Easy Italian Stuffed Zucchini Boats

These Italian Stuffed Zucchini Boats are an easy, healthy and low carb dish, filled with a delicious meat sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Low-carb meal: You’ll still enjoy all your favourite pasta flavours in a low-carb format.
• Easy recipe: This zucchini boats recipe is super easy to make. Just scoop out the zucchini, add your stuffing and bake!

Ingredients and substitutions

• Zucchini – squash is the best substitute when it comes to stuffed boats.
• Olive oil – use another neutral cooking oil like avocado or canola oil.
• Onion – you can use white, yellow or even red onion for this recipe.
• Carrot – swap out for another veggie of your choice like red peppers or parsnips.
• Celery stalks – substitute for another veggie or leave this out altogether.
• Garlic – freshly minced garlic is best but jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
• Salt & pepper – to taste.
• Ground turkey – you can also try making this recipe with ground beef, chicken or pork.
• Pasta sauce – I like using marinara sauce, but you can use any store-bought or homemade tomato sauce of your choice.
• Mozzarella cheese – feel free to use another cheese like Swiss, provolone or cheddar cheese.
• Fresh basil – other fresh herbs like oregano will provide a similar flavor.

How to make stuffed zucchini boats

Step 1: Slice the zucchini.

Slice the zucchini in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon.

Step 2: Sauté the veggies.

Sauté the onions, carrots and celery in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Step 3: Add the ground turkey.

Add the ground turkey and garlic to the skillet with the veggies, and cook until lightly browned.

Step 4: Add the pasta sauce.

Bring the sauce to a boil, then remove from heat.

Step 5: Stuff the boats.

Add the meat mixture to the zucchini boats and top with cheese. Bake until the cheese is fully melted.

Step 6: Serve and enjoy!

Sprinkle with fresh basil and serve.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you cook zucchini without it getting soggy?

The key to making sure your zucchini doesn’t get soggy is to cook it at a higher temperature of 400°F. If you bake it at too low a temperature, it’ll get soggy. You should also leave about 1/2″ of flesh around the edges, as over-scooping can lead to sogginess.

How do you hollow out the zucchini?

I typically use a regular spoon to scoop the flesh out of the zucchini, but a tablespoon or watermelon scoop spoon would also work well.

Should you salt it first?

No, you don’t need to salt the zucchini before making your boats, since you’re cooking them at a high temperature.

Can you freeze zucchini boats?

Unfortunately, zucchini doesn’t freeze very well – but you can freeze the Bolognese sauce! I like to cook and freeze the Bolognese sauce ahead of time for easy meal prep later. This allows me to get the zucchini into the oven earlier and get dinner on the table faster! You can store the sauce in glass bowls in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to make your stuffed zucchini boats, let the sauce thaw in the fridge overnight then follow the recipe instructions as normal.

What to serve with zucchini boats

You can enjoy these boats as a main course on their own, or with something on the side. Here are some healthy side dish ideas you can try that still keep your meal low-carb:

• Side salad with homemade dressing
• Brussels sprouts salad
• Broccoli salad

Storing and reheating

These stuffed zucchini boats are perfect for your weekly meal prep or an easy weeknight dinner! The recipe is low carb, so it’s a great alternative to heavier pasta dishes with all the same yummy flavours. You can store any leftovers in the fridge for 3 to 4 days – anything past that, and the cheese will start to get slimy. To reheat, pop the zucchini boats in the oven for 10 minutes at 400° Fahrenheit or microwave for 1 to 2 minutes until warmed through.

Meal prep tools

• Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on turning the stuffed zucchini boats into your weekly lunches.
• I get all my grass-fed ground beef from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.