandwiches make a filling lunch or simple dinner. You could absolutely add in some ham, parma ham, pepperoni, cooked bacon or chorizo as well!
How to make a keto zucchini grilled cheese sandwich
Here are the ingredients we need. Definitely don’t forget to use the herbs and spices as zucchini is a bit of a blank canvas. The parmesan is also essential to the recipe.
Tip: I used pre-sliced cheddar for this recipe. I normally prefer to buy cheddar in a block for quality reasons. However, the standard supermarket sliced cheese melts just extra well!
You can also use mozzarella here for dreamy stringiness!
1.) Grate the zucchini either in a food processor or by hand.
2.) Place the zucchini into a muslin cloth or fine tea towel and squeeze out the water. Discard the water.
You should end up with roughly 3 grated cups after squeezing.
3.) Add the compressed zucchini to a mixing bowl along with the eggs, almond flour, parmesan, spices and seasoning. Mix until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.
4.) Press the zucchini bread mix into your baking tray so it is level and about 1/4 inch thick.
Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until golden on top. Remove the “bread” from the oven and tray and allow to cool slightly on a cooling rack.
5.) Slice the zucchini bake into 8 squares (4 bases and 4 tops). Place cheese in the middle of the base and grill for about 30 – 60 seconds or until it has melted. Top with the other slice and serve.
To warm through the entire zucchini sandwich, pop the top on and grill that too for about 30 seconds. Be careful not to burn it though!
Recipe tips and tricks
Make sure you squeeze as much water as possible out of the zucchini. Squeeze, and squeeze some more. Zucchini is a VERY watery veggie. Taking your time with this will make the ‘bread’ nice and firm.
For the best stringy cheese, pre-sliced cheese works best. I went for a cheddar because I like its salty taste, but gouda would also work well. If you are a mozzarella fan, that’s also a good option. It makes the stringiest grilled cheese ever!
Dairy free keto grilled cheese
To make this recipe dairy free, replace the parmesan cheese with nutritional yeast. Instead of the dairy cheese, choose a vegan sliced cheese of your liking.
Cauliflower grilled cheese sandwich
Yes, it is possible to replace the zucchini with cauliflower! To get the same fluffy result, break the cauliflower into florets and steam until tender (about 5 minutes). Alternatively, do this in a microwave!
Then, squeeze all liquid out of the cauliflower and proceed as per recipe.
How to store zucchini grilled cheese
Store the zucchini bread bake in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat it in the oven as it will lose its crispness. I recommend to melt the cheese fresh, just before eating.
It is possible to freeze this recipe. It will be moist once you defrost it and you must re-heat it in the oven to crisp it up again.
Don’t miss these keto zucchini recipes
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
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Keto Zucchini Grilled Cheese Sandwich
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Ingredients
- 3 zucchini 600g - roughly 3 grated cups after squeezing
- 2 eggs large
- 2/3 cup almond flour 67g
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan 30g
- 1 tbsp Italian herbs
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 7 oz / 200g grated mozzarella or cheddar / gouda / gruyere slices
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C / 180 fan / 400F. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper. Dimensions 30 x 23 x 2 cm.
- Grate the zucchini either in a food processor or by hand. Place into a muslin cloth or fine tea towel and squeeze out the water. Discard the water.
- Add the compressed zucchini to a mixing bowl along with the eggs, almond flour, parmesan, spices and seasoning. Mix until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.
- Press the zucchini mix into your baking tray so it is level and about 1/4 inch thick.
- Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until golden on top. Remove from the oven and tray and allow to cool slightly.
- Slice into 8 squares (4 bases and 4 tops). Place cheese in the middle of the base and grill for about 30 - 60 seconds or until melted. Top with the other slice and serve. Option to pop the top on and grill that too for about 30 seconds to warm through but careful not to burn it.
Notes
Nutrition
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Rosie says
Oh WOW. Katrin. This is MARVELLOUS ! Who needs bread when you have this alternative ? Even a base with the melted cheese is enough to stop the melted cheese- sandwich craving . I need to make a huge batch so I can freeze it and it’s SO easy to make. This HAS to be one of my staples from now on ! Thanks so much. Keep your wonderful recipes coming ! How did I manage before coming across your website. I have so many recipes now and depending on what I fancy I know I’ve something that will do the trick.
Katrin Nürnberger says
Thank you so much for your support and kind words!
Shari says
This came out delicious! I did, however, substitute macadamia nut flour in the same proportion for the almond flour.
Katrin Nürnberger says
I must try macadamia nut flour! This should have lowered the carbs further as well.
Anu says
Looks fab! I have been craving grilled cheese for ages and this should do the trick 🙂 However, I am out of regular almond flour, but I have coconut flour, defatted superfine almond flour, hazelnut flour and lupin flour. What would work best as a substitute, please? Also, can the leftovers be reheated in the oven/grill and eaten the next day? Thank you!
Katrin Nürnberger says
First of all, you can definitely reheat and eat the next day.
As for the flours, I would use a little less of the defatted almond flour (as it’s finer) and maybe also up the cheese or add a little melted butter. Hazelnut flour should be a 1:1 sub. Coconut flour I’d use about 1/3 of the amount stated as it absorbs more liquid. Lupin I still haven’t tried so I cannot help with that one!
Anu says
This was quite nice, and although I must admit I think I prefer grilled cheese on keto bread, this is great recipe to have on hand when you have zucchini to use up but want a grilled cheese sandwich, and not zoodles or a zucchini casserole!
I halved the recipe and used a third of the amount of coconut flour instead of almond flour (as suggested), and it worked well – I prepped the “dough” the night before, so it had time to sit in the fridge to thicken up. I had this over two days, baking the “bread” on the first day and having one sandwich on Day 1, and I think I actually liked it better the next day as I grilled the sandwich in the oven for longer (after adding the cheese), got some nice, crispy brown bits in the process. Next time I might add a little more coconut flour for a firmer texture, or of course use almond flour as per the original recipe when I get hold of some! Thanks for this recipe, a very innovative one indeed 🙂
Radwa says
Looks super delicious and easy to make! Zucchini is one of my favourite veggies. I can’t wait to try this recipe.
Katrin Nürnberger says
Keep me posted! Would love to hear how it went 🙂