I know you have a zucchini on your counter right now that you just don’t know what to do with, but you can’t bring yourself to just throw it away. Don’t throw it away! Instead, grab your grater and grate it up. This high protein and low carb meal or snack comes together really quick and it’s so yummy! The part that is so awesome is that it’s only 280 calories, and 34 g protein!
Grate up about half of a medium sized zucchini or about 100 grams. Dump all that grated zucchini into a thin dish towel or cheese cloth and wrap all the sides up around it forming a ball. Twist the cloth at the top, right above the ball of zucchini, and keep twisting it as tight as you can to squeeze as much liquid out of the zucchini as possible. It will all come out through the towel.
In a mixing bowl, add the squeezed zucchini and all the other cake ingredients and mix well together.
Heat a medium frying pan to medium low. Spray with non stick spray.
Scoop about half of the mixture out into one side of the frying pan and use your spoon to form a round flat cake, about 1/2 inch thick. Then do the same with the rest of the mixture on the other side of the frying pan.
Let it cook for about 5-6 minutes on medium low. You can check the bottom if you want, so when it gets a little crispy and golden brown, flip it over with a spatula and let it cook about the same amount on the other side.
While the cakes are cooking, you can mix up your lemon dill yogurt sauce. Just mix the yogurt, lemon juice, dill, and garlic sauce in a small bowl and set it aside.
When the cakes are ready, scoop them out onto a plate and put all the yogurt sauce on top. That’s it!
Just a little secret, I have made these even without the zucchini a time or two when I wanted a quick low carb high protein meal but didn’t have zucchini on hand they turn out just fine! Just thought I would throw that out there. 😉
If you are looking for other yummy high protein and lower carb snacks, try my Chocolate Protein Snack Muffins or my Grapefruit Avocado Cottage Cheese Snack!
Ingredients Instructions Notes Macros with yogurt sauce: Calories 280; Fat 11; Carbs 14; Protein 34
Without sauce: Calories 265; Fat 11; Carbs 12.6; Protein 31
This sounds fabulous and a definite make.thanks for sharing.
I pinned this awhile ago but just got around to making it. It was scrumptious!! I adore fresh dill so I was generous with it in both the cakes and sauce. This is going on my regular rotation!
oh yay! Thank you so much! I love fresh dill too. 🙂 Fresh herbs really make all the difference. 🙂 Thanks for the comment. 🙂
Amazing , great and yummy . I am a chef in Marriott Paris and I did the recipe today and sold 40 pcs as the appitizer of the day, I did some additions small ones but it was great thank you the people loved it yummy.
That is so fantastic! Thank you for sharing that! I’m so glad it turned out great. 🙂
What size can of tuna did you use?
Janet
It’s just the usual 5 oz size. 🙂 Sorry I forgot to add that.
Hello. What type of cheese is this? T stands for tablespoon?
Hey there! You can really use just about any kind of shredded cheese. I like to use the yellow and white mix, but just cheddar would be great, too! And yes, T is for Tablespoon 🙂
Thanks!
Instead of oats , could I use coconut flour?
To be honest the couple times I have experimented with coconut flour, it changed the tasted so much, I didn’t like it. I would maybe try almond flour, rice flour, or just leave that part out all together.
A really good low carb breading is pork rinds. You might try that instead of oats
Healthy and yummy! Even my 4yo and 9yo loved it!
I used a can of chicken instead of tuna and it turned out so good! I can’t wait to make this again!! Thank you!
Great idea! I’ll bet it was so yummy. I will have to try that too. 🙂
Do you know the nutritional facts without the sauce on top?
i just updated the recipe with the macros without the sauce. 🙂
This sounds wonderful. Could you also use salmon instead of tuna?
Yes! I’m sure that would be delicious! I’m just too cheap 😉
I have done so with canned salmon, tastes great!
Do these hold up well? Like can I make it tonight for lunch at work tomorrow? Thanks!
