Zucchini pizza bites are topped with gooey cheese and can be served as delicious appetizers or a healthy holiday party snack. These indulgent low carb mini pizzas can be made in 15 minutes with only 3 ingredients in your oven, toaster oven or air fryer and are naturally gluten free, and easily be dairy free.
Zucchini pizza bites are so easy and so much fun that it's a wonder everyone isn't making them all the time. These mini pizzas are a healthy, low-carb choice for a party appetizer, a lunch box option, or even a side for dinner!
This easy zucchini pizza bites recipe will seriously appease your pizza cravings, and yet you won't be packing on the carbs. With the base being healthy zucchini slices, these pizzas are a seriously healthier alternative to traditional pizza bites and easy to customize with your favorite toppings.
You make these delicious pizza bites by topping raw zucchini with tomato sauce and cheese, and then baking them quicky until they are hot and gooey. Make them in your toaster oven, in your air fryer, even on your grill. Like my Italian stuffed mushrooms , my green olive tapenade, oven roasted cauliflower steaks, even my shiitake mushroom stir fry, these mini zucchini pizzas are the perfect low carb pizza fix! Looking for a high carb pasta? Try my fried spaghetti, dairy free and vegan.
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Why You'll Love These
A quick and easy pizza bites recipe. With a prep and baking time under 15 minutes, this zucchini pizza bite recipe is perfect to make for holiday parties, game day snacks, lunchbox meals, a side for dinner, even a light lunch. Just slice a zucchini into rounds and use the slices as crust, or slice zucchinis in half, an scoop and fill to make zucchini pizza boats.
Nutritious appetizer. With zero fat and lots of fiber, zucchini brings a ton of nutrition to these mini pizza bites. It's a veggie full of disease-fighting antioxidants, support good digestion and healthy blood sugar levels, and it’s also loaded with significant amounts of vitamins B6, riboflavin, folate, C, and K, and minerals. [source]
Perfect for all diets. These miniature pizzas made with a zucchini crust can be made dairy free, vegetarian, vegan, keto, and already naturally low carb and gluten-free.
Budget-friendly Appetizer. Just 2 large zucchini and a few pantry ingredients can make 45 mini pizzas. Compare the cost of two zucchini to the price tag of a party platter you might buy at a supermarket.
Ingredients
Fresh Zucchini: You'll need raw, unpeeled zucchini. Choose large for large round mini pizzas, and small to make narrow zucchini pizza boats. Organic is best if possible as zucchini is known to sometimes absorb pesticides.
Tomato sauce: I use a store-bought jarred marinara, but you can make your own favorite pasta sauce. You can even use raw tomato slices.
Cheese: Use your favorite cheese. I used dairy free, but any shredded cheese works, including mozzarella, provolone or cheddar. You can also just sprinkle nutritional yeast for a healthier take on parmesan cheese.
Spices: I use oregano and salt but you can also choose the spices you ordinarily use on pizzas including basil, thyme and Italian seasoning.
Toppings: Mushrooms, white button sliced thin. Also, if you'd like, olives, peppers, onions, fresh basil leaves, bits of tofu or garden burgers, red pepper, or even pineapple and avocado. Anything you normally would like to find on your pizzas. Just chop it mini-sized to fit onto these miniature pizzas.
See the recipe card at the bottom for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions
Zucchini. You can use yellow squash or eggplant or any vegetable that can be cut into rounds. To use eggplant, bake the rounds first before topping them.
Tomato sauce. You can use slices of fresh tomato or pesto instead.
Step by Step Instructions
For more detail, visit the complete recipe at the bottom of this post, but here are general steps.
Preparation: Wash the zucchini. Chop off the ends. To make mini round pizzas, slice a large zucchini into ¼-inch-thick rounds. To make slim zucchini boat pizzas, slice small zucchini in half and scoop slightly.
Step 1: Line the sliced zucchini on a parchment-lined baking pan. Brush or spray both sides with oil. Season one side with salt and your choice of spices. Top with tomato sauce.
Step 2: Add other toppings of your choices such as Kalamata mushrooms, olives, chopped green onions, spices, and parsley then sprinkle with shredded cheese, or chunks. I used dairy free.
Step 3: Bake for 5 minutes. Watch them so they don't burn. If the cheese has not melted enough for your liking, broil for a minute or two to brown the cheese.
Step 4: Remove the pan from the oven and garnish with chopped parsley. Allow the pizzas to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then serve.
Making zucchini pizza boats. For a more robust bite, use halves of smaller zucchini and fill them with tomato sauce, cheese and other toppings. Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes.
Recipe Tips
Don't peel the zucchini. Not only is the skin nutritious, but the mini pizzas need it for structure.
Don't saturate the mushrooms. Rinse and brush mushrooms briefly to clean them. Don't soak them or they will absorb the water and become gummy.
If you prefer a firmer bite to your mini zucchini crusts, take an extra step to bake them before topping them (after step 1). Bake them until they are dry around the edges, for around 5 minutes.
