Happy New Year everyone! Today I am having a flash back to the summer months when I had so many zucchini that I didn’t know what to do with them all. These gluten free zucchini tots were a staple during summer, and area a great way to start the new year!
I am not a new year resolutions person. It just doesn’t suit me. I perfer the moto “moderation in everything.” To me means that you don’t need to feel guilty for life’s small pleasures.
One of life’s small pleasures that I work on is making food taste great. Why eat it if it doesn’t make you happy? Well, we need to eat our vegetables too, so why not try them in a happy dippable form, like these tots.
I love the potato version of tots too, and will happily nosh on carbs all day long. There is nothing wrong with carbs. However, these zucchini tots are a great way to get more vegetables on your plate.
Variations to the Gluten Free Zucchini Tots recipe:
- Try other veggies. This recipe could easily be made with broccoli or cauliflower or both. Try using a frozen bag, shredding it, thawing, and pressing out the liquid.
- Not gluten free: I don’t eat gluten free, but I love chickpea flour for added protein, and the corn tortilla chips add a little sweetness that I adore in this recipe. The recipe has suggestions for alternative ingredients if you don’t stock the gluten free ingredients.
- Crispy not mushy: Keeping the tots small increases the surface area and gives better crispy edges and eliminates mushy middles. I find about 30 tots is just right. Try diving the zucchini mixture into thirds in the bowl, then make 10 tots out of each portion.
- Food Processor: I use my food processor to grind up tortilla chips to make crumbs, and then shred the zucchini using a shredding blade. A very handy tool to make fast work of this recipe.
- 1 lb zucchini(s), shredded to make 3 ½ cups
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup fine tortilla chip crumbs (or bread crumbs if not gluten free)
- 3 TBS chickpea flour (or whole wheat flour if not gluten free)
- ½ tsp each: Italian seasoning and garlic powder
- ¼ tsp each: black pepper and onion powder
- ¼ cup each: grated Parmesan and finely shredded cheddar
- 2 eggs
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Place zucchini and salt in a kitchen towel, tossing to combine. Let rest 10 minutes. Squeeze zucchini in a clean kitchen towel over a bowl or the sink to remove moisture. I ended up with 2 cups shredded zucchini after squeezing out lots of water.
- Toss together zucchini, tortilla chip crumbs, chickpea flour, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, black pepper, onion powder, Parmesan, cheddar and eggs.
- Form into about 30 small tot-shaped pieces and place on a baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, turning half way.
