Allergy Friendly Zucchini Meatballs

Have you tried allergy friendly zucchini meatballs? They are delicious! You’re family might not even realize they’re eating vegetables!

Need an allergy friendly meal in a hurry? Allergy friendly zucchini is it! I fell in love with zucchini a few years ago and have found it to be unbelievably versatile. I now have zucchini on hand for nearly everything. For whatever reason, I have been craving meatballs lately. However, I avoid red meat for the most part so that was out. Sure enough, there is a zucchini alternative!

ALL THE ZUCCHINI

Zucchini meatballs are easy to make with or without sauce and can be tweaked for whatever substitutions are necessary. Plus, you can make these in a hurry, it’s not an all night meal. That being said making sure the zucchini is washed and dried properly is a big deal. If your zucchini is too wet, it can ruin the entire recipe. And, let’s just say zucchini retains a lot of water! 

Can you see all that is shiny in that picture? It’s just water. I have put it in a strainer and pushed down to get drain it a bit but the easiest way is to put it in between two dish towels and press hard together. The towels will soak up the excess water.

You’ll never be able to get it all (you might not want to) but removing as much as you can will certainly help these meatballs stick together otherwise, they can fall apart and look like a oozing blob. The good news is, if that happens, they still taste good!

For this recipe, I used Italian Seasoning, it seems to be the most obvious. But, you can use whatever you’d like and if you can whip up fresh seasoning-that’s even better. 

Make sure you have a good brown texture going-we’re cooking gluten free and allergy free here so texture matters! Plus, it makes it taste better too so there’s always that. 

Bake the zucchini balls for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Cover in marinara sauce and shredded Daiya cheese. YUM! This will quickly become your favorite meal, I promise! You can use whatever Daiya Cheese you prefer, for us, we love the mozzarella. My son loves these and the whole family eats them, healthy and safe. Now to the full recipe: 

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Allergy Friendly Zucchini Meatballs

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Have you tried allergy friendly zucchini meatballs? They are delicious! You're family might not even realize they're eating vegetables!

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Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs grated zucchini
• 2 tsp olive oil (divided)
• 1 cup gluten free breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 2 tsp crushed garlic
• 1/4 cup applesauce or other egg replacement
• 1 cup Daiya Cheese
• 1 1/2 cup marina sauce

Instructions

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and wash and grate the zucchini.

Heat 1 tsp of olive oil on a skillet and add in the gluten free breadcrumbs. If you are not using gluten free breadcrumbs you can skip this step. However, gluten free breadcrumbs need a little kick. Toss them in the oil for a few minutes until golden brown.

Once browned add in the Italian seasoning and set aside.

Now, add 1 tsp olive oil back to the skillet and throw in the garlic and zucchini. The goal is to cook out some of the water so, cook the zucchini for about 5 minutes. Then, transfer to a colander to drain excess water.

Add the applesauce into the breadcrumb mixture and stir in drained zucchini. Next, form into small zucchini balls and place on baking sheet.

Bake the zucchini balls for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Cover in marinara sauce and shredded Daiya cheese.