Whether you grow your own vegetables or merely shop at farmer’s markets for them, by now you’ve come to know what the dog days of summer truly are: that long stretch of July and August when zucchini isn’t merely everywhere but damn near required in everything you make. We have a great zucchini fries recipe if you’re looking for something simple and sure to be successful; but when you’ve exhausted that and the squash itself keeps coming, may we suggest the most obvious solution to life’s problems—i.e., blanketing something in cheese and crunchy things? Granted, this zucchini parmesan won’t actually solve any problems of real importance, but let’s not undervalue any win on the “how to get my toddler to eat a watery green vegetable?” front; it comes together with everyday items from your pantry or fridge, to boot. Tomato sauce, breadcrumbs, and cheese cover the evidence (of vegetables); use cottage cheese and you’ll add a meal’s worth of protein, too. A workhorse, this one.
Check out our other great vegetable recipes!
🥒 Easy Zucchini Parmesan for Toddlers
Zucchini Parmesan is one of those magical meals that bridges the gap between veggie-forward and comfort food—ideal for toddlers and their grown-ups. With tender roasted zucchini, a simple tomato sauce, creamy cottage cheese, and a crisp parmesan-panko topping, this dish hits all the right notes: soft textures, familiar flavors, and nutrient-rich ingredients. It’s a great way to work more vegetables into your child’s meals while offering something the whole family will actually want to eat.
🛒 What’s in this Zucchini Parmesan?
This recipe sticks to the essentials:
- Zucchini, sliced into half moons for even roasting
- A basic marinara sauce (use your favorite jarred or homemade version)
- Cottage or Ricotta cheese for creaminess and a bit of extra protein
- Parmesan and panko breadcrumbs for that craveable crispy topping
Everything is baked in one dish, with no breading or frying involved—just simple layers that come together easily and bake to golden perfection.
👨🍳 How to Make It (Overview)
- Roast the zucchini with olive oil and salt until just tender.
- Layer in a baking dish: first a bit of sauce, then half the zucchini, a cottage cheese or ricotta layer, more sauce, the rest of the zucchini, and the rest of the sauce.
- Top with a parmesan-panko mix and bake until browned and bubbling.
This is a low-lift, big-reward kind of dinner, and leftovers reheat well, making it a great make-ahead or lunchbox option.
Zucchini Parmesan For Toddlers – Easy and Delicious
Description
When you slide squash in between layers of creamy cheese, tomato sauce, and breadcrumbs, even the pickiest of young eaters will think they're eating anything but vegetables. Our zucchini parmesan couldn't be easier to make--or easier to enjoy.
Ingredients
Instructions
Prep, Cook, and Assemble
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Preheat oven to 425.
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Trim off ends and peel zucchini. Cut each zucchini in half lengthwise, followed by 4-5 cuts vertically on each half in order to produce roughly 16-20 long and thin slices of zucchini.
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Toss zucchini in a bit of olive oil and a pinch of salt, then roast until soft and burnished, roughly 10 minutes.
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In a small bowl, mix panko breadcrumbs with a generous heaping of parmesan and enough olive oil that the breadcrumbs begin to clump together and have the texture of wet sand.
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Create the layers of the dish:
- Cover the bottom of an 8x8 glass baking dish* with your tomato sauce
- Layer the slabs of zucchini on top of the sauce.
- Spread cottage cheese (or ricotta) on top of the zucchini, layer; top with shredded mozzarella and dried basil.
- Add the remaining tomato sauce. (Note: if you don’t have enough for a thin layer, try to place six clumps at roughly equal lengths distance across the pan
- Top with the breadcrumb mixture.
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Heat in oven until breadcrumbs are browned and cheese bubbly, roughly 15-20 minutes.
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Let cool for at least 10 minutes–this will ensure the layers will firm up and stick together.
Serve
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Unless your child is already familiar/comfortable with casserole-type dishes, this may not make a ton of sense to him/her initially, so do what you know best: put it in a bowl or on a small plate and shower and/or cover the slice you serve in whatever your child knows and loves–i.e., tomato sauce, cheese, even a condiment. For younger and/or pickier eaters, cut the serving into smaller slices to make it easy for a child to fork (or spoon) up.
Adapt
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Prefer using eggplant, butternut squash, or even bell peppers? Sub out the zucchini and replace with vegetable of your choosing–just know that eggplant and squash will probably require 20-25 minutes of roasting on their own to get to the desired doneness or texture.
Nutrition Facts
Servings 6
Serving Size 1/2 serving
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories 120kcal
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat 6.5g10%
- Sodium 100mg5%
- Potassium 200mg6%
- Total Carbohydrate 10g4%
- Dietary Fiber 2g8%
- Protein 6g12%
- Vitamin A 500 IU
- Calcium 120 mg
- Iron 0.5 mg
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Note
*Recipe was developed and tested using an 8x8" pyrex glass dish; if you use a baking dish with different dimensions, you may need more sauce, cheese, and breadcrumbs than listed in the Ingredients section above. (Two zucchini should still be plenty, though.)
My toddler did just fine on this, but my wife and I finished the whole thing in one sitting. Really tasty.