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When your summer garden or famers’ market gives you zucchini, make my 4-ingredient zucchini skillet flatbreads! They cook on the stovetop and are grain-free, vegan, and have 5.5 g protein apiece.
I can hardly wait for late summer loaves of hearty, moist zucchini bread, especially those sweetened with brown sugar or honey and freckled with spices. I can easily eat it for breakfast, lunch, and again for dessert.
I’ll hold off another month or so before experimenting with some grain-free, vegan options for sweet zucchini bakes, but until then, I have some savory zucchini goodness to share. Namely, 4-Ingredient Zucchini Skillet Flatbreads!
Zucchini Flatbread Made with Chickpea Flour
You are going to love these, not only for their mild, vegetal flavor and tender texture, but also for how simple they are to make.
As their name indicates, they are made in a skillet, so zero oven time required. You will only need 4 ingredients (besides water and salt) to make them (chickpea flour, zucchini, a bit of oil, and baking soda), and the batter comes together in under 5 minutes.
Healthy Benefits of These Zucchini Flatbreads
The flatbreads are:
- Vegan
- Grain-free
- Gluten-free
- High in protein (5.5 grams each)
- High in fiber
How to Make 4-Ingredient Zucchini Skillet Flatbreads
Begin by grating the zucchini on the larger holes of a standard grater. I used two small to medium zucchini ( 12 ounces in total). Once grated, you’ll have (roughly) 3 cups of zucchini.
Everything goes into one big bowl, with a caveat: add the minimum (3 tablespoons ) amount of water first.
Zucchini vary in moisture (e.g., those late-summer behemoths are more watery than the petite supermarket variety), so sometimes you will need more water, other times, less.
Aim for a thick batter, adding more of the remaining water as needed, until you are left with a batter that is thicker than typical pancake batter, but can still fall off of a spoon with ease.
How to Cook the Flatbreads
Making the flatbreads isn’t hard, but it is different from making a crepe (it’s easier than that) or a pancake (it’s a tiny fraction harder). If you have made my 1-ingredient red lentil tortillas, you’ll be right at home, as the process is the same.
Heat a skillet over medium heat. You will definitely need to grease the skillet, either with a swipe of olive oil, or a spritz of cooking spray. Scoop about 1/3 cup of batter into the center of the skillet, and then spread it out (to about 6 or 7 inches in diameter) with the back of a spoon.
Don’t worry if some of the batter sets up as you go! That’s perfect, as it makes it even easier to spread. Just keep pushing the raw batter out to the edges.
I add some baking soda to the batter so that the flatbreads are tender and pliable, yes, but also puffy in spots.
After about 3 minutes (crank up the heat to medium-high), try sliding a spatula under the edge of the flatbread; if you can keep sliding it under with ease, it’s time to flip! Another minute or so, and the flatbread is done!
The batter makes 8 generous flatbreads, so repeat the process with the remaining batter.
Vary the Recipe with Herbs & Spices
The recipe here is the essential recipe, ideal for both savory and sweet toppings and fillings. However, you can customize the recipe with fresh herbs (e.g., a big handful–chopped– of basil, mint, cilantro, dill, or a mix from your garden) and/or spices (I made some with curry powder and a bit of garam masala + cilantro. Oh my yum!). Have fun!
Happy eating everyone, and savor your summer!
More Delectable Vegan & Gluten-Free Zucchini Recipes:
Individual Zucchini Bread Baked Oatmeal (oil-free)
Healthy Zucchini Oat Bread (oil-free)
Chickpea Flour Zucchini Muffins (oil-free, grain-free)
3-Ingredient Zucchini Soccatas (chickpea flour omelets)
Coconut Flour Zucchini Cookies (grain-free)
Coconut Flour Zucchini Brownies {oil-free, grain-free}
Zucchini Oat Breakfast Cookies
Vegan Almond Flour Zucchini Muffins {grain-free, oil-free}
Print
Zucchini Skillet Flatbreads {Grain-Free, Vegan, Easy}
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 8 flatbreads 1x
Description
When your summer garden or famers’ market gives you zucchini, make zucchini bread! Better yet, make my 4-ingredient zucchini flatbreads, which cook on the stovetop and take minutes to prepare. They are naturally grain-free, vegan, gluten-free, and versatile (e.g., keep them plain or add herbs and spices).
