Gluten Free Dairy Free Zucchini Gratin Recipe
It is that time of year again when zucchini is so plentiful we rack our brains on how to use up all those lovely squash that are taking over our gardens or that friends and neighbors trust upon us. It’s time for gluten free zucchini bread, zucchini fritters and zucchini muffins.
To change it up I decided to make a gluten free, dairy free zucchini gratin this weekend. I figured I love potato gratin so why not? Plus a gratin made with zucchini instead of potatoes would have a lot less calories, starch and carbs. In that vein, I also decided to leave out all those cheese calories that gratins are usually so loaded with.
For sweetness and extra flavor, I cooked down onions until they were practically meltingly soft and I added some sun dried tomatoes and fresh basil to my gratin to make it more summery, then topped the whole thing off with some nutty, parmesan-like, protein-packed nutritional yeast mixed with some gluten free panko style bread crumbs from Kinnikinnick.
The result? Oh my! I never thought I would actually wax enthusiastic about zucchini but this stuff is good. Really, really good! I can hardly believe this recipe is dairy free — with that nutritional yeast, I didn’t miss the cheese one little bit!
You can cook the zucchini in a skillet, then transfer to a baking dish to finish in the oven but for a more rustic presentation, I made mine in a cast iron skillet. What’s cool about this is that you can finish the dish off on the grill if you like. This does make a really great barbeque side dish.
So this is one way I am using up my zucchini. What’s a favorite zucchini recipe of yours?
Gluten Free Dairy Free Zucchini Gratin Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice milk
- 1 tablespoon tapioca or corn starch
- 6 tablespoons olive oil – use divided
- 3 medium white or yellow onions about 1 pound, cut in half and thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons kosher or fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg freshly grated
- 4 medium zucchini about 2 pounds
- 1/4 cup sundried tomatoes packed in oil dried and finely chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves minced
- ¾ cup gluten free Kinnikinnick panko style bread crumbs
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Mix ¼ cup rice milk with the tapioca or corn starch and set aside.
- Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over low heat. Add the onions and salt and cook until the onions are very tender but not brown, about 20 minutes. Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise, then slice about ¼ inch thick. Add the pepper, nutmeg, zucchini, sun dried tomatoes and remaining ¾ cup of rice milk to the onions, raise the heat to medium, cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes or until the zucchini is fork tender.
- Remove the cover, raise the heat to high, bring the mixture to a boil and stir in the rice milk starch mixture. Cook the mixture, stirring until the mixture thickens, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the basil.
- Combine the bread crumbs with the nutritional yeast. Put the zucchini mixture into a 9 by 12 inch (or similar sized) baking dish, top with the bread crumb mixture and drizzle the top with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly and browned.
Nutrition
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Love the gratin! Sounds so delicious. We had one the other night too.
You… are a wizard of gluten free goodness. Haha, we made this recipe last night and I had to come straight back to the blog this morning to let you know how well it turned out. Please keep them coming :)
Thanks Sophie, I am glad you enjoyed this as much as we did!
Perfect timing as my garden is exploding with zukes right now – thanks, can’t wait to try it!
I am going to have to try this, thanks!
what is nutritional yeast?
It is a deactivated yeast that is high in protein and b vitatmins. Many vegans and vegetarians use it because it has a cheesy, nutty flavor similar to Parmesan cheese. You can buy it at natural foods stores on on the internet. Even though I am not vegan I have taken to keeping it on hand for time whens I don’t want to use dairy but want that flavor. If dairy is not an issue for you, you could use parmesan cheese in this recipe.
Good Timing, so perfect and delicious for a summer treat with my kids. Love it! This looks like a wonderful and fabulous recipe ever! Thank you so much for the Gluten Free Dairy Free Zucchini Gratin Recipe :). Thanks for the info! I keep on reading..
Looks fabulous! I bet almost any non-starchy veggie (or combination of) would be great in this! :)
Hi Rein, Thanks – I bet you are right!
This looks so delicious! I’ve made zucchini casseroles before in a similar composition, but I love the use of bread crumbs in this one. Yum.
Thanks Alta, it makes for a nice crispy topping which provides some textural contrast which I like.
Waw! I am so impressed here! Now, I can use up my home grown yellow & green zucchini’s too! I love nutriotionel yeast a lot! A grand & tasty recipe! :)
Thanks Sophie – enjoy!
Oh, Carol, this is perfect timing as I just picked up some terrific zucchini today. Will make a few changes based on what I have on hand and prefer using (like ghee or Majestic Garlic Spread vs nutritional yeast and toasted almond flour vs bread crumbs) and report back. :-)
xo,
Shirley
Great, please do!
xo,
c
Perfect recipe! I miss potatoes, and I’m ecstatic to see that zucchini work as a delicious-looking substitute. Gonna go pick another zucchini from my garden right now!
Thanks Stephanie, enjoy!
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