This easy Chicken Zucchini Casserole should be on your next meal plan. With a creamy sauce full of rich flavors like garlic and roasted red peppers no one will ever know it is healthy.
If you've followed me for any length of time you probably know that I love casseroles. They are a busy mom's best friend. Just mix a few ingredients together, pop a dish in the oven, and go about the rest of your tasks while dinner bakes. When your one dish dinner contains both the protein and the vegetable you can feed everyone with minimal cleanup.
What I need though is a few lighter casserole options. Don't get me wrong, I still love cream cheese, bacon, and piles of shredded cheesy goodness but sometimes my tummy needs a meal that isn't so heavy. This dairy-free casserole is perfect for those days.
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My trick of the century is using a combination of coconut cream and mayo to get that rich creaminess we all want in a casserole while keeping it dairy-free. I use extra garlic to cover up the coconut flavor and no one even knows it's there.
Most of the time I use pre-cooked chicken in my casseroles but I just didn't have any when I set about to make this one. I decided to cube my chicken breasts and cook them with the zucchini to see what would happen. It worked wonderfully! I was afraid the zucchini would get mushy however it was a perfect al dente. Even my husband commented on how ideal the texture was.
While the chicken and zucchini are baking simply mix together the sauce. As soon as the chicken is 95% cooked through you are ready to add the sauce. Just drain the cooking liquid thoroughly (very important - or you'll end up with a watery casserole), add the sauce, give it a mix, and pop under the broiler.
When I was making this I could not stop tasting the sauce. It is SO good. I decided to use the same ingredients and tweak it to make both a Roasted Red Pepper Dip and a Creamy Garlic Salad Dressing.
I hope you enjoy this Chicken Zucchini Casserole!
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📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts 2.5 pounds, cubed
- 5 zucchini cut into cubes
- 1 tsp salt
- ⅔ cup mayo
- 10 cloves of garlic
- 12 oz jar roasted red peppers drained and chopped
- 5.4 oz small can coconut cream
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Add the chicken and zucchini to a large casserole dish. Cover with foil. Bake for 25 minutes. Stir. Cook another 10 minutes. Carefully drain the cooking liquid very well.
- Meanwhile, finely chop the garlic in a food processor, scraping down the sides if needed. Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse until the roasted red peppers are chopped.
- Cover with the sauce. Broil on high 5-6 minutes.
Nutrition
Ellen says
I will probably try this recipe tonight but am trying to figure out what I can replace the red peppers with? Fingers crossed that I will not ruin this dish. Thanks for posting it.
Taryn says
I think canned tomatoes would work well!
Brittany says
Have you tried subbing the Mayo with anything, I.e. more coconut cream? (We’ can’t do mayo in our house)
Taryn says
I haven't. You can't do any mayo? There are many varieties from different oils and without eggs if that's the problem.
Mary says
Can you use a combination of zucchini and yellow squash?
Taryn says
Yup!
Lina says
OH MY GOD!! This casserole is so so so delicious!! I followed the recipe except for the garlic which I only used 5 cloves and I didn’t have the xantham gum so I used 1tbs of flax seed meal mixed with 2tbs of water. The taste is so smooth and comforting
I will definitely make this again and again..... 👌🏼👍🏼
Thank you for sharing it!!!
Todd says
You can have hits and misses with recipes, and I am sorry to say that this was a real miss and waste of a significant investment in ingredients. I could barely swallow each spoonful. I think it was the Xanthan gum that did it in. It felt like I was eating Metamucil for dinner. Maybe without it the recipe would be better, but I will never know.
Michelle says
Delicious!! I knew it would be the minute I saw the recipe, simple and fast!!
I don’t mind dairy so I used half & half instead of the coconut cream. I guess you could use oat milk creamer, coconut didn’t sound right as a flavor in this dish. I didn’t have tomato paste so a tablespoon of catsup went in. I opted out of the xanthan gum, it can cause some reactions. Didn’t need it
Instead of a casserole I used a large cast iron pan and it roasted the chicken and zucchini to perfection as you described the texture and consistency should be.
Poured on that beautiful sauce and broiled to perfection!
Rose says
Going to try this tonight.
Trish says
well first of all I must not have pre-heated my oven long enough cuz after 25 min the chicken was still pink so put it back in for another 15 min and then it was perfect. however even after broiling....the zucchini still had some crunch and do not care for that.
Is it supposed to taste so coconutty? If I make it again I will add more mayo. The coconut taste overpowered the red pepper. Is the garlic supposed to be minced ?
Taryn says
I'm sorry you found it too coconutty. You could use all mayo if you prefer. I was trying to lighten it by mixing it with coconut cream. My family found that the garlic covered up much of the coconut taste.
Lesli B says
This turned out great! I made the sauce with tomato and artichoke, instead of red pepper. Family loved it. Thanks for making some dairy free recipes.
Taryn says
That variation sounds delicious! I'm going to try it that way asap.
Rachel says
What can I use if I don't have xanthan gum?
Taryn says
Glucomannan would work. Or you can omit it but it helps the sauce thicken.
Nancy says
Made this today with chicken thighs. I had an onion & some sun-dried tomatoes to use up so I carmelized the onions & added them & the tomatoes in the last 10 minutes of cooking. The sauce is so garlicky & good!!! Definitely making this again! Thanks for the recipe
Brytnei says
I made this casserole and it was delicious! It was not difficult to prep and the sauce tasted great, especially with the roasted red peppers. Thank you for this recipe!
Shiho says
I love casserole too! They are absolutely busy mother's fried. I am going to add this to my casserole recipe collection <3
Jacqueline DiNuoscio says
I love dinners like this! Adding it to make must-make list!