Zucchini Egg Bake
on Jul 20, 2023, Updated May 30, 2025
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My delicious Zucchini Egg Bake is the perfect high-protein meal or snack for any time of day. This is my take on a frittata—an Italian egg-based, baked dish, similar to a crustless quiche. The beauty of this recipe is it’s highly customizable for all kinds of diets and preferences and it cooks in the oven (hands-free)! Here I use a base of grated fresh zucchini and 🥚 eggs. A bit of cottage cheese adds richness, increased 💪 protein and creaminess as well, but don’t worry, you won’t be able to pick up on the flavor or texture of the cottage cheese in the baked dish. Serve this ♨️ warm or room temp for breakfast, a snack, or a light lunch or dinner. This is perfect alongside a simple salad or sliced and sandwiched between toast or English muffins.
Why You’ll Love Zucchini Egg Bake
This Zucchini Egg Bake recipe is an easy, delicious and adaptable recipe you’ll go back to again and again. This recipe is a great way to use up small bits in your fridge: the last hunk of 🧀 cheese, a few slices deli meat, some wilting 🌿 herbs. It’s also so filling, healthy and protein-packed thanks to the meat, egg and cottage cheese. The result is a fluffy, flavorful bite that’s packed with good-for-you ingredients.
How to Prepare
🔥 Preheat the oven to 400F (200C).
💧 Use a rotary grater to grate your zucchini. Transfer the grated zucchini to a cheesecloth, a clean kitchen towel, or just your clean hands and then squeeze out the excess moisture and add to a mixing bowl.
🥚 To the bowl, crack the eggs.
🧂 Now, add in the cottage cheese and a pinch of salt, and then mix well.
🔪 Use a sharp knife to dice the mortadella and add it to the bowl.
🧀 Use the grater to grate the cheese and then add it to the bowl as well.
🥣 Line a baking dish with parchment paper and then pour in the egg mixture.
🥄 Now add the flour and baking powder, and then mix everything together really well.
⏲️ Spread the mixture out evenly with a spatula or the back of a spoon and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until set (the eggs should not jiggle). A skewer/fork/toothpick should come out clean once inserted.
😋 Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes, slice, and enjoy!
Nonna’s Tip 💧
For a super fluffy dish, be sure to transfer the grated zucchini to a cheesecloth to squeeze out as much excess water as you can. If you don’t have a piece of cheesecloth, you can also use a clean kitchen towel, a nut milk bag, a sieve or just your clean hands.
Variations and Substitutions for Zucchini Egg Bake
- Feel free to use any veggies of choice in this recipe. I love adding finely chopped 🥦 broccoli if I don’t have zucchini on hand.
- Use your favorite gluten-free flour or oat flour instead of all-purpose if you have a gluten intolerance.
- You can use any cheese you like in this Zucchini Egg Bake: 🧀 cheddar, mozzarella Swiss, or Parmesan will all work as well.
- I used mortadella here, but you can add any thinly sliced cold cut of your choice, or even cooked 🥓 bacon.
- You can use ricotta instead of cottage cheese if you prefer.
- For a vegetarian version, leave out the meat completely. You can add other veggies, like 🍄 mushrooms, for a more meaty texture as well.
- To make this Zucchini Egg Bake recipe vegan, simply use your favorite non-dairy cheese.
Similar Recipes
Best Served With
- Serve this Zucchini Egg Bake for brunch with your favorite breakfast protein such as my Homemade Breakfast Sausage Recipe, 🥓 bacon or turkey bacon.
- Serve this for lunch or dinner with a big, fresh 🥗 salad such as my Simple Green Salad or Caprese Salad.
Zucchini Egg Bake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 large eggs
- ½ cup cottage cheese
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups grated zucchini
- ½ cup diced mortadella, about 4 slices, or any deli meat of choice
- 1 cup grated Kashkaval cheese, any cheese
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, oat flour if gluten-free
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F (200C).
- In a large bowl, crack the eggs. Add the cottage cheese, pinch of salt, and mix well.
- Transfer the grated zucchini to a cheesecloth, a clean kitchen towel, or just your clean hands and squeeze out the excess moisture. Add the zucchini to the eggs, along with the diced mortadella. Add the grated cheese, flour, and baking powder, and mix well.
- Line a baking dish with parchment paper and pour in the egg mixture.
- Spread the mixture out evenly with a spatula or the back of a spoon and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until set (the eggs should not jiggle). A skewer/fork/toothpick should come out clean once inserted.
- Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes, slice, and enjoy!
Nonna’s Notes
- Vegetables: Feel free to use any veggies of choice in this recipe. I love adding finely chopped broccoli if I don’t have zucchini on hand.
- Gluten-free options: Use your favorite gluten-free flour or oat flour instead of all-purpose if you have a gluten intolerance.
- Cheeses: You can use any cheese you like in this Zucchini Egg Bake: cheddar, mozzarella Swiss, or Parmesan will all work as well. You can also use ricotta instead of cottage cheese if you prefer.
- Meat substitutions: I used mortadella here, but you can add any thinly sliced cold cut of your choice, or even cooked bacon.
- Vegetarian/Vegan options: For a vegetarian version, leave out the meat completely. You can add other veggies, like mushrooms, for a more meaty texture. To make this Zucchini Egg Bake recipe vegan, simply use your favorite non-dairy cheese.
My Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Common Questions
I LOVE this rotary grater from Amazon. It grates everything from cheese to veggies in seconds: Rotary Cheese Grater.
You can certainly use whatever veggies you have kicking around in the fridge: broccoli or cauliflower, mushrooms, chopped peppers and sweet potato would all work!
You can reheat the eggs in the microwave the following day or in a pan on the stove.
Yes, simply make this recipe vegetarian by omitting the meat. For added protein, you could also try adding a scoop of plain protein powder or diced tofu to this.
Make this Zucchini Egg Bake vegan by using your favorite non-dairy cheese.
If you have a gluten intolerance, please feel free to use your favorite gluten-free flour or oat flour instead of all-purpose.
Scalloped zucchini look across the top
I had doubled the recipe and somehow had missed the note about squeezing out zucchini juice 🤦🏻♀️ so I just added 2 TB more flour (I used King Arthur 1:1 GF mix) and 1/4 tsp more baking soda.
Changes:
– No salt bc I was using Parmesan
– Used about 1.5c total cheese between mozzarella, Gouda/cheddar/Gruyère mix, and Parmesan
– Instead of all eggs, used only 6 eggs and a container of egg whites. For the 1x recipe, it’s 5 eggs and slightly more than 1/2c of egg whites. Or 3 eggs and 0.7c of egg whites.
I poured half into a Pyrex 13×9 and half into a silicone muffin dish with olive oil spritzed before the pour. The egg muffins were done perfectly in… maybe 8 minutes? It had risen a quite bit and I took it out near the top but without any visible wetness. Great when you’re in a time crunch.
– I didn’t have charcuterie so I used roast pork shoulder instead 😆 absolutely delicious!
Will make again and again!
Thank you for sharing! This will be so helpful to others making this recipe. I’m so happy you enjoyed it ❤️!
My pleasure, and thank YOU for sharing a great recipe! It’s so healthy and delicious.
I came back to add that it freezes and thaws really well! Yes, it gets watery post-thaw, but can be drained without impact to texture or flavor.
Awesome! Thank you for testing this and sharing your results! ❤️