Keep sauce from edge. Start with 1 teaspoon per slice and add more or less depending on the size of your zucchini round to keep the tomato sauce from reaching the edge when you are spooning it on to avoid it spilling over. This will make a cleaner finger food experience.
Watch them in the oven. Don't turn your back on these bites while they are in the oven - depending on the temperature of your oven, they can burn quickly so adjust cooking time to fit your oven's characteristics.
Variations
In step 1, when you have coated your sliced zucchini, you can also sprinkle them with salt, pepper, garlic salt or Italian seasoning or even red pepper flakes for extra flavor.
Shape options. You can slice large zucchinis into rounds, or half small zucchinis into lengths, or slice either at an angle so you have oval slices. Treat each shape the same regarding preparation, topping and cooking.
Cook in air fryer. To make these zucchini pizza bites in an air fryer. Turn your air fryer on to 400 F. Prepare the miniature pizzas, and line them up in the basket of your air fryer. Cook them for 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Use tongs to remove and cool. If you want the zucchini less crunchy, cook them without the cheese first for 5, add cheese, then cook again for 5.
Cook in toaster oven. Set your toaster or countertop oven to broil. Slice your zucchini, line the rounds up on your toaster oven pan lined with foil, spray the tops with oil and any seasonings such as salt. Broil until the zucchini develops some brown spots to firm it up, about 3 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon of tomato sauce, and a sprinkling of cheese and other toppings. Broil again for 2 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan and serve.
Cook on grill. Grill the zucchini slices on one side for about 7-8 minutes, or until there are some grill marks. Top with tomato sauce, cheese and any toppings. Return to the grill and cook for another 7 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Serve off the grill.
Storage & Make Ahead
Make ahead. These pizza bites only take 15 minutes to make, so I suggest you only pre-make the zucchini rounds, not oiled or salted, and refrigerate them or freeze them, then follow the recipe to top and bake. If frozen, allow them to thaw overnight in the refrigerator and be sure to bake them for 5 minutes before topping them and baking again to be sure their moisture hasn't made them soggy.
Refrigerator. Store your zucchini pizza bites in the refrigerator, in a sealed container, for up to 4 days. You can reheat in the microwave for 15 seconds, in a hot dry skillet for a few minutes, or in the oven at 350 F for 2 minutes. Or eat cold.
Serve your zucchini pizza bites as finger party food, or an appetizer before a meal. Or as a light lunch with my chickpea salad.
FAQS
Yes, you can make ahead a portion of the recipe. You can slice the zucchini rounds, leave them not oiled or salted, and refrigerate them or freeze them in a sealed container, then follow the recipe to top and bake.
Yes, cook them in your air fryer at 400 for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese bubbles. Follow the recipe to use your counter oven.
These are small bites so count on each person eating about 8.
I do not recommend freezing zucchini pizza bites either before or after baked. That's because the moisture level of zucchini will cause the base to become soggy. Read Storage instructions to see how to freeze the zucchini rounds before they are topped.
Each zucchini pizza is 1 carbs. So if you eat 6, that's 6 carbs. Eat 12, and that's 12 carbs.
Yes. Preheat your air fryer to 400 F. Assemble the pizzas, fit as many as you can in the air fryer basket. Cook at 400 F for 5-6 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Use tongs to remove and cool.
More Zucchini & Veggie Snacks
📖 Recipe
Zucchini Pizza Bites (low carb mini pizzas)
Equipment
- baking sheet
Ingredients
- 2 fresh zucchini, large
- ½ cup tomato sauce
- 1 cup shredded cheese mozzerella, provolone
- 2 tablespoon oregano
- ¼ cup parsley, chopped garnish
- pinch salt
Optional
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast instead of parmesan cheese
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Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F.
- Wash the zucchini. Chop off the ends. To make mini round pizzas, slice a large zucchini into ¼-inch thick rounds. To make slim zucchini boat pizzas, slice small zucchini into ¼-inch length-wise strips.2 fresh zucchini, large
- Line the sliced zucchini on a parchment-lined baking pan. Spray them or rub the tops lightly with oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper or other spices.
- Top each zucchini slice with 1 teaspoon of tomato sauce. Do not allow the sauce to reach the edge.½ cup tomato sauce
- If you are adding toppings, add them now. Consider adding Kalamata mushrooms, olives, chopped green onions, spices, and parsley then sprinkle with shredded cheese, or chunks. I used dairy free.1 cup shredded cheese, 2 tablespoon oregano, pinch salt, 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- Bake for 15 minutes. Watch these pizzas and remove once the top is bubbly. Don't burn.
- Remove the pan from the oven and garnish with chopped parsley. Allow the pizzas to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then slip the pizzas off to a platter and serve.¼ cup parsley, chopped
Sue
Hey Dee how do you cook the air fryer what temperature and time? They look yummy
Dee Dine
Hi Sue, thank you! I have those instructions under variations. Basically preheat your air fryer to 400 F. Prepare the pizzas, and cook for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. If you want the zucchini less crunchy, cook them without the cheese first for 5, add cheese, then cook again for 5.