Healthy Baked Zucchini Tots
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Oct 10, 2025 
Healthy Baked Zucchini Tots: These 6-Ingredient Zucchini Tots are gluten-free and packed with flavor! Perfect as an appetizer or side dish!
Why We Love This Zucchini Tots Recipe
We’ll get to these cute and delicious Zucchini Tots, but first Zucchini…
Chances are, if you’re a gardener and happened to plant zucchini this year, you’ve got bushels of these tender green batons coming out of your garden right now.
What should you do with your mountain of zucchini? You could make any of these healthy zucchini recipes…
- Stuffed Zucchini Boats
- Baked Zucchini Chips
- Zucchini Nutella Swirl Muffins (Zucchini Bread)
- Grilled Fajita Veggie Skewers
- Zucchini and Crimini Street Tacos
- Roasted Vegetable Tostadas
Just to name a few. Zucchini lovers unite!
Ingredients You Need
However, my latest zucchini addiction is Healthy Baked Zucchini Tots made with only 6 ingredients (+ salt and pepper) and they’re gluten-free to boot.
- Zucchini – Shredded and squeezed, zucchini is the main star of this recipe.
- Eggs – This helps hold everything together.
- Italian Blend Cheese – To add flavor and some fats to the tots.
- Rice Cereal – If you don’t need to make this gluten-free you can use panko breadcrumbs here.
- Italian Seasoning – Flavoring to give them a boost of Italian flavor.
- Garlic Powder – Delicious garlic taste that won’t turn bitter when baking.
- Salt and Pepper – All about enhancing and balancing.
How To Make Baked Zucchini Tots
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Shred the zucchini and measure out 2 cups tightly packed. Dump the zucchini onto a paper towel. Then use another paper towel to squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Discard the paper towels. Place the zucchini in a large bowl.
- Crush the rice cereal into fine crumbs. Add the eggs, cheese, crushed rice cereal, herbs, garlic, salt, and ground black pepper. Mix well to combine.
- Using a 2-teaspoon cookie scoop, spoon out tightly packed portions of zucchini mixture and place it on parchment paper lined baking sheets. This is to help them not spread.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden.
Serving Suggestions
Healthy Baked Zucchini Tots make a wonderful side dish or snack for kids and adults alike.
My kids love these little guys. And I love that I’m sneaking extra veggies into their diet.
Healthy Zucchini Tots are fun to make and even more fun to dunk and dip. Try them with ketchup, honey mustard, ranch, or blue cheese dressing. Or try them with…
- Best Easy Remoulade
- Yum Yum Sauce
- Comeback Sauce
- Magic Aioli
- Avocado Crema
- Homemade Tzatziki Sauce
- Marinara Sauce
Once baked, they have the consistency of tater tots, yet have a lot more going for them, including zesty flavor as well as protein, vitamins, and minerals! They are like mini zucchini cakes or zucchini fritters you can pop with your fingers.
Here are a couple of main dishes that these Zucchini Tots go so well with:
- Zesty Italian Burgers
- Ham and Cheese Breakfast Panini
- Ultimate Breakfast BLT
- Old Fashioned Patty Melts
- Hot Italian Sausages
- Grilled Cod
- Grilled Chicken Breast
How to Store Zucchini Tots
If you have any leftover zucchini tots, store them in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days! You can reheat them in a microwave, however, they won’t stay crispy! To keep them crispy, reheat in an oven or air fryer.
As a bonus, Healthy Baked Zucchini Tots are easy to freeze! Just bake them according to the recipe, place them in a zip bag and freeze.
When you’re ready to use them, warm them in the oven at 350 for about 10-15 minutes! Or, you can use the air fryer to warm them up until heated through!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can You Make Tots with Summer Squash?
Sure, you can! If you prefer yellow squash, swap it for the zucchini in this recipe.
Are Zucchini Tots Low Carb?
This recipe is lower in carbs than traditional potato tater tots. However, it is not low carb, keto, dairy-free, or vegan. You can make some minor swaps for a dairy-free recipe, using plant-based cheese.
Can I use Zucchini Noodles in This Recipe?
To save time you can use store-bought shredded zucchini or even zucchini ribbons, roughly chopped.