Ingredients
- 2 small-medium zucchini (12 ounces)
- 1–1/2 tablespoons olive oil (or the oil of your choice)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups chickpea flour
- 3 to 5 tablespoons water, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Trim the ends off of the zucchini, and then grate, using the large holes on a grater. Immediately transfer to a large bowl (so as not to lose any of the water from the zucchini). You should have about 3 cups of zucchini.
- Add the olive oil and salt to the zucchini, stirring to combine. Add the chickpea flour and 3 tablespoons of the water, stirring until blended. Add a little bit or all of the remaining water until mixture is a thick batter. Stir in the baking soda.
- Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Lightly grease or spray (with nonstick cooking spray) the skillet.
- Add about 1/3 cup of batter to the center of the pan, and, working quickly, use the back of a metal spoon to spread the batter into a 6- to 7-inch circle. Turn up the heat to medium high and cook about 2 to 3 minutes. until a metal spatula slides under the flatbread easily (bottom side should be browned in spots).Flip over and cook to 2 minutes longer until browned on other side.
- Turn flatbread out onto a cooling rack and reduce heat to medium. Repeat with remaining batter,
Notes
Storage: Store the cooled flatbreads in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or the freezer for up to 6 months.
Tip: An equal amount of yellow squash or other summer squash can be used in place of the zucchini.
Variations: Add fresh herbs to the batter (about 1/2 cups, chopped), such as basil, cilantro, parsley, or mint (or a combination), and/or add spices (about 1 teaspoon or more of spices such as curry powder, garam masala, cumin, smoked paprika, or perhaps a generous squirt of sriracha).
- Category: Bread, Snack
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 flatbread
- Calories: 118
- Sugar: 3.2 g
- Sodium: 149 mg
- Fat: 4.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 14.9 g
- Fiber: 3.1 g
- Protein: 5.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
I wonder if you know, but this is darn close to an Indian flatbread called chilla, a popular, quick, and filling North Indian breakfast food! Usually the veggies used are tomato, cilantro, onion, ginger, fresh chili peppers, cumin or carom seeds, turmeric & red chili powder, no baking soda or oil in the batter, just oil on the pan. You can also add whatever other veggies you might like, spinach or anything you have on hand, really. They’re basically cooked the exact same way as your recipe, and they come out soft and fluffy, ohhh so good. You might really love chilla if you haven’t tried them before, judging how you enjoyed adding garam masala and cilantro! Recommend Veg Recipes of India’s recipe for besan chilla. 🙂 I can’t wait to try your recipe, I LOVE zucchini and I can already imagine how awesome these will be!
★★★★★
I didin’t know, Gifun, so thank you!
Hi, do you think this amazing bread goes with canned tuna? Omelette? I really want to make it but I’m trying to eat a high protein diet, so I’m not sure what protein goes with it.
It would probably go well with whatever you feel matches the flavor profile, but chickpea flour is naturally high in protein at about 21g per cup. So this whole recipe provides a whopping 42g of protein as is! So this would be great for your diet! 🙂
Camilla, first I want to say THANK YOU for creating this blog and sharing your knowledge and experience!
I first stumbled across your blog about a month ago after finding myself unable to eat wheat (gluten-intolerant or celiac, not sure). I had to throw out my cookbooks and learn how to make food differently and your recipes have been so delicious and fresh and easy. I love all of them and have a whole binder full of them already 🙂 So again, thank you.
Question on this one. What would be good to put ON these flatbreads?
will it taste like chick peas?
Hi! No, they do not taste like cooked chickpeas. The flour has a nutty flavor and you can taste the subtle flavor of the zucchini, too. It’s a very neutral flavor overall. Hope that helps!
I am allergic to chickpeas, could I use regular gluten free flour? Like King Arthur or Bobs red mill?
Really want to make these!
Hi Mary,
I am not sure how it would work, but it could be worth a try. You will want to add an “egg” or two (e.g., flax egg, chia egg, or real egg, if you eat eggs) since the chickpea flour does double duty as flour and egg here. Let me know how it goes!