This low-carb recipe for Italian Style Stuffed Zucchini Boats is an easy to make, fantastic meal your family will love.
I visited a local farmer’s market on Saturday, and came away with more zucchini than I knew what to do with! It looked so delicious, and I was living in the moment. So, by the time Sunday rolled around, I needed a game plan for all the zucchini I had.
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I used to make this recipe fairly regularly. My neighbor had a large vegetable garden and would share his zucchini with us often. I made this particular recipe because I knew my kids would try it and I hoped they would like it. I was right, they loved it! My neighbor moved away many years ago and my kids are now grown, so I had pushed this recipe to the back of the box.
Now that I had an abundance of fresh zucchini sitting on my kitchen counter, I knew I had to make Italian Style Zucchini Boats again.
It’s an easy, low-carb dish that makes a perfect, quick weeknight meal.
Italian Style Stuffed Zucchini
3/4 lb. lean ground beef
3 medium to large zucchini
1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce, jar or fresh
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
3 tbsp. grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 tbsp dried Italian seasoning
Salt & pepper, to taste
How to Prepare:
In a deep skillet, brown the ground beef until cooked. Add in the sauce, stirring frequently. Just before removing from heat, add in the Pecorino Romano cheese. If you don’t have Pecorino, you can substitute it with Parmesan cheese.
Place the zucchini in a casserole dish or on a parchment-lined baking sheet and add salt and pepper, to taste. Spoon the ground beef mixture into the zucchini boats. Top each with the shredded mozzarella cheese until well-covered. Then, evenly sprinkle the Italian seasonings over each stuffed zucchini.
Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is lightly browned. Let stand at least 5 minutes before serving because the stuffing will be hot.
A few variations:
- Add finely chopped small onion; saute it with a bit of olive oil for a few minutes before adding your ground beef to the same skillet for browning.
- Top with sliced pepperoni after adding the cheese, for a pizza boat.
- Use ground turkey, sausage or chicken instead of lean ground beef.
For another zucchini recipe, try my Parmesan Zucchini Friesor my Cheesy Baked Zucchini.
Stuffed Zucchini Boats are a great way to sneak a healthy vegetable into your meal, and I know you’ll love them as much as my family does.
Give these zucchini boats a try and let me know what you think in the comments below!
Italian Style Stuffed Zucchini
Ingredients
- ¾ lb lean ground beef or Italian sausage
- 3 medium large zucchini
- 1½ cups spaghetti sauce
- 1 cup mozzarella shredded
- 3 tbsp Pecorino Romano cheese grated
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- Chop the ends off of the zucchini and cut in half lengthwise. With a spoon, scoop out the seeds and hollow out the zucchini. Set aside.
- In a deep skillet, brown the ground beef until cooked. Add in the sauce, stirring frequently. Just before removing from heat, add in the Pecorino cheese.
- Place zucchini in a casserole dish or parchment-lined baking pan; salt and pepper them. Spoon ground beef mixture into each zucchini. Top with mozzarella cheese until well-covered. Sprinkle Italian seasonings evenly over stuffed zucchini.
- Place in oven for 20 - 25 minutes.
- Let stand 5 minutes before serving.