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Low carb casseroles are one of my favorite dinners, because they require making just one dish – instead of separate entrees and low carb side dishes. And during zucchini season, this low carb chicken zucchini casserole recipe is sure to become a favorite as a meal by itself. (Also try cheesy zucchini gratin if you want a zucchini casserole that’s a side dish only.)
If you’ve made a low carb zucchini casserole before and it turned out watery, don’t be so quick to dismiss this one. It’s not watery – promise! Besides, the Swiss Gruyere cheese sauce is amazing.
Tips For Low Carb Chicken Zucchini Casserole
The instructions for how to make low carb chicken zucchini casserole are below, but here I want to share some tips to make it perfect:
Save time by making the different parts in parallel.
You can cut zucchini while mushrooms and onions cook. Then later, you can make the Gruyere cheese sauce while the oven preheats. Speaking of the sauce, here is what it looks like when done, poured over the rest of the ingredients before mixing:
Cook the mushrooms and onions to desired doneness.
There is a range for how long to cook the mushrooms and onions for this chicken zucchini casserole recipe. Anything from translucent to caramelized is great!
There is a trade-off here between time and taste. At the very least, you want the mushrooms and onions to be firm and not crunchy.
If they aren’t soft, that means they still have liquid in them and this will make the casserole watery as it cooks. As long as they are soft, you can choose whether you want them to be translucent or cook for longer to get that amazing caramelized flavor.
Keep heat at medium-high when stir frying the zucchini.
Keeping heat on the higher side browns the zucchini and ensures that the liquid evaporates. And, browning the outside is delicious!
Don’t remove the zucchini from the stove too soon.
Similar to the last point, it’s important to make sure liquid evaporates from the zucchini. Cooking the zucchini to evaporate the liquid is the key to a low carb chicken zucchini casserole that isn’t watery.
Be careful not to overcook the chicken.
The amount of time needed will vary depending on the size of the chicken pieces. Since it’s a casserole, they should be bite-sized.
With pieces that small, they should be done once you see they have browned on the outside. Small pieces cook very quickly!
No need to waste time washing the saute pan between steps.
The chicken zucchini casserole recipe does require several saute steps, but you don’t really need to wash the pan in between. Wipe it lightly with a paper towel just to make sure there aren’t any pieces, and that should be enough.
How To Make Chicken Zucchini Casserole Ahead
One great thing about this low carb chicken zucchini casserole is that you can make it ahead. If you want to meal prep for the week, do all the steps except the final baking at the end. Store it in the fridge, then bake when ready to eat.
If you happen to be making shredded chicken as part of your meal prep, or you have some rotisserie chicken, you can use that in this recipe. Then you an skip the step of pan searing the chicken pieces and just throw the cooked chicken into the bowl.
You can also freeze chicken zucchini casserole! Even with the Gruyere cheese sauce, it works fine because it will be heated before serving.
To freeze, do the same as above with the fridge method above, but freeze instead. You can then bake from frozen for an effortless dinner anytime.
More Easy Cheesy Casseroles
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole
- Cheesy Yellow Squash Casserole
- Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
- Mexican Ground Beef Casserole
- Loaded Cauliflower Casserole
Low Carb Chicken Zucchini Casserole Recipe
Low Carb Chicken Zucchini Casserole Recipe with Gruyere Cheese Sauce
This low carb chicken zucchini casserole recipe comes with a delicious gruyere cheese sauce - and an EASY method to avoid a watery zucchini casserole!
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Ingredients
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Chicken
Veggies
Sauce
Topping
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
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Dissolve a tablespoon (14 g) of sea salt in a large bowl of warm water. Add the chicken and set aside to brine.
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Meanwhile, heat a tablespoon of oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and onions. Cook for about 7-10 minutes, until onions are translucent and starting to brown.
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Increase heat to medium-high. Add the zucchini. Season everything with sea salt and black pepper. Stir fry for about 10 minutes, uncovered, until the zucchini is soft and a little browned. Most (if not all) of the liquid should evaporate.
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Drain the veggies if any liquid remains and transfer to a large bowl. Set aside the bowl. Set aside the saute pan to use again.
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Remove the chicken from the water and pat dry. Cut into bite-size pieces.
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Add another tablespoon of oil to the saute pan and heat over medium-high heat. Add the chicken pieces and saute for 3-5 minutes, until browned on both sides and cooked through.
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Add the chicken to the bowl with the veggies. Set aside the bowl. Set aside the saute pan to use again.
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Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (191 degrees C).
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While the oven preheats, add cream and chicken broth to the same saute pan from before (it will just be at the bottom. Bring to a simmer, and simmer gently for about 5 minutes, until thick enough to barely coat the back of a spoon.
