Cheesy Grilled Zucchini Stacks make a great appetizer or side dish. Sick of boring veggie side dishes? You won’t even realize you’re eating something healthy when you dig into these deliciously cheesy stacks of flavor. Zucchini slices are grilled then stacked, layered with marinara sauce and a cheesy mixture of cream cheese and mozzarella. Eat one, or all four!
What you’ll need for this recipe
- zucchini (medium in size)
- marinara sauce (here is a link to my recipe, otherwise, jarred is fine)
- reduced fat cream cheese
- fat free mozzarella
- fresh basil
- olive oil spray
- salt and pepper
These cheesy grilled zucchini towers make for the perfect side dish along any of my chicken dishes; most recently, I enjoyed them alongside my Air Fried Chicken Cutlets.
How to make Cheesy Grilled Zucchini Stacks
First, preheat the oven to 400F, and slice up your zucchini into 1/4″ rounds. Depending on the size of your zucchini, the number of slices will vary. I typically get 16-20 slices out of a medium zucchini. Each tower has 4 slices of zucchini, so plan accordingly.
Next, season the zucchini slices with kosher salt and pepper, and spray them with some olive oil spray. Then, preheat your grill pan over medium high heat. You can also use your outdoor grill for this (in warmer climates!).
While the zucchini is cooking, mix together the cream cheese and fat free mozzarella in a small bowl, and prepare the marinara sauce.
When the zucchini is grilled, place four slices in a baking dish. Place one teaspoon of marinara sauce and one teaspoon of the cheese mixture on each zucchini round, and then top with another zucchini round.
Repeat this process, stacking the zucchini rounds, until all of the rounds are used up. I usually make each stack have 4 layers of zucchini, but you can totally do two layers, and make more servings. This recipe is totally adaptable, it’s all about what works for you!
When the stacks are complete, pop them in a 400F oven for 10 minutes. Since everything is cooked here, we are only looking for the cheese to melt.
When you remove them from the oven, top with some fresh basil for garnish, if desired. Otherwise, dig in!
Cheesy Grilled Zucchini Stacks
Equipment
- grill pan or outdoor grill
- baking dish
Ingredients
- 1 zucchini, medium in size
- 2 tablespoons reduced fat cream cheese
- 3/4 cup fat free mozzarella
- 1/4 cup marinara sauce
- kosher salt
- fresh cracked pepper
- olive oil spray
- fresh basil, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Cut the zucchini into 1/4" thick slices. A medium-sized zucchini should yield around 16 slices.
- Lightly season the zucchini slices with salt, pepper.
- Spray the zucchini slices with olive oil spray.
- Put a grill pan over medium high heat to preheat.
- Grill the zucchini slices for 5 minutes on each side, flipping once.
- Combine the cream cheese and mozzarella in a small bowl.
- When the zucchini is cooked, place four slices on the bottom of a small baking dish.
- Add a teaspoon of marinara, followed by a teaspoon of the cheese mixture on top of each zucchini slices.
- Top with another slice of zucchini, and repeat until all the zucchini is done (if you start with 16 slices, each tower will have 4 layers).
- Place the towers in the oven for 10 minutes to melt the cheese and warm through.
- Top with fresh chopped basil, if desired.
Notes
- 1 WW point per tower, all plans
Nutrition
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Super quick and easy to make! An amazing recipe that tastes delicious!
You’re killing it with your recipes! Can’t wait to try this one!
My husband “hates zucchini,” but requests these! I love zucchini and could make these my main dish! Scrum-diddly-umptuous.
I had some zucchini I needed to use, so I searched my favorite blog and found this recipe. I had all the ingredients on hand and it turned out delicious, as do all of Steph’s recipes. Thanks again!