Zucchini Chicken Enchiladas — 🎉🌽🥑🧀 All the flavor of traditional enchiladas including seasoned shredded chicken, black beans, corn, cheese, and more. Rather than using tortillas, use thin-sliced zucchini to keep these enchiladas lighter, healthier, fresher, and to take advantage of summer produce! Even picky eaters will enjoy zucchini when it’s prepared like this and bursting with Mexican-inspired flavors!
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Easy Zucchini Enchilada Roll Ups
If you happen to have a mountain of zucchini on hand either from your own overflowing garden (or your neighbor’s who donated some to you), or you couldn’t resist buying it at your local farmer’s market, this is the perfect recipe to use some of it up!
These easy chicken enchiladas are made with seasoned shredded chicken, black beans, corn, cheese, and more before being rolled into thin sliced strips of zucchini, drizzled with enchilada sauce, and baked to perfection.
The resulting enchilada roll ups are juicy, tasty, healthy, and all around a winner of a chicken dinner!
Using zucchini rather than tortillas keeps these much lighter, fresher tasting, and low carb if that’s important to you. You can use tortillas – see the FAQs below for more info.
Ingredients in Chicken Zucchini Rollups
- Olive oil
- White or yellow onion
- Garlic
- Canned black beans
- Corn – frozen and thawed, freshly shaved from ears, or canned and drained
- Chili powder
- Cumin
- Salt
- Pepper
- Shredded cooked chicken – use a rotisserie chicken to save time or check out the FAQs below for other ideas
- Enchilada sauce – red or green, any heat level you like (I used red here)
- Zucchini
- Shredded Mexican cheese blend
- Garnishes are optional: avocado, crema, cilantro, etc.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How To Make Chicken Enchiladas Using Zucchini “Tortillas”
Making chicken zucchini enchilada roll ups is faster and easier than you think. With about 20 minutes of active prep time and 25 minutes to bake, it’s a great low carb recipe.
Here’s an overview of what you’ll do. See the recipe card below for all the details.
- Saute onions and garlic in a large skillet with olive oil for 3-4 minutes.
- While they saute, using a Y-peeler (more on this in the FAQs below), slice zucchini into long, thin, vertical strips. Place in paper towels to absorb the excess moisture.
- To the skillet, add the black beans, corn, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and saute momentarily to heat through.
- Add the shredded chicken, some enchilada sauce, some cheese, and stir to combine and melt the cheese.
- Lay 3 strips of zucchini parallel with each other in a staggered form, add a scoop of the chicken mixture (about 3 tablespoons) to one end and carefully roll up. Repeat until all the chicken filling is gone.
- Add a drizzle of enchilada sauce to the bottom of a 9×13-inch casserole dish or baking dish.
- Place the rolled enchiladas in the pan with the seam side down, drizzle with more enchilada sauce, and sprinkle with cheese.
- Bake, garnish, and serve!
What to serve with chicken enchiladas
Storage and Reheating
In the Refrigerator: This recipe will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 4-5 days noting the zucchini will be softer as time passes and may release its natural liquid.
In the Freezer: This recipe may keep airtight in the freezer for up to 2-3 months although I have not tested it and cannot say for sure if the zucchini will do well in the freezing/thawing process and how well (or not) these will stay intact. Taste will likely be fine but presentation could suffer.
To Reheat: I use my microwave for quickness and ease and reheat my leftovers for about 20-30 seconds on high. They’re also fine without reheating them. Set them on the counter about 30 minutes before you plan to eat them and that’s enough to take the cold fridge chill off them which I prefer.
Recipe FAQs
My recommendation is to use a Y-peeler. They’re wider than a typical vegetable peeler and help you create wide but thin slices. You can also use a mandolin slicer if you have one. Or, simply slice with a sharp knife into the thinnest slices you can. This is more dangerous than using a peeler so please be careful!
If you love the sound of this recipe but want to use tortillas rather than zucchini to make it, that’s fine. I recommend small, street taco sized, flour tortillas for easier rolling and similar recipe proportions. Bake for 25 minutes, and see how they look. Tortillas may take a bit longer to bake through than zucchini.
You want to use cooked chicken that’s shredded or diced. My Poached Chicken recipe, leftover Baked Lime Cilantro Chicken, or leftover grilled chicken, such as this Grilled Lime Cilantro Chicken are all good options. Really, any cooked (leftover) chicken you have on hand and can shred or dice small is fine.
Yes you sure can. If you have extra cooked rice to use, cooked quinoa, ground beef crumbles, ground turkey, extra veggies like bell peppers that you want to saute wih the onions and garlic – all good. This is a flexible recipe!
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Zucchini Chicken Enchiladas
Equipment
- 1 Y-peeler
Ingredients
- 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ cup white or yellow onion, finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup corn, I use frozen that’s been thawed and drained; use canned that’s been drained, or use freshly shaved from the cob
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups shredded chicken*, See Notes for options
- 10- ounce can red enchilada sauce, divided (green enchilada sauce may be substituted)
- 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided
- 2 pounds zucchini, very thinly sliced (approximately 4 large)
- Finely minced cilantro, optional for garnishing
- Sliced avocados, optional for garnishing
- Mexican crema, optional for garnishing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and spray a 9×13-inch baking pan or casserole dish with cooking spray; set aside.
- To a large skillet, add the olive oil, onions, and saute for about 3-4 minutes, or until onion is becoming soft and translucent. Stir very frequently.
- While you're waiting, use a Y-peeler to slice long, thin, vertical strips of zucchini. You'll want approximately 36 strips total. Place the slices in paper towels which will help draw out and absorb the natural moisture. Set aside.
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant. Stir nearly constantly.
- Add the black beans, corn, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, stir to combine, and cook for about 1 minute, just to warm through.
- Add the shredded chicken, 1/3 cup enchilada sauce, 1/2 cup cheese, stir to combine, and cook for about 1 minute, just to warm through. Taste the mixture and make sure it's seasoned, to taste. Tip – Add additional salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, a pinch of cayenne powder for heat, etc. as desired.
- To the prepared baking pan, add 1/3 cup enchilada sauce evenly spread over the bottom of the pan; set aside.
- Assembly – Lay 3 strips of zucchini parallel with each other, slightly overlapping on the side (consult blog post for photos), and place about 3 tablespoons filling mixture on one end, and carefully roll up. Repeat until all filling mixture has been used.
- Place the rollups in the prepared pan, seam side down.
- Evenly drizzle the final 1/3 cup enchilada sauce over the top, evenly sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup cheese.
- Baking – Bake for about 25 minutes. Start checking at 20 minutes. Recipe is done with cheese is lightly golden browned and zucchini is soft and tender.
- Optionally garnish with cilantro, avocado, crema, or as desired and serve immediately.
- Storage – Leftovers will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 4-5 days, noting that the natural moisture of the zucchini will seep out as time passes so it may seem soupier. There is no way around this. I haven't tried freezing this dish. It may possibly be fine, although as the zucchini is frozen and then thawed, there will be additional moisture to contend with and so it will be soupier.
- Reheating – Reheat leftovers in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds, or as desired. Or simply let them sit at on the counter at room temp for about 30 minutes before consuming to take the cold chill from the fridge off them, which is how I prefer the leftovers.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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