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Reduce heat to low. Stir 2 oz (57 g) of shredded cheese into the pan, until melted. Add sea salt and black pepper to taste if needed.
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Pour the sauce into the bowl with the chicken and veggies. Mix to combine.
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Transfer the mixture to a 9x13 in (23x33 cm) glass casserole dish. Sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese.
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Bake for about 10 minutes, until the cheese melts.
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Recipe Notes
Serving size: ~4.5 x 3.25 in square, or 1/8 of entire recipe (cut casserole into 8 sections)
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
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73 Comments
Paula Mihalyfi
1Really yummy. Ended up using broccoli instead of zucchini and rotisserie chicken, it was Delicious. Enjoyed the cheese blend, found it at Trader Joe’s. Thanks for the recipe. Might try this in a pan that can go in the oven next time for even less dishes.
Holly L.
0I made this and took it to a pot luck. It was a huge hit. Very decadent and easy to make. I love comfort casseroles and this is! Thanks Maya for another great recipe!!
Linda Smith
0Delicious casserole and I’m not normally a zucchini fan… gruyere sauce is so good!
Andielinn
0Just a little tip…. if you have an Aldi nearby, my local Aldi carries bagged/shredded Swiss & Guyere for about $4. Not bad at all and it definitely made this dish just perfect!
Andielinn
0This was SO good!!!! We’ve been living a keto lifestyle for 3.5 years and we’re at the point where we’re looking for new, different flavors. This checked those boxes! Our son, who is not keto, loved it but said he’d love it even more over pasta. DEFINITELY a repeat in our house! Thank you!!!!
Mischa (down in TX)
0Made this for dinner and it was a huge hit with my husband who usually doesn’t like zucchini. I didn’t have cream, so I subbed cream of chicken soup for the cream and the broth. Thanks for a great recipe.
Carrie
0This was a WIN! I saw some people saying it was a little runny but I thought it was delicious! Thanks for all the little tips that make this so easy. The only thing I would do differently next time is start the zucchini sauté before adding onions and mushrooms.
Elizabeth
0I used poached, shredded chicken and substituted blue cheese and cream cheese. Topped with oil-rubbed kale. Delicious!
Rebecca
0Made this tonight for dinner, followed the recipe exactly, but the cheese sauce didn’t thicken at all, added more cheese, nothing. Cheese sauce was so thin
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Rebecca, I’m not sure why it was thin for you, a possible reason is that the zucchini needed to be stir fried for longer to get rid of extra moisture, it will release water when baking later and make the sauce too thin.
Gloria W Parrish
0I made this this past weekend and my husband loved it. I used a little cream cheese and shredded mozzarella cheese since I did not have gruyeer cheese, though.
Mandie
0This is my favorite recipe! I make it put portions in the fridge and have it for lunch. I make mine with Swiss. I like it because it doesn’t eat up all my carbs for a day.
Wanda Kjar-Hunt
0My husband absolutely loved this recipe & I did too. He wanted me to give you 10 stars!!
He has said he doesn’t mind eating Low carb as long as the food is good. He said this is a top 3 of what I’ve made these past 3 months!
I used Swiss & Italian cheeses as it’s what I had on hand.
Matty
0This was a disaster and a total waste of a very expensive cheese (Gruyere).
Cooked it two times: 1) followed recipe to a T, veg got mushy instead of crisp, 10 minutes in the oven left the meat uncooked. Meal went in the bin. 2) cooked veg separately, as another reviewer pointed out, left the meal way longer in the oven (as yet another reviewer has pointed out), cooked the chicken way longer and ended up with an OK meal and a kitchen full of dishes to wash.
Will never do again!!
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Matty, Sorry this recipe didn’t turn out as expected. There isn’t a way to make this recipe with ‘crisp’ vegetables. If you don’t work out enough water from the zucchini while it’s on the stovetop, you will end up with a watery casserole.
Rex
0Actually, this was really good. I made two tweaks: sautéed the onions and mushrooms Worcestershire sauce and then added a quarter cup of red wine with the chicken, boiling the wine down before doing the cream and chicken broth. Then, after the cheese melted on top in the oven, sprinkled some bread crumbs on top then baked. Really good flavors and some textures,
Shanna
0My whole family loved this recipe! It was incredibly good, and easy to make. I will be making this often and am looking forward to making this when we have people over.
Karen
0Loved the flavor! I would do the veggies separately. The onions began to burn and the mushrooms weren’t dehydrated enough. I removed them and did the zucchini separately. I had a surplus of canned white chicken. I used two 10 oz cans. My family likes more meat. It was a bit soupy, but there was nothing left!
MARY
0Made this last night, it was yummy. I used yellow squash since it’s all I had but figured it was pretty close in texture and taste as zucchini since they’re both summer squash. Will make again with zucchini.
