Zucchini Pizza Bites Recipe
We love these Pepperoni Zucchini Pizza Bites, an appetizer made with garden zucchini, pepperoni slices, basil, and tomatoes. So good!
Friends, we love these Zucchini Pizza Bites, an appetizer made with garden zucchini, pepperoni slices, basil, and tomatoes. So good! You can serve them as a snack, or for a quick, summery-fresh dinner! It’s a low-carb pepperoni pizza served a whole new way–on a slice of zucchini.
You may also want to try our Grilled Zucchini Burrata Chicken Salad or Halloumi Cheese and Grilled Corn Zucchini Salad. YUM!
Zucchini Pizza Bites Recipe
Seriously, the ingredients are so simple, and what a fun way to get kids to eat zucchini. This recipe has been a favorite since 2015, when we made this with our fresh garden tomatoes and zucchini. As I sliced up zucchini to lightly fry in a pan (one side only), I made little pizzas for lunch this week. The perfect summer bite!
Zucchini Pizza Bites Ingredients
Let’s get started with these easy ingredients:
- Zucchini (you can use green or yellow zucchini)
- Olive oil
- Pizza sauce, we buy DeLallo Foods
- Pepperoni
- Fresh mozzarella cheese
- Kosher salt
- Fresh tomatoes
- Basil
I love how you can use green or yellow zucchini! The photo above was from September 2015 when we used yellow zucchini from our garden.
How to make Mini Zucchini Pizzas – print the full recipe below
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil; preheat the broiler to high.
- Trim the ends from the zucchini, and slice each zucchini crosswise into 24 1/2- to 3/4-inch rounds.
- Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini and cook on one side only until browned.
- Transfer the zucchini to the baking sheet, browned side up. Top each round with pizza sauce, a pepperoni slice, and a piece of mozzarella.
- Broil the zucchini until the cheese is melted.
- Top with a slice of fresh tomato and chopped basil.
- Salt if needed. Serve!
Are zucchini pizza bites healthy?
These mini pizzas are a low-carb option for lunch, weeknight meals, or party snacking. A little word of warning: It’s hard to stop at just one of these ooey-gooey zucchini pizza bites!
Is zucchini good on pizza?
We love this quick dinner idea, which also makes a great summer pool time snack.Remember the healthy vegetarian option, of leaving off the pepperoni and letting the summer squash shine. You can also season the top with Italian herbs and savory seasonings.
Tips and substitutions
- You can replace the green zucchin with yellow!
- Want to change up the herbs? Add fresh oregano (for a true pizza flavor).
- Make the bites vegetarian and leave off the pepperoni.
- Replace the pepperoni with salami or other cured meats.
- Make the pizza bites Hawaiian and add canadian bacon and fresh pineapple chunks.
- Serve as a snack or a lunch or light snack dinner.
Downsizing and wanting less stuff
As we’re working toward moving in our new fixer upper, and downsizing again, I’m reluctant to give up precious space in our house for more stuff. In fact, I really want less.
I’ve talked about this with several friends. Some are true minimalists. They get it, they don’t want it, and they don’t want to burden their kids with great-grandmother’s china (that never ever gets used). Some are so nostalgic and love the heirlooms, and cannot imagine them leaving the family. I warn them … our kids think differently than we do. The friends don’t like my words, and are in denial of this, but I see it coming …
(By the way, what is a minimalist? To sum it up, minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value, and the removal of everything that distracts us from it:) I am not there at all, but I do love the “idea” of this.
I’m not saying that we get rid of everything. Our family piano means the world to us, but it gets played on a regular basis. Someone else may have a piano that’s been in the family for 100+ years and not one person plays it. How long do you hang on to these things? They are things, yes, and they do have a story. But … I go back and forth.
I’m ready to change the way I live—with less—and more of what really matters. You, too?
Enjoy these summer pizza bites today, Friends!
Happy summer!
More zucchini recipes to try:
More zucchini recipes: Noodleless Zucchini Chicken Bowls
Summer Zucchini Turkey Burgers
Zucchini Fritters [Fifteen Spatulas]
Chocolate Zucchini Bread [Two Peas and Their Pod]
Chocolate Zucchini Muffins Recipe
Get the Recipe:
Zucchini Pizza Bites
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchini, sliced in 1/2-inch slices (24 slices)
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- ¼ cup pizza sauce, I buy DeLallo Foods
- 24 pieces of pepperoni, optional, if you want to make these vegetarian
- 4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 24 pieces
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Fresh tomatoes
- Basil
Instructions
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil; preheat the broiler to high.
- Trim the ends from the zucchini, and slice each zucchini crosswise into 24 1/2- to 3/4-inch rounds.
- Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini and cook on one side only, 4-5 minutes, until browned.
- Transfer the zucchini to the baking sheet, browned side up. Top each round with 1/2 teaspoon of the pizza sauce, a pepperoni slice, and a piece of mozzarella.
- Broil the zucchini until the cheese is melted, 4-5 minutes (watch the pizza bites closely, as broiler intensities vary).
- Top with a slice of fresh tomato and chopped basil. Salt if needed. Serve!
Notes
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
Quick question about the recipe: Zucchini or yellow squash? The recipe says zucchini, but the vegetables look like yellow summer squash.
Relative to minimalizing…Whenever I have moved, I’ve started with dividing things into keep, pitch, sell and donate piles. Yet I am sometimes sad about things I let go of, even if I know no one else would want them. Finally sold the house (aka the big closet with stairs) last year due to health reasons. I’m living in a studio apartment and fine with that, but downsizing to that from 2,800 sq. ft. was a radical change. I do have a storage unit, mostly for books, paintings and a few family heirloom knick knacks. Most of the books will ultimately go to my alma mater, family will take most everything else; it’s just a matter of when they can drive a UHaul. halfway across the country. I confess to missing having my library at my fingertips, but I’m learning to do without the rest.
I used yellow zucchini! :) We had both the green and yellow growing in our garden :)
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Minimalism is the best thing that ever happened to my family. Thanks to Joshua Becker and The Minimalists (Joshua Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus) and a few other minimalist bloggers/writers, minimalism has created freedom in our lives from all physical, emotional and mental clutter. It was a journey for sure and not easy but freedom from everything but what you truly love and matters the most (relationships, experiences) is ah-mazing. We will never go back to the way we were. We entertain a lot. I used to have 32 sets of dishes, innumerable glass and flatware, table decor, linens, hundreds of candle holders and sticks, really I could go on and on. Got rid of it all along with most everything else. We entertain the same amount of people now anywhere from 2-60 people. We just do it differently now. And I’m not stressed anymore entertaining (although I have always loved doing it) and it takes far less preparation. Minimalism stripped our entertaining experiences down to the most fundamental element, people. Oddly enough, not one family member or friend or acquaintance has mentioned the lack of table decor or ambiance or visual experience. When everything is stripped down, the meal/event becomes about people only (and food of course, ha!) but mostly people.
Thanks for sharing, Annie. I agree, and everyone does have their own style, but you really need the basics + people to have a great time. Oh, and yes, good food. :)
Moving a few times has helped us de-clutter for sure. It’s hard to let go of all of those birthday cards, letters, and cute drawings. Sometimes I just take pictures of them. I love nostalgic things though, they bring back memories!
That’s a great idea, Shawn. Taking a picture of the things that could be possibly tossed. Thanks for sharing!
I am a minimalist and actually had a good friend of mine point that out to me. I keep a large basket in the garage and routinely fill it up to take to Goodwill. I truly feel overwhelmed by a house full of “stuff”.
I think I’m somewhere in between when it comes to a minimalist way of thinking…yes, less is more, but I think I’d have to do it just right so it didn’t look like a “blank, sparse space”.
This dish looks yummy
Sandy, I am so there! Started purging in Feb because I was weary of too much stuff in every room, closet & cabinet! My girls have only taken a few things; their houses are smaller than mine!
There is a feeling of liberation when things are not so cluttered & over-flowing.
Thanks for the encouraging posts!
Thanks for sharing, Carolyn. I think it’s important to let our kids take what is important to them. And maybe save the things we think they may want later. But it does feel good to get rid of stuff. I’m using the approach … if I haven’t used it in a year (it’s gone!)
I am 68 and my mother is 94. As we cleaned her house out two years ago, I saw that my girls did not care to have the crystal bowls, tablecloths, furniture etc that she had accumulated and I did not need them because I had my own collection. Mother will still say to me how I got rid of her (whatever). She says she wished she still had it. A lot of her things are in my basement because i did not want to get rid of it while she was still living. I want to de-clutter my home but I am so torn when i think about getting rid of family items. But no one wants them or has space to store them. We are in the process of having a company digitize our family photos, slides and movies. It has been so much fun for our whole family to watch the results on television. It is sad to see the shift in what is consider important.
I agree, Carold, the memories of photos, movies, etc. is so important. My dad has done the same thing with family slides. One idea is to save one bowl, one set of linen, etc. for the girls. The heirlooms are still important, but minimalizing those items is what I am going to try to do! I would think that your family members would understand, especially if you ask them first if they want some of the stuff? Thanks so much for sharing!