This cheesy keto zucchini gratin is an easy, creamy low carb side dish that’s perfect for using up fresh summer zucchini. If you’re looking for a simple keto zucchini recipe that actually gets eaten (even by picky eaters), this is the one!
You can skip the origin story for this easy keto zucchini gratin but using the jump to recipe button at the top of the post.
When Mr. Hungry decided to join me on keto recently to drop a few pounds after our carb heavy trip to the states in October, I had mixed feelings about it. He said he was doing it to lose weight and support me in my keto efforts, but as you wives know – that usually means more work for us.
“What can I eat?”
“I’m starving, do we have any snacks?”
“Did you eat all the bacon again?” (Yes, yes I did.)
Don’t get me wrong, Mr. Hungry does more than his fair share around the house, but cooking is mostly my department. And that would be fine – except he hates 90% or more of the things I love to eat on keto.
So while I would be perfectly happy throwing some Better than Potatoes Cheesy Cauliflower Puree in a bowl for myself and calling it dinner (which I do a lot) – he won’t touch anything that has cauliflower in it with a 10 foot pole.
Or broccoli, or spinach, or pretty much any vegetable that isn’t potatoes. Which makes it really hard to make keto friendly meals that he’ll actually eat.
Cue this keto zucchini gratin…
Zucchini is on the list of less offensive but not his favorite (i.e. “I don’t love it, but it doesn’t make me want to kill myself”) vegetables that I sometimes sneak in there.
Those of you with picky eaters in the family know the struggle. Whether it’s finicky kids or veggie phobic spouses, making something that everybody will eat and like is a challenge sometimes.
I find that to be true of keto side dishes most of all. Who doesn’t love a good steak or roasted chicken? But coming up with tasty low carb veggie side dishes that go with those main courses night after night can be a problem.
So when this Easy Keto Zucchini Gratin went down and everybody liked it – I mentally high-fived myself and made it a regular thing. You’re going to want to do the same when you try it!
I used pepper jack cheese the first few times I made this zucchini gratin, and we love the mild heat that it adds – but if you prefer cheddar I tried that too and it’s also delicious.
In fact, I’m pretty sure you can’t go wrong with almost any cheese in this keto zucchini gratin – so you do you, it’s all good.
Any time a keto dinner (complete with vegetables) goes on the table and nobody is whining or complaining?
That’s a win my friends – and I’ll take it!
Let me know in the comments if this zucchini gratin passed the test with your family!
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Easy Keto Zucchini Gratin – Low Carb
- Total Time: 56 minutes
- Yield: 9 servings 1x
- Diet: Diabetic
Description
This Easy Zucchini Gratin has become a staple in our house! It’s cheesy and creamy, super easy to throw together, and the perfect low carb side dish for your keto diet!
Ingredients
- 4 cups sliced raw zucchini
- 1 small onion, peeled and sliced thin
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F).
- Grease a 9×9 or equivalent oven proof pan.
- Overlap 1/3 of the zucchini and onion slices in the pan, then season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.
- Repeat two more times until you have three layers and have used up all of the zucchini, onions, and shredded cheese.
- Combine the garlic powder, butter, heavy cream, and xanthan gum in a microwave safe dish.
- Heat for one minute or until the butter has melted. Whisk until smooth.
- Gently pour the butter and cream mixture over the zucchini layers.
- Bake at 375 degrees (F) for about 45 minutes, or until the liquid has thickened and the top is golden brown.
- Serve warm.
Notes
Depending on your zucchini, you may find it takes longer to cook in order to get your sauce to reduce. If you find it very watery after the 45 minutes, lower the oven temp to 350 and cook it another 10 minutes or so.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 46 minutes
- Category: keto side dishes
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 3 x 3 square
- Calories: 230
- Fat: 20g
- Carbohydrates: 3g net
- Protein: 8g
More Zucchini Recipes You Will Love
If you’re overrun with extra zucchini, here are a few more low carb favorites:
Keto Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes w/ Mocha Frosting
Easy Four Cheese Pesto Zoodles
keto crispy baked zucchini slices – an edible mosaic
To get more fantastic keto recipes, download my super bundle of FIVE e-books for just $19.99!
