Wondering what to have for breakfast? Low-carb frittatas and pancakes are quick and easy to make.
Have them the low-carb way by using coconut or almond flour instead of wheat flour, and bulk them up with low-carb vegetables.
Grated zucchinis (courgettes) with an egg or two, plus a bit of coconut or almond flour work really well. In this recipe, I am also adding a tin of tuna to boost protein content and make these frittatas into a complete meal.
Spices are essential – they might taste a bit bland otherwise!
Cooking with zucchinis
Zucchinis are a great low-carb ingredient. The only point to remember is that they contain a lot of moisture.
When cooking or baking with zucchinis, try to make them a bit less wet first, so that your recipe doesn’t come out all soggy.
Add some salt to grated zucchinis and leave them to sit for 20-30 minutes. Then squeeze out excess moisture – you can either:
- put them in a colander and press with a bowl or a plate, or
- press down on them with a paper towel, or
- wrap them in a tea towel and squeeze
Spicy low-carb frittatas with tuna and zucchini
Prep time: 5 min | Cook time: 10 min | Total time: 15 min
Yield: 6 frittatas
Ingredients
- 1 tin of tuna in olive oil – 115g (3oz)
- 1 large grated courgette (aka zucchini) – 200g (7oz)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tbsp (15g / 0.5oz) coconut flour
- 2 tsp dried chili flakes or 1 whole fresh chili, finely chopped and fried
(this bit is important – recipe won’t taste as nice without spices) - salt and pepper
- Optional 1/8 tsp xanthan gum
or guar gum
These are optional, but would help to improve the texture
Instructions
- Open the tin of tuna, don’t drain, flake tuna into small bits
- Grate zucchinis, squeeze out excess moisture
- Add tuna, eggs and zucchinis together and mix together thoroughly
- Combine coconut flour with spices and other dry ingredients and add to the tuna mixture
- If using fresh chilies, chop finely and fry for 1-2 minutes before adding to the mix
- Mix everything together thoroughly
- Leave to stand for 5 minutes or so – coconut flour will absorb moisture and make the mix more sticky
- Heat a little bit of oil in a frying pan
- Use a large spoon to add mixture to the pan (amounts listed above make 6 large pancakes) and form flat round pancakes, aim for about 5mm (1/5 inch) thick. If they are thicker, that’s ok too – but you might need to cook them for longer.
- Fry on a medium heat for about 5-7 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
Nutritional information
Per serving: 105 calories, 2g net carbs, 8g fat, 7g protein
Do you need more low-carb breakfast recipes?
Check out these great low-carb cookbooks:
Did you mean 3-5 cm thickness? It says 3-5 mm. Thanks, as an American, I have to convert that value. Millimeters would be too small, cms would be too thick. Thank you.
Hi Victoria,
I have corrected it to say 5mm (0.2 of an inch). Basically they should be quite flat, then they get cooked faster.
It’s not a problem if they are thicker but you might need to fry them for a bit longer. Cooking times might vary slightly anyway depending on how hot your pan is, which type of cooking oil you use etc.
Hope it works!