Stuffed Zucchini Boats: I am a contributor to Amanda’s Cookin’ and this recipe first appeared there as Zucchini Boats.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

These Stuffed Zucchini Boats are a savory, delicious, and complete dinner allowing you to get your dose of vegetables. Filled with your favorite meat, in this case, lean ground turkey, they also have bell peppers, onions, and grated cheese. This low-carb dinner is a great way to use up all that garden zucchini!

Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Hello Everyone, there is always that age-old question: How do I use up Summer zucchini?

There's zucchini bread, zucchini muffins, spiralized zucchini - you name it!

Why not try these Zucchini Boats?

It's a great way to use up a bunch of zucchini and this recipe can be doubled and tripled for a large crowd or party.

These Zucchini Boats can be eaten with a knife and fork or just with your hands, making it a great, family, picnic-friendly, and kid-friendly food.

It also comes together quite easily on the stovetop before being baked in the oven making it one of those easy recipes for a weeknight dinner.

This Stuffed Zucchini Boat recipe uses lean ground turkey but it goes with any ground meat, for example, lean ground beef, chicken, pork, or even sausage would work well too!

You can customize this recipe with your favorite type of shredded cheese (I used an Italian 3-cheese blend).

You can customize it further with your favorite veggies beyond onions and bell peppers.

Zucchini Season

You can find zucchini in most grocery stores all year round, but it is in season during the Summer peaking in June through late August.

Ingredients

• 3-4 medium zucchini (I used 3 medium zucchini in the photos)
• 1 pound lean ground turkey
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, regular
• 1-1 ½ cups yellow or Vidalia (sweet) onion, chopped (about ½ Vidalia onion)
• 1 red bell pepper, washed, seeded, membranes removed, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, washed, seeded, membranes removed, chopped
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup (or more to taste) shredded cheddar or cheese blend mix
• ½ teaspoon Kosher salt, amount to taste (I recommend starting with ½ teaspoon and adding the rest at serving)
• ¼ fresh ground black pepper (in the stuffing), with more for serving, amount to taste
• ¼ cup chopped parsley (I use curly parsley in the photos) for serving

Kitchen Tools

• cutting board
• chef's knife
• measuring spoons and cups
• spoon for hollowing out the zucchini
• rimmed baking sheet
• silicone baking mat or parchment paper or aluminum foil for lining the baking sheet

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If you try these Stuffed Zucchini Boats, please let me know in the comments below!

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Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Yield: 4 people

Prep Time: 35 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

These Stuffed Zucchini Boats are a savory, delicious and complete dinner allowing you to get your dose of vegetables. Filled with your favorite meat, in this case, lean ground turkey, they also have peppers, onions and grated cheese. This low-carb dinner is a great way to use up all that garden zucchini!

Print

Ingredients

• 3-4 medium zucchini, medium-size, ends trimmed, pulp removed (save pulp for the mixture)
• 1 pound lean ground turkey, you can substitute the same amount lean ground beef, chicken, pork or sausage
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, regular
• 1-1 ½ cups chopped onion, yellow or Vidalia (sweet) onion
• 1 red Bell pepper, washed, top removed, seeded, membranes removed, chopped
• 1 green Bell pepper, washed, top removed, seeded, membranes removed, chopped
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup (or more to taste) shredded cheddar, or cheese blend mix
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt, amount to taste (I recommend starting with ½ teaspoon and adding the rest at serving)
• ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (in the stuffing), with more for serving, amount to taste
• ¼ cup parsley, chopped (I used curly parsley in the photos)

Instructions

1. In a large skillet, over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, add the chopped onion, and cook the onion until almost translucent.
2. Add the lean ground turkey, zucchini pulp, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir occasionally and cook until browned (about 3-5 minutes). Add the chopped green and red chopped Bell pepper. Remove from heat. Stir in ½ the shredded cheddar.
3. Spoon the mixture evenly into the halved zucchini. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining shredded cheese. Bake (uncovered) at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until the zucchini is tender. When it's done, allow it to cool for a few minutes before eating, sprinkle it with chopped parsley, and enjoy!

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Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 618Total Fat: 35gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 200mgSodium: 771mgCarbohydrates: 21gFiber: 4gSugar: 12gProtein: 57g

Please note that the Calculated Nutrition is an estimate at best.

Did you make this recipe?

Did you make this recipe? If you share it on social media tag us @lifeslittlesweets and hashtag it #lifeslittlesweets - Thank you in advance!

• This post was originally published on 10/12/2018
• Updated & republished on 5/26/2021, 2/10/2023

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Sara Maniez

Owner at Life's Little Sweets

Sara is an architectural designer turned work-at-home Mom. She lives in New Jersey by way of New England and New York, with her husband and 3 kids under 8. She loves design, being creative, and spending time with family and friends. She loves checking out local businesses and eats and being apart of the local farm to table community.

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