Only other change than that was I added red pepper flakes to both the veggies as they were cooking and the sauce (cream, broth) since we like it spicy.
One question – in the ingredient list it says 3 oz shredded cheese and in the instructions it says 2 oz. Just wondering which is correct? I used 3 oz and it came out well.
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Mary, It’s 3 ounces! Enjoy!
Jessica
0This turned out pretty good, but I think my sauce was too thin, which made the zucchini get soggy in the leftovers. Not sure I would make it again. Also I prefer to split this into only 6 servings, 8 seemed too small.
Dana
0LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this recipe!!! I just made it and it is fabulous! Thank you so much, your recipes never disappoint. It was so easy and will become part of our rotation. I just have one question. When it’s done, is the liquid in the bottom of the casserole dish supposed to be thin? It was great, I just wasn’t sure if I made a mistake along the way. Thanks again!
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Dana, Yes, that’s fine. There aren’t any thickeners or binders in the cheese sauce, so it’s normal for a small amount of separation to occur.
Mary
0When do you cook the chicken? The end says put in oven for 10 minutes. That does not seem like enough time for the pieces to cook.
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Mary, The chicken is cut into bite-sized pieces and sauteed on the stovetop (see step 6). It will then bake in the oven (step 12). As long as the chicken pieces are cut into bite sized pieces, this is enough time for them to cook through. Enjoy!
Jessica
0I used chicken I made in the air fryer and I only used 2 zucchini. I wanted to use cheeses I had on hand so I used smoked Gouda and Mexican cheese blend. The sauce was amazing! It would make an awesome Mac & cheese!
Kara
0I was nervous at first because my zucchini was taking FOREVER to lose all its moisture. But we got there after about 20 mins! The zucchini sort of fell apart, but in the end it didn’t affect the casserole at all! I did also add about 1/4tsp of xanthan gum to the sauce at the end to help thicken it before mixing with the chicken and veggies. I think the pre-shredded gruyere I bought may have had a coating on it to maintain freshness that caused it to not melt as easily — thus the sauce didn’t thicken well. But the little bit of xanthan gum worked perfectly! Despite warning my husband that the serving size was 1/8 of the casserole, he couldn’t help himself and went back for seconds and thirds! He wouldn’t stop gushing about how delicious it was! He’s been eating the (cold) leftovers for lunch each of the last two days
Thanks for another great recipe that I’m sure to make again and again!
kim nedz
0Hello, Can I make this in a crock pot?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Kim, This recipe would turn out too watery in a crockpot. The best way to make this dish is in the oven.
Lois
0I’m thinking that I might substitute shredded rotisserie chicken from the deli instead of cooking from raw. What do you think?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Lois, Yes that will work great! Enjoy.
Vicky
0I had my eye on this recipe for over 2 weeks. It was definitely worth the wait – my husband and I devoured it! Thank you so much for posting this – absolutely delicious. I really think the gruyere cheese made the taste so distinctive so if you can possibly splurge, do it!
Kathy Lorenzato
0Good flavor, but I’m guessing that Jarlsberg doesn’t make a sauce like Gruyere would. I couldn’t find Gruyerre and when I put in the shredded Jarlsberg the cheese just coagulated on the whisk. I hard a hard time removing it from the whisk! So I got a very thin sauce. Any ideas on what I can use when I can’t find Gruyere? Thanks.
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Kathy, Jarlsberg should work fine. The cheese should be melted at low heat, otherwise it will start to clump or oil will separate from it. If you can find Emmental, that’s another great melting cheese. The sauce will be thicker when it comes together properly.
Jessie
0If baking this from frozen, what temp for how long? Thanks!
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Jessie, Thaw at room temperature. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until heated through and the cheese melts.
Leigh
0I made this exactly as given in the recipe and it was DELICIOUS! I cooked out the liquid from the veggies as directed and the casserole turned out just fine. Grueyere is a little on the pricey side for me, but a combo of Swiss and Havarti turned out great. The casserole re-heats well – just had it for lunch!
Thanks so much! This will be a go-to for me!
Susan R Anderson
0Could you sub shrimp instead of chicken?
Wholesome Yum A
0I don’t see why not, Susan! You might want to bake for less time to avoid overcooking them.
Allison Dabney
0This was really good! I usually don’t like to read the reviews of the people who made a million changes but I kind of winged this one with what I had available. I had leftover grilled chicken so used this instead of cooking additional chicken. I had one yellow squash and one zucchini. To make up for this and to add a little carb-like texture, I used a pack of the shirataki “rice.” Everything else I did exactly as the recipe was written. It was fantastic. I will be making this again! Thank you for the inspiration!
