These Cheesy Keto Enchiladas made with zucchini tortillas are a great low-carb Mexican food inspired dinner that’s also gluten free and perfect for the Keto Diet and ready in just about 30 minutes!
When I was looking over the recipes I had planned for 2018, I knew I wanted to do some type of Keto Enchiladas recipe sans the traditional corn tortilla. After discussing it with Lauren she suggested zucchini and I’m sure I gave her a look of disgust. I have firmly planted my flag in the anti-zucchini noodle camp in our household, it’s not the taste, but whenever I eat zucchini noodles (I also refuse to call them zoodles) my stomach burns an hour later. Too much fiber? Zucchini intolerance? Who knows?!
Maybe it’s the acid from the tomato sauce that usually accompanies them or the fact that all 15 calories burnt off, but I never felt satisfied after those meals. So you could say I was skeptical when I began prepping the ingredients for this recipe, all the way through shooting the pictures.
However, when I sat down with a plate of two enchiladas, I made my way through the first one and was stuffed. I was pleasantly surprised by how filling each enchilada was, and I hope you with be too!
My Zucchini Growing Story
I’m a far stretch from a farmer or gardener, but one year Lauren and I planted zucchini in our backyard garden. Not knowing much about gardening, we planted four zucchini plants, and our yield was, to be modest, nothing short of prolific.
We could not eat them fast enough, we were making zucchini bread, zucchini this, zucchini that, I would give them away to my parents, I sent several to my sister to puree into baby food. Even giving them away we would end up with baseball bat sized zucchini’s (literally HUGE) because we couldn’t even pick them fast enough.
So, if you have even a mildly green thumb and the space, I would encourage you to grow your own zucchini! That way you can control everything about what goes into them. Since zucchinis are so high in water percentage, they can absorb any contaminants and pesticides in the soil used by conventional farming practices. If you don’t have the space, time, or energy to garden, seriously consider buying organic zucchini whenever possible.
Is zucchini Keto?
Yes! Zucchini has about 3.9g of total carbs in a 1 cup (chopped) serving and about 1.2g of fiber making that a grand total of 2.7g of net carbs.
Zucchini has a ton of super awesome nutritional benefits, but when I was researching for this post one fact kinda sorta blew my mind. Did you know zucchini is technically a fruit? More specifically a berry? Just one of these long green “berries” boasts nearly 50% of your daily vitamin! To read more on all the nutritional benefits of zucchini, check out the links below:
- Organic Facts – 5 Amazing Zucchini Facts
- Dr. Axe – Zucchini Nutrition
- Tomatoes and Zucchini: Fruits or Vegetables?
What is in Keto Enchiladas?
- cooked shredded chicken
- white onion
- diced green chilis
- zucchini
- avocado oil
- shredded cheese
- enchilada sauce – we use Fonterra
That’s it! This is a super easy recipe. Want even more flavor? Check out these topping ideas:
- sour cream
- guacamole
- pico de gallo
- jalapeno
- cilantro
Need another side? Try these enchiladas with our Keto Mexican Cauliflower Rice!
How to Make Keto Chicken Enchiladas:
Just 4 simple steps, and #1 hardly even counts…
- Preheat oven broiler to high heat.
- Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat, saute the onion for about 3 to 4 minutes until soft. Stir in green chilis and shredded chicken, remove from heat and stir in half of the cheese.
- Cut the zucchini into long flat sheets using a mandoline or vegetable peeler. Layer 4 pieces slightly overlapping and place 1/4 cup of filling at the end of the strips. Carefully roll up and place each enchilada into a 10.5″ cast-iron skillet.
- Top the zucchini enchiladas with the enchilada sauce and the remaining cheese. Broil in oven for 5-7 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Serve with desired toppings.
Can I use rotisserie chicken?
Totally! Or follow these instructions for how to make the BEST shredded chicken in the Instant Pot:
- Place desired amount of chicken breasts (we use about 3 lbs at a time) into the Instant Pot, add in enough water to just cover.
- Place the lid on the IP and set to manual high pressure for about 18 minutes for 3 lbs of chicken.
- When time is up, let the pressure naturally release. Shred and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Can I use a baking dish instead of a cast-iron skillet?
You can! Just use one that is about the same size or a touch smaller as you want the zucchini Keto Enchiladas to touch on each side so that they don’t unravel.
What if I want actual Keto tortillas instead of zucchini?
Opt for a low-carb tortilla like these from Almond Love With.
What is the nutritional information?
As always, you can find the full nutritional breakdown including the carb count (total carbs and net carbs) at the bottom of the recipe card. You can find the serving size/yield at the top of the recipe card. You should always double-check your specific ingredients as different brand’s ingredients may have different values.
To get a specific serving size you’ll want to weigh the final dish then divide by the number of servings. We can’t provide this information as your cooking style will vary from ours as well as the brand ingredients you choose to use.
Keto Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breast boiled and shredded
- 1 medium white onion sliced (165g)
- 1 (4-oz) can green chilies
- 3 large zucchini cut into long strips (285g)
- 1 tbsp oil
- 8 oz shredded jack cheese
- 1 cup enchilada sauce we use Frontera
Optional Toppings:
- sour cream
- guacamole
- pico de gallo
- jalapeno
- cilantro
Instructions
- Preheat oven broiler to high heat.
- Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat, saute the onion for about 3 to 4 minutes until soft. Stir in green chilis and shredded chicken, remove from heat and stir in half of the cheese.
- Cut the zucchini into long flat sheets using a mandoline or vegetable peeler. Layer 4 pieces slightly overlapping and place 1/4 cup of filling at the end of the strips. Carefully roll up and place each enchilada into a 10.5" cast-iron skillet.
- Top the zucchini enchiladas with the enchilada sauce and the remaining cheese. Broil in oven for 5-7 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Serve with desired toppings.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only and do not include carbs from sugar alcohols.
The flavor of this dish is good but I think largely comes from the enchilada sauce. The rolling of the zucchini impossible. I ended up layering the zucchini and turning it into a casserole. When doing so however, the presentation isn’t great. More of an enchilada blob.
You are not the first person to have trouble getting the zucchini to roll. I hope it wasn’t too frustrating and I’m glad you enjoyed the flavor.
After reading your comment, this is what we did… One double layer of zucchini, then the meat, then another double level of zucchini, then the meat, then a final double layer of zucchini, topped by enchilada sauce and cheese. Cooked it one minute longer than the recipe called for (so 8 minutes). It was perfectly delicious (although I definitely had zucchini left over for another use). More like a zucchini pie. It was delicious.
This was amazing! So delicious. Thank you.
Wow- those look amazing and juicy!! Being allergic to chicken, I will use pulled pork. What enchilada sauce do you use?
(I’m so sorry- I have to point out that the plural of zucchini is zucchinis. Not zucchini’s. Apostrophes denote possession , not plurals. It’s a huge pet peeve of mine. I apologize if it comes off as pedantic.)
We typically use Frontera’s red enchilada sauce