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One of the best parts about working (mostly) from home is that it rarely feels like work. So much of the fun of weelicious for me is not only being close to my kids but that I can actually let them participate in helping me create some of the recipes (whether you feel confident making a recipe that a 4 year old helped me to create is entirely up to you)!

I had been working on a recipe for zucchini cakes last week when Kenya came into the kitchen with his grandmother and asked me, “whatcha got” (translation: what are you making for me to eat)? I don’t know why I always feel a little hesitant whenever I offer my kids something I made that contains a green vegetable. Even though I am beyond blessed with two great eaters, I somehow am still guilty of believing that all kids are pre-programmed to not like green veggies. Anyway, Kenya always tends to ask me what’s in whatever it is I am offering him, and so I told him_ parmesan (I always list the cheese first for him, no matter how little is in the recipe!), breadcrumbs, eggs and finally, under my breath I added “zucchini”, to which he literally screamed, “I love zucchini”.

Kenya took a taste and when I asked him what he thought it needed he said most matter of factly, “it needs some cheese on top”. I guess it is worth trusting a 4 year old because just that extra sprinkle of cheese took these Zucchini Cakes from good to great. So great, in fact, that I didn’t even get to serve them as I planned to at dinner that night because Kenya and his dad finished the entire recipe right then and there.

What’s the lesson for me here? Giving your kids input into what you’re making isn’t such a bad idea. On the contrary, allowing them to feel like they contributed something to the dish can be a great way to let them feel some pride of ownership and inspire them to eat things you might have thought they would never be into!

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Zucchini Parmesan Cakes

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Author: Catherine McCord
Prep Time 2 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 14 minutes

Ingredients  

  • 2 Medium zucchini, grated
  • 2 large eggs, whisked
  • 1/4 Tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 Cup breadcrumbs
  • 1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese, plus extra to sprinkle on top
  • 1/4 Tsp kosher salt
  • olive oil

Instructions 

  • Grate 2 medium zucchini and place in a towel and blot to remove excess liquid.
  • Place the grated zucchini in a bowl along with the whisked eggs, garlic powder, breadcrumbs, parmesan and salt and combine.
  • Heat 1-2 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
  • Drop about 2 tbsp of batter into the skillet and flatten with the back of a spoon to form a cake. Cook for 2 minutes on each side.*
  • Continue to making the remaining cakes and sprinkle with parmesan cheese on top.
  • Serve.
  • * You can use a small cookie scooper to portion the batter into the pan

Nutrition

Calories: 80kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 5mg | Sodium: 330mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g
Did you make this recipe?Mention @Weelicious or tag #weelicious!

About the Author

Catherine is a mama of three. A Kentucky girl living in California. Here’s what I know: all kids can be great eaters and mealtime must be easy. I create simple, healthy recipes the whole family will love.

Comments

  1. I made these once and they came out awesome! Even my 10 month old could not get enough of them!! If I wanted to make them ahead and freeze them for a later time. How would you recommend doing so?

  2. Holy cow these are good! Not only are you helping me find ways to get my son to eat his veggies, but you’re making me eat mine too!

  3. To all of you wondering about how many cups is a medium zucchini,
    I had the same question for a different recipe. I’m glad I happened upon this one while looking. It looks good and I have two huge garden zucchinis.
    I found two sites that would suggest that 8 oz zucchini would yeild about 1 cup of zucchini. Hope this helps.

  4. I just made these. But, I added some shredded carrots and some Italian chicken sausage. Also, I subbed mozzarella for the Parmesan. Delish! My 12 month old and my husband gobbled them up.

  5. Its been hard to get my 12month old son to eat srambled egg, but with the extra crisp of these cakes, he loved them and so did i. Thanks for the great idea.

  6. Made these for my 11 month old. I halved the recipe, only used egg yolk, and made smaller cakes. Mine never got very crispy and I squeezed the life out of the zuc. She liked them anyways!

  7. I’ve tried several of your recipes but this has to be my son’s & husbands absolute favorite! You’re fabulous!!

  8. Just made these for brunch. I used one large zucchini that ended up being about two cups. Since I didn’t get all the water out, I just added extra bread crumbs. Everyone was raving. Thanks for the recipe!

