Healthy Zucchini Soft “Taco” Tortilla Shells
This popular zucchini tortillas recipe is one of our most popular recipes on our site, originally published in July 2015. It’s been a favorite low carb alternative to regular flour and corn tortillas.
Low Carb Tortillas Made with Zucchini
Last year in 2014 it started with this crazy zucchini tortilla inspiration because we couldn’t hardly find any reference to zucchini tortillas online. So we said “let’s make healthy zucchini taco shells!” Why not? Everyone was making pizza crusts with cauliflower so why not use up all this leftover zucchini? As odd as it many have sounded it actually has become one of our favorite year round recipes and can’t believe we’re finally sharing it almost a year later. We should have shared it right away when we made it last year, but our busy commercial photography lives got in the way.
When we drowning in zucchini recipes for our future magazine project, we had these zucchini soft taco tortilla shells on the top of our list. We invited 5 of our neighbors over for taste testing on the majority of our magazine recipes and these zucchini taco shells had some of the most enthusiastic responses. Maybe it was unique and something they had ever seen or tasted before. Or maybe it was healthy. What ever it was, it was always mentioned as the memorable and delicious tasting zucchini recipe they’ve ever had.
Think beyond the taco tortilla shell and these zucchini tortillas are also a great snack. We just made these again tonight and snacked on the shells alongside a martini and whiskey sour. That alone is a great pairing, you should try it with your favorite beer or cocktail! More taco recipes using these low carb tortillas coming to the blog soon!
-Diane and Todd
Video: Healthier Zucchini Tortillas Recipe:
Keto Friendly Options for Tortillas
Instead of using regular bread crumbs, there’s several ideal “breading” options to make these zucchini tortillas keto friendly. These low carb options are still delicious!
- Crushed pork rinds: for these tortillas to have the lowest carbs you can use crushed pork rinds. You can buy pork rinds already crushed or you can buy them in large pieces and grind them in the food processor. You’ll have a savory pork flavor in these tortillas.
- Almond Flour: use a little bit of almond flour for another low carb version. Using almond flour is an easy way to keep these tortillas vegetarian.
- Coconut Flour: this type of flour works great too.
How to Make Tortillas Made with Grated Zucchini (Tips)
- The key is to make sure to remove as much moisture as possible. We like to squeeze out the water with a paper towel. But don’t squeeze out ALL the moisture, as these tortillas need some during baking so they don’t burn and dry out. Once you make your first batch, you’ll know exactly how much moisture is enough to get the tortillas to your preferred texture.
- Some folks have also salted these grated zucchini to release water. This works great too but it’ll be seasoned with salt so no need to season any further.
- You can use yellow summer squash as well.
- Be patient when removing the cooked tortilla shells from the parchment paper. The zucchini tortillas can easily rip or tear, so it helps to take your time to ensure the tortilla releases in one big piece.
- Add some of your favorite seasonings to the mixture before forming them. We love adding lots of garlic powder. Or if you like spicy tortillas, add some crushed chili flakes.
- All recipe details are in the recipe box below.
Can you Freeze Zucchini Tortillas?
Yes, these freeze well. After they’ve been cooled, store them in air tight ziplock bags. Make sure to squeeze out all the air before sealing. These will freeze up to about 2 months. Try to eat them sooner than later because they will start to break apart and crumble when they thaw after being frozen for too long.
Healthy Zucchini Soft “Taco” Shells
Squeezing out as much excess water in the grated zucchini will make the taco shells a little more “firm”. One method is to microwave the zucchini till moisture releases, then squeezing out the water. Or lightly sautéing the zucchini for a few minutes, then squeezing out the water. Just be careful to not cook the zucchini too much or use too much oil, or else you’ll get mush.
Ingredients
- 4 cups (950 ml) zucchini , coarsely grated
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup (50 g) grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup (30 g) bread crumbs , or crushed pork rinds or almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Equipment
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 450°F/230°C.
- After grating the zucchini, remove as much moisture as you can from the zucchini. We like to use a paper towel and squeeze the water out of the grated zucchini.
- Add zucchini to large bowl and mix in remainder of the taco shell ingredients (egg, parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, black pepper, salt, garlic powder, and cumin).
- Cover baking sheets with parchment paper or oven proof baking mat. Scoop about ¼ cup of mixture and press down on baking pan into a thin circle, about 5” wide. Repeat for remainder of mixture.
- Bake shells for about 25 minutes, or until the shells look “crisp’ and brown around the edges. We like to bake the shells a little longer for a more charred texture and flavor. Just be careful to not bake too long or else the shells dry out and are hard to peel off.
- After zucchini soft taco shells are cool, gently peel them off the parchment paper.
- Serve with your favorite taco stuffing, scrambled eggs for a breakfast taco or eat as a snack.
HI since I can’t eat things like wheat, corn or white flour or rice or high in arginine or that basically digest into sugar. But i can eat things high in lysine do you know what I can substitute the flour or bread crumbs with? Thanks
I used ground flax seed with great results!
how much flax seed
Made these today they were amazing! Thank you for your creativity!
These were amazing!!! First time I made them I had a problem peeling them off the parchment so this time I used non-stick aluminum and it worked perfectly.
I seemed to follow the recipe, but managed to smoke up the entire apartment and set off the fire alarms. Any idea what I did wrong?
did you use wax paper instead of parchment? Daughter did that & got a smokey kitchen
These are ridiculously good! Great idea for zucchini
Has anyone tried using a juicer to extract all the moisture?
Is there a way to make these gluten and dairy free?
Substitute the bread crumbs with Katz’s gluten free bread crumbs!!
is there something I can replace the bread and cheese? IM having to go gluten free and dairy free and its been hard to find stuff I can eat with both
I made these last night -they turned out great. Even my hubby who is a staunch zucchini-hater liked them.
How long will these last if you want to make a bunch ahead for a meal? Would you put them in fridge and then reheat? Or leave them out at room temp? Thanks!
Hi Susanna, we’ve eaten them right away and haven’t stored them yet. Hopefully a reader who has stored the will give us some feedback. thanks!
I made a batch yesterday and placed them in the fridge, with parchment paper between each tortilla. I reheated them in the microwave for about 15 seconds and they were great!
*I would not leave them at room temp with eggs and cheese in it 😉
If you are intolerant to anything. Don’t do it. It is disgusting reading comments asking for substitutes for almost most of the ingredients! a Zuchinni Tortilla without Zuchinni!
This recipe is perfect!!!! Just cut out the breadcrumbs and served it with a side of Mexican riced cauliflower. Great keto/low carb meal. Everyone in my house was impressed.
Thank you for your comment! My first thought in reading the recipe was, I wonder if I could use a touch of arrowroot powder instead of breadcrumbs. I can just eliminate the crumbs altogether. This looks very promising!
We have something similar to these here in Thailand, although they make them thicker – sort of in between a soft taco shell and an omelette. They are delicious and are great paired with so many different things. I sometimes eat mine with a bowl of rice, some potatoes in massaman curry and the zucchini omelette/taco thing. So good. Must try to make yours 🙂
I didn’t use breadcrumbs at all, I used 3/4 cup of the cheese instead of 1/2 cup and they turned out perfect. Good for those who are gluten intolerant and/or low carbing. Yum, thanks for the perfect idea!
i SO NEED a garden, just made these for lunch w fish, oh my STARS, they will be made again and again try different spices but so good,
I totally need to make this recipe. My fridge is loaded with Zucchini from my garden. Oh, and I took your food photography course on Creative Live and I loved it! I learned soooo much from it; thanks guys!