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Got zucchini?? Easy Stuffed Zucchini Boats have so much flavor with ground turkey, mushrooms, pasta sauce, and cheese. This is a healthier dinner recipe your whole family will love. This recipe is a twist on an old family favorite and I hope you love it as much as we do!

zucchini with meat and cheese inside.


Why we LOVE Stuffed Zucchini Boats

I remember my Nana making a recipe like this when I was young. As a young married woman, I would watch Rachael Ray incessantly and buy all of her books. I think she, at one point, must have made stuffed zucchini because I remember making it for Mel all the time years ago.

When I was brainstorming a low-carb way to have some sort of Italian food, I remembered my Nana’s zucchini boats and immediately tried to recreate them. We absolutely loved this recipe and I know your family will too!

  • These are low carb
  • A great way to use up zucchini
  • EASY to make with tons of variations
  • So good – our entire family loves them!

Ingredients in Stuffed Zucchini Boats

  • Ground Turkey: This easy stuffed zucchini recipe is filled with ground turkey. I love using ground turkey and use it instead of ground beef 99% of the time. Believe me, this recipe tastes so good you won’t miss the beef, but if you have a purist in your home, you can substitute ground beef for the turkey.
  • Flavorings: I cook the ground turkey with mushrooms and onions and garlic along with lots of herbs and spices. It’s important to flavor ground turkey so it’s not dry.
  • Pasta Sauce: The cooked meat is mixed with my favorite pasta sauce. You can also use a jarred sauce too.
  • Zucchini: The mixture will fill about 4-5 regular sized zucchini, which will serve 4-8 people depending on what else you’re serving. Because we try to eat low carb, the three of us just ate the zucchini boats along with a small side salad and we had leftovers for lunch the next day.
  • Cheese: Then, add the best ingredient: cheese!! The cheese makes these SO good.

How to make Stuffed Zucchini Boats:

  1. To hollow out the zucchini, first cut them in half horizontally. Then, using a teaspoon, scoop out the flesh, leaving a bit at the top and bottom to create a front and end of the boat. Do this carefully so you don’t rip the zucchini.
  2. If you have leftover filling, it’s great on pasta!
  3. To make sure the zucchini is cooked all the way, I cover the pan with foil for the first half of baking. Then I sprinkle with cheese and let the zucchini finish cooking to my desired doneness.
  4. If you’re a sauce lover you can add even more sauce to the pan. My husband is a sauce lover so I do this quite often (or heat extra for him).
zucchini with meat and cheese inside.

What to serve with Stuffed Zucchini Boats:

FAQs

Do zucchini boats freeze well?

You can freeze these baked or unbaked – they will turn out perfect. Great for making ahead of time.

How to make sure zucchini is cooked for zucchini boats:

Cover the pan with foil for the first half of the cooking, this will ensure your zucchini are done all the way.

zucchini with meat and cheese inside.

Stuffed Zucchini Boats

4.72 from 7 votes
Easy Stuffed Zucchini Boats have so much flavor with ground turkey, mushrooms, pasta sauce, and cheese. This is a healthier dinner recipe your whole family will love.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Yield 4 servings
Serving Size 1 /6 recipe

Ingredients
 

  • 4-5 medium/large zucchini
  • 1 pound ground turkey
  • ½ small yellow onion diced (89g)
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 4 ounces 114g white mushrooms, diced
  • ¼ teaspoon dried basil
  • ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
  • ¼ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 ½ cups pasta sauce
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
  • Trim the ends of zucchini. Slice in half horizontally. Use a small spoon to clean out the centers of the flesh carefully. Place zucchini in pan.
  • Place turkey in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook, breaking up chunks, until almost all the pink is gone. Drain fat.
  • Add onion and garlic to the turkey and continue to cook on medium heat until the onion is soft, 3-5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and seasonings. Cook 3-5 minutes, then stir in the pasta sauce. Cook just a few more minutes to meld the flavors and taste test for seasoning.
  • Fill the zucchini boats evenly with the turkey mixture.
  • Cover the pan with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake until the zucchini is almost your desired tenderness. Top with cheese and cook just until melted.
  • Serve hot. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Recipe Video

Recipe Nutrition

Serving: 1/6 recipe | Calories: 228kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 68mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 8g
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Course Main Course
Cuisine American

Favorite Zucchini Recipes

Last Updated on July 22, 2023



Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

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8 Comments

  1. Delicious in taste! Simple to make! My husband says the directions should read cut vertically not horizontally

  2. Hello:
    Thank you so very much for the easy and tasty recipe.
    The recipe is perfect but I was wondering if the flesh of the zucchini could be used together with the marinara,garlic and mushrooms.
    I’d like to thank you in advance for your kindness in replying.ataucano

  3. Hi, I teach healthy cooking classes and would like to use this recipe and image in my class next week. Do i have your permission to do so?

  4. I used ground beef and chunky garden vegetable pasta sauce when I made these, and they were SO delicious! My whole family loved it. My college son, who doesn’t really like zucchini, even loved his on broccoli! I used extra cheese, too. They were even more delicious a couple of days later when we had them as leftovers. The flavors mingled and were more intense. It was fabulous!!! Thanks Dorothy for another great recipe! 🙂

    PS: I may try the grated salami idea next time, or maybe pepperoni!

  5. Dorothy….
    OMG! I have made these zucchini boats for years. So fun to see them on your blog. My short-cut (working mom-back in the day-now retired)…. I nuked the scooped out zucchini in the microwave. Got supper on the table that much faster.
    Love your blog…..keep up the great work! 

  6. I am a vegetarian so I skipped the beef. It turned out great. Next time I’m going to try meatless crumbles.

  7. I keep forgetting about these; I’ll have to try it this way. Nana’s secret ingredient was grated salami (besides the beef in the pasta sauce). Not exactly heart healthy or low calorie… lol