  9. I made these Zucchini Parmesan Cakes for a potluck lunch at my work place and it was a huge, huge success.
    Thank you Catherine

  10. I would also love to know how many cups the shredded zucchini is equal to; it would be much easier than guessing what size a medium zucchini is. Thanks!

  11. Try this for getting the water out of the zucchini:
    Grate the zucchini and add the salt that is called for later in the recipe. let it sit for 5 min or so then squeeze it all out in a towel
    I learned this from another recipe that calls for cornmeal instead of the zucchini…i think my little guy will like the texture of this one better!

  12. I made these and my husband and 18 month old daughter adored them! Thanks for the great recipe!

  13. i made these this weekend and we loved them! especially my 14mo who ate 4! great recipe thx! =) i just used two zucchini frm the farmers market they looked medium n they came out great!

  14. Could I use shredded zucchini from my freezer for this? (Thawed and drained before cooking, of course.) Also, how many cups would 2 medium zucchini equal? Like others, I use garden zucchini, and they’re monsters. 🙂

  15. Yes, please do tell either in cups or (preferred) weight how much grated zucchini is 2 medium…zucchini vary quite a bit in size! I’m hoping if I peel the zucchini first, my kids might actually eat this! 🙂

  16. Just made these for myself for lunch as a trial before feeding them to my family and I really liked them. My 1 yo really liked them too and I’m curious what the hubs and 3 yo will think. Thanks for the recipe!

  17. I know it didnt say to do this in the directions but I put the shredded zucchini in a towel and squeezed lots of liquid out. I squeezed then fluffed the zucchini pieces up. I repeated this process 15 times. There is a lot of liquid in there 🙂

  18. I just made these. I followed the directions except instead of bread crumbs I swapped in 1 piece of toasted whole wheat bread and several shakes of Italian seasoning. I put them in the Magic bullet till it looked like soft bread crumbs. I heated 1 tbsp of evoo in a non stick skillet and they turned out great. My son helped me add ingredients to the bowl and also added the oil to the skillet. He was very into helping make this recipe. He enoyed 1 and a half cakes for tonights dinner along with 1 orange.

  19. any tips to help me make these, I followed the recipe but they were falling apart on the pan and i had a hard time flipping unless they were very black.

  20. These cakes were great! Inspired by your “let kids have input” speech. I asked my 4-1/2 year old daughter what she would like with them and she said “in a hummus sandwich!” Ok…turned out yummy! We used whole wheat bread, your hummus recipe and put the zuke cakes in the middle. It was fabulous! Thank you for inspiring a great evening 🙂

  21. These were gREAT! I used most of a med-large zucchini. I just added more breadcrumbs as I noticed some water separating before frying. My son loved them too!

  22. I actually need this same measurement. About how many cups? 2? My garden zucchini are monsters!

  23. Could you give an approx measurement for “2 medium zucchini”? I use garden zucchini, and I think it’s altered by definition of “medium”…

  24. reheated fried things never seem to re-crisp. you could freeze the batter and fry them fresh.

  25. I make all these little “cakes” on my Calphalon ceramic saute pan. You don’t need any oil at all. They heat up really fast and nothing ever sticks (falafel, black bean cakes and these). If you have a ceramic pan I would try using that.

  26. With stainless steel, I learned to make the pan hot FIRST, then add the oil…I put the dry pan on the burner, set the burner on MED-HIGH, set the timer for 2min, when the timer goes off I add the oil & swish it around, then immediately add the food. Saw the tip on a cooking show, and it has worked for me. Hope it helps you too!

  27. Whenever I try to make “cakes” like this in a skillet (like the black bean cakes) they seem to stick the pan, absorb lots of oil and are pretty greasy. Plus even on a lower heat they tend to burn…I have a stainless steel skillet. Any thoughts, suggestions? Thanks!

  28. I bought a rather odd looking squash from the farmer’s market this week and wonder if I could use it for this recipe. What do you think?

  29. These were a favorite in my house growing up! My grandmother used to make them all the time; thanks for reminding me of them. 🙂 (Well, once power is restored from Irene, I will make them.)

  30. These sound amazing, I can’t wait to try these to use up the extra zucchini in my fridge! I hope my child (who is a typical 2.5 year old) will enjoy them as much as myself & his Dad will! 😛

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