This chicken zucchini corn skillet is an easy 30-minute dinner packed with lean protein, fresh veggies, and melty cheddar cheese. It’s a healthy, macro-friendly one-pan meal the whole family will love!
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Zucchini, Corn, and Chicken Skillet
- Ready In: 30 minutes
- Serves: 5 servings
- Calories: 282 cal
- Protein: 27.2g
- Fat: 8.8g
- Carbs: 22.6g
- Why You'll Love It: This Zucchini, Corn, and Chicken Skillet is an easy 30-minute dinner packed with lean protein, fresh veggies, and melty cheddar cheese. A healthy, macro-friendly one-pan meal the whole family will love!
When I need a quick dinner that’s still satisfying, this is the one. Juicy chicken, tender zucchini, sweet corn, colorful bell peppers, and a sprinkle of cheddar… it’s a simple one-pan meal with TONS of flavor that’s still great for your macros.
It’s ready in 30 minutes, so it works for busy weeknights, meal prep lunches, or those evenings you want something wholesome without spending hours in the kitchen. Need more fast dinners? Here are my 30-minute macro-friendly meals.
Can You Cook Zucchini and Chicken in the Same Pan?
YES, that’s the whole idea here! I cook the onion, pepper, and zucchini first, push them to one side of the skillet, and cook the chicken right next to them. If your pan is too small to fit everything in a single layer, finish the veggies, take them out, cook the chicken by itself, and add the veggies back at the end. Crowding the pan makes everything steam instead of brown.
Does Zucchini Go with Corn?
Absolutely. Tender zucchini and sweet corn are a classic summer combo, and with chili powder, cumin, and oregano, this skillet has a slightly smoky, Tex-Mex flavor. If you’ve got zucchini to use up, here are more of my healthy zucchini recipes.
Important Ingredients and Substitutions
- Chicken: use breasts or tenderloins chopped into bite-sized pieces.
- Red or orange bell pepper: adds color, sweetness, and extra veggies. Yellow works too.
- Zucchini: chopped into bite-sized pieces. Summer squash works if that’s what you have.
- Frozen corn: keeps this quick and easy, but fresh corn cut from the cob is great in season.
- Frozen onion and garlic cubes: my favorite shortcuts for taste and convenience. Fresh diced onion and minced garlic work too.
- Cheddar cheese: freshly grated melts much more smoothly than pre-shredded. Pepper jack or Monterey Jack are delicious too. For dairy-free, use your favorite dairy-free cheese or skip it. Without cheese, each serving is 250g with 213 calories, 23.2g protein, 3.1g fat, 22.2g carbs, and 4g fiber.
Before You Start Cooking
- Grab your biggest heavy-bottomed skillet. Everything cooks side by side in one pan, so you want the room.
- Cut everything about the same size. Bite-sized chicken and veggies cook evenly and are easy to eat.
- Plan for about 30 minutes. That’s 10 minutes of prep and 20 minutes of cooking.
- Log it the easy way. One serving is 265g. Search “Lillie Eats and Tells Zucchini Corn and Chicken Skillet,” or here’s how I add a recipe to MyFitnessPal.
How to Make Chicken Zucchini Corn Skillet
- Cook the onion and pepper. Heat the skillet over high heat with a spritz of oil. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook for 2 minutes until fragrant.
- Brown the zucchini. Push the veggies to one side, add another spritz of oil, then add the zucchini, garlic, and half the salt. Let the zucchini sit for a minute or two to get some color before stirring, then cook 3 to 4 minutes until tender.
- Cook the chicken. Push all the veggies to one side, spritz the empty side with oil, and add the chicken in a single layer. Sprinkle with the remaining spices, cook for a minute, flip, and cook another minute.
- Add the corn and cheese. Stir in the corn and top with cheese. Turn off the heat and cover until the cheese is melty.
What to Serve with Chicken Zucchini Corn Skillet
Serve it as is, over rice or your favorite low-carb base, or tucked into tortillas for an easy taco night. For a low-carb base, try my coconut cilantro sticky cauliflower rice or Mexican cauliflower fried rice.
We love to add avocado, Greek yogurt or sour cream, and LOTS of fresh cilantro. Pico de gallo, hot sauce, and jalapeños are all delicious too. For a creamy drizzle, try my avocado cilantro cream or two-ingredient skinny chipotle creme.
How to Freeze Chicken Zucchini Corn Skillet
Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. It’s great for meal prep, and it’s one of my macro-friendly freezer meals too.
- To freeze, let the skillet cool, then portion it into containers and label with the date and grams (one serving is 265g).
- Thaw overnight in the fridge. Pour off any extra liquid from the zucchini before reheating.
- Reheat in a skillet over medium heat to cook off any extra moisture.
- Keeps up to 3 months.
Want more skillet dinners? Try my ground beef Philly skillet, BBQ chicken and butternut skillet, Cajun chicken spaghetti squash skillet, skillet zucchini lasagna, fajita ground turkey skillet, creamy tomato butternut skillet lasagna, or quick skillet ham and veggie pasta.
If you want the whole week planned, my macro-friendly meal plans send you a new menu every Thursday with a grocery list, meal prep tips, and the macros already done. You can try it free.
Chicken Zucchini Corn Skillet Calories and Macros
One serving (265g) of this chicken zucchini corn skillet has 282 calories, 27.2g protein, 8.8g fat, and 22.6g carbs, with 4g fiber. The full nutrition is in the recipe card below.
Never Miss a Recipe! Sign Up for My Emails!
If you enjoy having macro-friendly recipes that are delicious and easy to track, then make sure to sign up for my email list!
Come say hi on Instagram, I share what we’re eating all week.
Zucchini, Corn, and Chicken Skillet
Ingredients
- 10 oz frozen diced onion or sub fresh of course (284g)
- 2 cups red or orange bell pepper chopped (220g)
- 3 cups zucchini chopped (345g)
- 3 frozen garlic cubes or minced cloves
- 2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 lb chicken breasts chopped into bite-sized pieces (450g)
- 2 tsp. chili powder
- 2 tsp. garlic
- 2 tsp. cumin
- 2 tsp. oregano
- 12 oz frozen corn or fresh (340g)
- 1 cup grated cheddar cheese 84g
Instructions
- Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet over high heat with a spritz of oil. Add the chopped onion and bell pepper. Cook for two minutes until nice and fragrant. Push veggies to one side of the pan, add another spritz of oil, and add zucchini, frozen garlic, and half of the salt. Let the zucchini sit on the hot pan for a minute or two to get a little color before stirring. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the zucchini is tender. Push all of the veggies to one side of the pan to make room for the chicken.
- Add another spritz of oil to the empty side of the pan and let it heat up. Add the chicken in a single layer if there’s room. (If you can tell there won’t be room, finish cooking your veggies to your desired level of tenderness, and remove them from the pan. Then cook the chicken alone, adding veggies back after the chicken is done.) Sprinkle the chicken with the remaining spices and cook for a minute, then flip the chicken and cook for another minute.
- Stir in the corn, and top with cheese. Turn off the heat and cover until cheese is melty. Enjoy this skillet over rice or your favorite low-carb base, or tucked into tortillas. We love to add avocado, Greek yogurt or sour cream, and lots of fresh cilantro!
Notes
Tried this recipe?
Tag @LillieEatsAndTells on Instagram with #LillieEatsandTells! We’d love to see your creations!