Mary-Cathern Edwards says
So…no pepper jack, but I used sharp cheddar with a little chile powder. No heavy cream, so used a thickish (powdered) goat’s milk. My husband tolerates goat’s milk but no that from cow. Also added a little curry and only very little salt. (we have all sorts of restrictions) It’s bubbling away in the oven now… delicious aroma ;-)
Marilyn Ketterling says
I wrote a comment earlier today but I don’t see it! I said I was making it tonight for dinner and I did!!! A real hit with both my husband and me. It will be a regular. My onion wasn’t real sweet, actually kind of strong so I cut some bok choy, the rib part, to add some sweetness and it worked really well!! It paired great with my salmon patties. Thank you!
As I had said in earlier post, neither me or my husband are picky…we like most vegetables, there aren’t a lot of low carb sides out there!!!
Your Green Chicken Enchilada Cauliflower Casserole is one that we love and I make it a lot. I make it without the chicken for a side and with the chicken for the main dish!!!
Mellissa Sevigny says
Glad this turned out for you Marilyn, I love the idea of the bok ribs!
Marilyn Ketterling says
I’m making this tonight. Neither my husband nor I are picky eaters, we both like most anything. But….having said that, I still run out of side dish options! I’m a zucchini lover so I’m really excited to try this dish. Thank you Melissa fo being so good at what you do. You are a life saver! I’m serving this with salmon cakes…..I hope that is a good pairing!
Carol says
I made this last night. I used the ingredients listed but changed the way it was made. I sliced the zucchini thin on a mandolin and sauteed the zucchini and onions in the butter until they were soft. Then I combined that with the remaining ingredients in a casserole dish. I just mixed everything together rather than layering it. Baked at 350 for about 30 minutes until the top was browned. It turned out great! DH loved it!
Amy Forster says
Do you think that you could substitute other vegetables- for example, broccoli/cauliflower? I guess since they have less moisture, they should be steamed or boiled beforehand?? It’s hard to find Zucchini in German stores right now because it’s so out of season. Thanks!
Jessica Stone says
you might want to change the name of your recipe ;)
The principal difference is what’s on top of the dish. A gratin (coming from the French word for “grated”) usually has a topping of bread crumbs or sometimes cheese, which browns at the final stage of cooking. A scalloped dish does not have such a topping.
Crickle says
Looks great! Always looking for new zucchini recipes. Can’t wait to try next week!
Jennifer says
I made this last night and I had a lot of extra moisture – maybe a cup or so that didn’t reduce. Did I do something wrong? It smelled and tasted good, but watery. Thx!
Mellissa Sevigny says
It’s possible that your zucchini had more moisture in it than mine I suppose – hard to say what the variables could have been! A cup of extra moisture seems like an awful lot though?
TheaMaria says
I made this last night and had similar results – tasty but watery. I even turned on my convection fan to try to “dry” it out. (Maybe that made it worse?) But I enjoyed the flavor enough that I may experiment with the recipe another time. Any suggestions for dealing with the extra moisture? Xanthum gum? An egg in the sauce?
Kristeena says
Made this for dinner tonight and the flavor was wonderful enough to make again, but mine came out very runny, which I was afraid of because of the water content in the zucchini. My cheese also came out lumpy. Any suggestions on what I did wrong or what I could do to fix it? My hubby and I both loved it but the watery lumpy consistency was at least unattractive. Thanks for the help!
Mellissa Sevigny says
Not sure what would have caused both lumpy cheese and a watery consistency other than undercooking it? Did you use pepper jack or a different cheese? The cheese should have completely melted into your sauce, which would have thickened the sauce and kept it from being watery? If you followed the recipe exactly as written then I’m stumped – sorry!
Stephanie Barnard says
Just made this for the first time for today’s lunch. YUMMY!
Even hubby (who isn’t low carb) got seconds!!!
Thanks so much! I’m new to your site and can’t wait to try more recipes.
Christine Castaneda says
Just made this and it was delicious! I too love the mild heat from the pepper jack cheese and of course I love zucchini’s so this was a winner in my house. Thanks Melissa!