That is a great questions! I have been meaning to do the same thing but haven’t tried it yet. I would think that they would reheat fine. We can both try it and see how it goes. 🙂
I usually quadruple the recipe so I have leftovers. I have even frozen some! I think they reheat well. The microwave is okay but I prefer the skillet so they are crisper
My zucchini is already grated in the freezer. So what amount would I use? 1/2 c., 1 cup?
I would get it would be about 1/2 C after the liquid is squeezed out.
What wluld be a good side dish for this?
I would probably go with just a good fresh green salad. Or you could try my brussels sprout balsamic salad as well!
Made them last night they were amazing thanks for the recipe ?
These were so delish! I am always finding a way to use zucchini differently. I love everything that goes into these, skipped garlic salt and used garlic powder, still amazing! Thank you
These were so delish! I’m so glad I found your recipe, thank you! I’m always looking for ways to use zucchini and everything that went into this was good for you. I subbed the garlic salt for garlic powder as I try to avoid any sodium unless naturally occurring, still amazing!
Hi, I was wondering if you could use just the egg white instead of the whole egg?
Thank you
yes, I’m sure it would be fine 🙂
I just made these and they didn’t even take a lot of time. I used 1/2T coconut flour and 1/2T almond flour in place of the oats. Also, didn’t have dill so I used cilantro. It was delicious and seems to fit in well as a THM “S” meal. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Is it 280 calories for 1 patty or for 2? Thank you
it’s for the whole recipe 🙂 You can make them as big or small as you would like.
What are your thoughts on bulk cooking and freezing them?. Im extremely time poor right now.
I haven’t tried it yet, but I honestly think that they would freeze just fine. 🙂
Hi! Does the cheese have to be in the recipe to help keep it together, or can the cheese be ommitted?
I think you would be fine without the cheese since you have the egg. It might be a little more tender when you flip it, but should still work. 🙂
Hi, can you bake the cakes instead of frying?
I have never tried but I’m sure you can! It would just take a little while longer. Or you could try using the broiler in your oven on high and then just flip half way through. 🙂
Made these. While they taste good, they utterly fell apart into a mess. Ate them deconstructed.
I really appreciate that you mentioned zucchini need to be drained first. Great recipe. Thanks! Matt from Montenegro
Just wondering about the size of the can of tuna, there are many sizes available where I live.
It’s a 5 ounce can. It says 4 ounces after it’s drained.
I would love to try recipe. Does it matter what type of oats are used?
No, you could use instant or old fashioned rolled oats. I wouldn’t recommend using steel cut. 🙂
This seems a fantastic dish. I was looking for something to prepare my family on Friday now that we are on this Lent season. Thank you I’ll try it.
It doesn’t matter how accurately I log this recipe into MFP, it still ends up being over 400 calories each time!
Hi Kaylynn. Here is what I have entered into my fitness pal so hopefully this helps:
100 g of zucchini – 16 calories
1 4 oz can tuna – 100 calories
2 Tablespoons of oats – 38 calories
2 Tablespoons of cheese – 41 calories
1 large egg – 70 calories
just the cakes total = 265 calories
2 Tablespoons plain non fat Greek yogurt – 18 calories
Great recipe! I’m actually really impressed. I doubled the entire recipe as my family is larger, but otherwise made the burgers exact to recipe. I was actually blown away. These really are fantastic and I can’t wait to make them again. I plan on making a huge recipe this summer when zucchini is overflowing and freezing for winter. 😃 I had to substitute sour cream for the yogurt (I only had vanilla) and I added a spoonful of minced garlic instead of lemon as I didn’t have any. The sauce still turned out great. I can’t wait to try it as written though. Thanks for adding a “facelift” to the same old tuna burger. Oh, and I made these for a type 1 diabetic, they didn’t raise his sugars through the night – always a plus 😃
Oh Awesome! I love to hear that, thank you!
Made them and they were so delicious! Could have cooked the inside and sides a bit more but otherwise perfect. Thanks