What Can I Add to the Tots Recipe?
If you like to mix things up, consider adding in corn, lemon zest, fresh basil or other fresh herbs, grated parmesan cheese or cheddar cheese, diced red onions, bell pepper, carrots, or feta cheese!
See The Recipe Card Below For How To Make Healthy Baked Zucchini Tater Tots + Video!
Looking for More Healthy Zucchini Recipes? Be Sure to Also Try:
- Crispy Creole Roasted Zucchini
- Baked Zucchini Casserole
- Zucchini Parmesan Bread
- Stuffed Zucchini Boats with Quinoa and Pine Nuts
- Sauteed Zucchini from Well Plated
Healthy Baked Zucchini Tots
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups packed shredded zucchini
- 2 large eggs
- 2/3 cups shredded Italian blend cheese (could use low fat cheese)
- 1/2 cup crushed rice cereal, such as Rice Chex or gluten-free rice puffs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Shred the zucchini and measure out 2 cups tightly packed. Dump the zucchini onto a paper towel. Then use another paper towel to press out as much moisture as possible. Discard the paper towels. Place the zucchini in a large bowl.
- Crush the rice cereal into fine crumbs. Add the eggs, cheese, crushed rice cereal, herbs, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper. Mix well to combine.
- Using a 2-teaspoon cookie scoop, spoon out tightly packed portions of zucchini mixture and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden.
Yes, it’s really yum. Thanks for this recipe!
These are DELICIOUS! Fun and easy to make. My grandkids will love them too!
Thank you!
ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!! PERFECT low carb snack fresh from my garden. Thank you for the recipe!
This recipe is fantastic! I have a 7 year old boy who absolutely loves these, so it’s a home run in my book!
Do they freeze?
Hi Angela,
Yes! Just freeze in a single layer on a baking sheet, then place them all in an airtight container and place back in the freezer. This will allow you to take a few out at a time.
Fantastic treat! I used panko crumbs and added fine chopped sautéed sweet onions with fresh dill, basil and parsley from garden. These were great additions! Thank you for the great recipe, loved by many!
Oh so good! It tastes like sausage. I made a few changes ( used sharp cheddar cheese instead of Italian blend and crushed town house crackers instead of rice cereal) because I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand. I should have placed the pan in the oven immediately after placing the batter on the pan to avoid some of the draining of the liquid from the zucchini (had to go attend to baby), but still tastes amazing!
My trick for getting more/most water out of the zucchini is to lightly salt the zucchini once grated, mix well and allow to sit in a colander while gathering/prepping other ingredients. Then place the zucchini in a clean kitchen towel twist to release the liquid. The light salting does the trick every time. Remember to adjust the salt in the recipe accordingly :) :) :)
The nutritional value reads that this has no carbs, but every dry oz. of rice cereal contains 3 grams of carbs. I love the recipe, the idea and the results. But for no carb diets, this is incorrect. Just low carb(:
My boyfriend is diabetic and carbs turn into sugars, so that’s the only reason I thought i’d mention it. For someone who is insulin dependant or who has liver cancer, they would have to inject themselves accordingly. This doesn’t take away from how simple, eletant, healthy, creative and TASTY this dish is though!!
These are so good!
I made one change, I used a ninja to chop up the Zucchini. I think that made them more liquidy. So, I put then in a six muffin pan. Fit perfect and they came out great. A definite keeper.
I love these! They are so tasty and such an easy recipe to make. I have lots of zucchini from my garden and have made them twice already. I am still trying to perfect them. I think the variable is how much one squeezes out their zucchini. I will definitely be making these for Book Club and other parties because I can see it will be super easy to have them made up and then just scoop them out and bake them up when everyone arrives. Thank you for such an easy and tasty treat!
Omg….never Tasted anything better..Sooooo amazing…easy to make and delicious
Can I use something other than the cereal? I have no dietary restrictions and Chex seems like it would add sweetness I don’t necessarily want.
Thanks!!
Hi Brandy,
If you don’t have any dietary restrictions, and don’t want to go with rice cereal, I would use panko bread breads in equal portion. The tots will turn out great! :)
Sweet! Thanks! I’m making them to go along with wings :)