Chicken Zucchini Poppers with Creamy Cilantro Sauce
These garlic and zucchini chicken patties are easy to make, healthy, and delicious. Topped with a little creamy cilantro sauce, they're the perfect gluten free weeknight meal.
Servings: 6 patties
Calories: 204kcal
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken (at least 7% fat recommended)
- 1-2 medium zucchini squash (about 1½ cups shredded)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon fresh black pepper
- 1-2 tablespoons oil for cooking
Creamy Cilantro Sauce
- 1 cup fresh cilantro
- 1 small garlic clove (or more depending on preference)
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon cottage cheese
- 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
Instructions
- Combine cilantro, garlic clove, mayonnaise, cottage cheese, and vinegar in a food processor and blend till combined. Pop in the fridge to thicken and let flavors combine at least 30 min. You can also just chop the cilantro small and mix everything together by hand. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- On a cheese grater, grate the fresh zucchini squash into small pieces and place on a paper towel. Sprinkle with a tiny bit of kosher salt and squeeze to remove excess moisture. Place into a large bowl with chicken, garlic, chives, and ½ teaspoon kosher salt and a sprinkle of fresh black pepper. Form mixture into 3 inch patties, you should have 6 total.
- Prepare a large nonstick or cast iron skillet with oil and bring to medium heat. Cook chicken patties on each side for 4 minutes until browned on both sides and cooked through. If they're not quite cooked through but getting really brown, pop them in the oven at 350 degrees for 2 minutes or so.
- Serve warm with dipping sauce or top each popper with a little bit of the sauce.
Video
Notes
- If you can't find fresh chives, substitute green onion.
- I prefer ground chicken thighs, which are more flavorful and juicy than ground chicken breast, but both will work for this recipe. It helps the flavor to have chicken breast with some fat - I use one that's 93/7% fat.
- If you want to make this sauce dairy free, paleo, Whole30, leave out the cottage cheese and replace it with mayo. Cut back on the vinegar to 1-2 teaspoons to taste. Mixture might be a little more thin.
- For an egg free mayo, see my Aquafaba Mayo recipe.
- Store in the fridge or in the freezer for long term (see post for defrost instructions).
Nutrition
Serving: 2patties | Calories: 204kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 71mg | Sodium: 331mg | Potassium: 494mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 289IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg