In the summertime, when zucchinis are plentiful, I try to find creative ways to feed my family zucchini. I’ve found everybody loves a good waffle, and these savory waffles are the perfect way to veggie-up everyone’s favorite meal. Zucchini waffles are cheesy and delicious, and your family will hardly notice that they are filled with veggies!
How to Cook with Zucchini
As you know, I love to spiralize zucchini and use it the same way I’d use pasta in any dish. I also often spiralize for the week, but I don’t always get to eat all the spiralized zucchini. In that case, I use spiralized for this recipe; just make sure you cut the long strands first.
If I don’t already have spiralized zucchini stored and on hand, I’ll simply grate the zucchini using a cheese grater when I’m ready to make these waffles.
I don’t know about you, but I hardly ever find much resistance from my kids to try a new waffle recipe. While not all my kids love these savory waffles, especially the one with texture issues, we all love them. Especially me, since they are so easy to make!
I have a waffle maker that I love and I find every excuse to use it more often. From whole-wheat waffles to Greek yogurt waffles, so savory waffle sandwiches.
Everything just seems to taste better when it’s in waffle form. Veggies, sandwiches, and yup, as you saw above even greek yogurt. The possibilities are truly endless and I love making a good savory waffle every chance I get.
How to Make Savory Waffles
Watch the video below to see how I made these Zucchini Parmesan Waffles, and then check out the step by step instructions below. You can even print the recipe at the end of this post so you can easily save it for later use.
- Start by shredding the zucchini and placing the zucchini strips into a colander with salt. Let sit for 30 minutes and rinse. Use a towl to press out the moisture.
- Preheat your waffle maker to medium heat.
- Whisk together milk, egg and half of the grated Parmesan cheese.
- In a separate bowl combine flour and Italian seasoning.
- Combine the wet and dry mixtures in a large bowl and stir in the zucchini strips once thoroughly combined.
- Spray your waffle maker with oil.
- Place batter on the waffle maker in rounded tablespoons leaving spae for the savory waffles to spread.
- Close lid and cook 3-5 minutes until browned.
- Serve warm and sprinkled with the remaining Parmesan cheese.
How to make Savory Gluten-Free Waffles
I have successfully made this recipe gluten-free by using King Arthur’s All-Purpose Gluten-Free flour. I have not, however, found a substitute for the Parmesan cheese (yet!).
Cheesy Savory Waffles
Although I have a dairy-free kid, he can tolerate sheep and goat milk derived products, so I use a sheep’s milk Romano cheese. The cheese is essential in this recipe since it acts as a binding agent in the recipe and helps hold the waffles together.
I store leftovers in the fridge or freeze them for another day. To reheat, I simply toast them in my toaster oven.
Zucchini Parmesan Savory Waffle Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded zucchini, roughly 2 medium zucchini
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup milk
- ½ cup grated Parmesan, divided
- ½ cup all-purpose flour*
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- Oil or non-stick spray, for waffle maker
Instructions
- Place the shredded zucchini in a colander and sprinkle with about ¼ teaspoon salt.
- Let the salted zucchini sit for about 30 minutes, rinse with cold water, and press out as much of the moisture as possible.
- Alternatively, ring out zucchini inside a clean kitchen towel to remove excess water.
- Preheat your waffle maker to a medium setting (if available).
- In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and ¼ cup of the grated Parmesan.
- In a small bowl, combine the flour with Italian seasoning.
- Combine the egg and milk mixture with the flour mixture.
- Once the batter is thoroughly mixed, add in the grated zucchini until everything is well combined. Spray or coat your waffle iron with oil.
- Place rounded tablespoons of the batter on the waffle iron, leaving room for the fritters to spread slightly.
- Close the lid and cook until lightly browned, about 3-5 minutes.Serve warm and sprinkle waffles with remaining parmesan cheese.
Mary
Serve with mushroom sauce, creamed chicken, cheese sauce , etc. yum!
Laura Fuentes
Oh yes! a mushroom sauce sounds delicious with these!!
Betty B
Still looking for dairy free Parmesan recipes? Try Brazil Nut Parmesan. There are various ones out there.
Blessings,
Betty B
Carly Rivera
Wow! I totally loved these. I added a 1/2 onion, grated, with the zucchini. I felt the Italian seasoning was a little strong for our tastes (it could just be my brand of seasoning), so I would probably halve that amount next time. I loved these waffles dipped in an over easy fried egg with turkey bacon. Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe!
Laura Fuentes
I’m so glad you enjoyed these zucchini waffles!
Sarah P.
Great recipe! I added 1/4 cup of shredded fresh mozzarella for extra protein, and subbed baking mix for all-purpose flour. Turned out flavorful and crispy in my Dash mini waffle iron. Thanks, Laura!
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anne
In the last paragraph: “Although I have a dairy-free kid, he can tolerate sheep and goat milk derived products, so I use a sheep’s milk Romano cheese. The cheese is essential in this recipe since it acts as a binding agent in the recipe and helps hold the waffles together.”
Does the “sheep’s milk Romano cheese” replace the “milk” called for in the recipe?
Laura Fuentes
No. for the milk I would replace it with almond milk. that is to replace the parmesan.
Anne
These sound great! We’re eating gluten free and I have a rice and corn intolerance, so will try them with Almond flour/meal. I’m always looking for something to replace the bread and crackers we’ve given up.
I wonder if I could make these in a large batch and freeze the leftover waffles????
Anne
Laura Fuentes
I have not tested this recipe with almond flour/meal only. Good luck!
Brenda
I used this recipe with almond flour today and it worked great!!
christine Moore
thank you i was wondering is it ratio 1 to 1 and i wondring about coconut flour ?
Laura Fuentes
Unfortunately, coconut flour is not a replacement for this recipe. Sorry!
Nikki
I was wondering g is you had a chance to make these with almond flour? If so how did they turn out? I’m trying to find more grain free ideas so I thought about coconut or almond flour
Ann
Do not use coconut flour. It absorbs the liquids by 2x or 3x and leaves you with a dry crumbly product unless you add lots more liquid in your ingredient list.
Sophia
Just made these! Added some shredded onion, & pepper. Also, put a dish over the zucchini and pressed water out, stirred it up and preceded again every few minutes! We loved them!
Francesca
Hello, can these be made as muffins? As i don’t own a waffle maker..i also don’t have a spiraliser, so would coarse grating work?
Laura Fuentes
Yes, I often grate these so that won’t be a problem. I’ve never tried them as muffins, so if you do, let me know how they turned out!
Teresa
Hi, Laura, I don’t own a waffle maker. Any chance for this to come out as a pancake ? Might that be too mushy ? Hubby (alas, not the kids this time) shy away from zucchini for some reason but likes grated parmesan. I am eager to try to get him to eat more of it and being able to reheat leftovers sounds like a wonderful idea. Thx !
Laura Fuentes
These should work as a “hot cake” more than the fluffy pancake texture you are used to. The reason they work well as a waffle is because the heat seals it from both sides. Good luck!