Adriana
0Both my kids (3 yr old & 17 yr old) gobbled this up! I used extra sharp cheddar & bell peppers since I didn’t have mushrooms or swiss cheese. Served it along crisp greens and homemade balsamic vinaigrette and it was delicious
Sharon
0Can you use chicken thighs instead of breast?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Sharon, Sure, you can!
Richard Halbert
0We’re non dairy around here (from cows, sheep or goats are okay). Can I use goat yogurt instead of cream and, of course use goat cheese?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Richard, I haven’t tried that. It should come together fine, but the yogurt would change the flavor (more tangy).
Mary Beth Puccio
0Is it correct to have 8 servings with only 10oz of chicken? That is 1.25 oz per serving. Seems incredibly low.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Mary, Serving sizes are somewhat of a subjective concept. This recipe isn’t really meat heavy, though. The zucchini and cheese sauce provide volume and calories, too. If the serving size isn’t large enough for you, feel free to have more!
Deserine
0Hi, I tried this recipe and unfortunately my cheese came out gooey and the dish was very watery. I cooked the zucchini until it was dark brown thinking it would make the liquid evaporate. Also, I drained the veggies and chicken with a napkin but it didn’t help. My husband enjoyed it but it had too much liquid in my opinion. I want to try it again but other than reducing the amount chicken broth I’m unclear as what else could I do to reduce the liquid content.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Deserine, Sorry you had issues with it. If it’s watery, it would be from the zucchini – most likely it needed to be cooked for longer before adding to the casserole and mixing with other ingredients. Did you check the pictures above to see how it looks in the bowl? If yours was more crisp, it would release a lot of water during baking.
christina
0Made this tonight. It came out great! There were no leftovers. The sauce did take a while to thicken (on the stove, prior to placing in oven) so after about 10 minutes of simmering I added in 1-2 tsp tapioca starch and slowly mixed it in. Overall, delicious!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am so happy you liked it, Christina! Thank you!
Cristi
0I made this tonight and it was delicious! We sprinkled some crushed red peppers on top for a little spice.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I love that you added crushed red pepper, Cristi! Have a great day!
Shannon
0Thanks for the recipe. I made it and my husband and I really liked it. I followed the directions exactly using swiss and the sauce was very thin. We enjoyed it anyway.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Shannon, I’m not sure why it was thin for you, but if that happens you can always add more cheese to thicken it more if you need to. Another possible reason it was thin could be that the zucchini needed to be stir fried for longer to get rid of extra moisture – if it’s too firm, it will release water when baking later and make the sauce watery. I’m glad you still liked it.
Dennise
0Is there a good substitute for the mushrooms? I have 2 at home that don’t like them
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Dennise, You could just skip them or use a different veggie. I think red peppers would also be good.
Mark
0Hello Maya! Hope you are well. I have a question about the cheese. You say in the ingredients “(or just one of the two types)”. What do you mean by this? I’ve read the whole recipe 3x and can’t find any reference. Can I use mozzarella cheese instead?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Mark, The recipe calls for a Swiss Gruyere blend but you can use just one or the other. You could try all mozzarella instead but it would have a more mild flavor.
Marsha Kowlessar
0Delicious, I did not know making cheese sauce was so easy. I will make this again.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am so happy you liked it, Marsha! Thanks for stopping by! Please come back again soon!
Chris
0This looks delicious. Your freezer tips still require baking from frozen. Can this be baked and then frozen? I’m thinking about using this as a freezer meal that can be heated up at work. Any tips would help.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Chris, Yes, that should work too!
Olivia Ross
0Can I sub broccoli or something else for mushrooms? We don’t like mushrooms but I so want to make this!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Olivia, I haven’t tried but you can definitely use a different veggie if you like. If it’s not one that caramelizes (broccoli won’t shrink and caramelize like mushrooms do), you can either steam or saute that separately.
Gail
0Where did the 3 sugars come from? Looks good, But scared of sugar, will this kick me out?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Gail, This will not kick you out of ketosis (provided you keep the serving size within your macros). The sugars come from small amounts naturally occurring in the vegetables – zucchini, onions and mushrooms.
Kay
0Made it tonight. Even my picky 3 yr old gobbled it up. It’s going into rotation now.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am so happy to hear that, Kay!
Diane Smith
0I appreciate seeing someone else’s ideas on low-carb. This looks SUPER!!
Will probably make it tomorrow!!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Yay, thanks, Diane! Hope you’ll love it.
Diane Smith
0I DID make it—favorite with both my daughter and I. We are both doing Keto for Hashimoto’s and this makes it seem less of a struggle!!!
Thank you so much.
EXCELLENT recipe.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Yay, that’s awesome! So glad to hear that!