This low-carb, Italian-inspired dish has so much going for it! The filling for these Italian Stuffed Zucchini Boats has lean ground turkey and fresh veggies, all topped with melted cheese and toasted bread crumbs. Less guilt but tons of flavor.
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These Italian Stuffed Zucchini Boats have changed my feelings when it comes to Italian food. And, I have some pretty serious feelings on the subject. That’s kind of a big deal, isn’t it?
When I crave Italian I immediately think of rigatoni, spaghetti, penne, or how about ravioli in a tomato cream sauce sprinkled with plenty of fresh basil and shaved Parmesan. I mean, come on!
I never thought I could get the same level of serious contentment and satisfaction with a dish that doesn’t involve pasta.
That changed when I tried stuffing zucchini with a delicious mixture of lean ground turkey, onion, garlic, red bell pepper, cremini mushrooms, all simmered with a simple jarred marinara. Okay, so there is cheese on top, but I went with part-skim mozzarella and just enough Parmesan to add a sharp, salty bite.
Loaded with nutrition and all in all, pretty darn good for ya!
Be sure to watch the quick how-to video in the recipe card below for my tips on how to cleanly and easily scoop the zucchini and prepare the filling.
Another great aspect of this tasty stuffed zucchini – there’s really no need to prepare a separate veggie side dish. By all means, you can, but this dish is a vegetable and entrée all in one. Add a simple side like rice and a glass of big, bold red wine and I’m a happy girl.
If you like these, you’re going to love my Taco Stuffed Zucchini Boats!
Italian Stuffed Zucchini Boats
Video
Ingredients
- 3 medium, uniformly-sized zucchini
- 24 to 26 ounce jar tomato basil marinara, divided
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground turkey or beef
- ⅓ cup diced onion
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ⅓ cup chopped red bell pepper
- ½ cup chopped brown button (cremini) mushrooms
- ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
- 1 ½ cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup shaved or shredded Parmesan
- 2 tablespoons Italian style panko bread crumbs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Measure out 1 cup of the marinara sauce and set aside.
- Trim ends from zucchini and slice in half, lengthwise. Use the tip of a spoon to scrape out the zucchini flesh (see recipe note), chop it and set it aside. Place the scooped out zucchini boats into a 13- x 9-inch baking dish and add about 1-inch of water. Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, until just slightly fork-tender. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool slightly.
- Meanwhile, add olive oil to a 12-inch skillet and place over MEDIUM heat. Add turkey (or beef), onion, bell pepper, and garlic to the skillet. Cook, stirring to break up the ground meat as it cooks. Continue to cook and stir until meat is thoroughly cooked and veggies have softened. Drain off as much grease as possible and return the skillet to the heat.
- Add the chopped zucchini flesh, mushrooms, remaining marinara in jar (reserve 1 cup for later), parsley, Italian seasoning, salt, fresh ground black pepper, and crushed red pepper. Stir well to combine. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat and allow to simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes.
- Remove partially cooked zucchini from baking dish and pour off water. Pour the 1 cup of reserved marinara sauce into the empty baking dish and place zucchini boats on top of the sauce.
- Divide the filling between the zucchini boats. If you have extra filling, spoon it into the dish around the zucchini boats. Cover the dish with foil, and bake for 20 minutes, or until zucchini is fork tender. Remove dish from oven and set oven to BROIL.
- Remove foil and sprinkle zucchini boats with mozzarella, Parmesan and the panko bread crumbs. Place dish in oven, watching closely, and cook for just a couple of minutes until cheese has melted and bread crumbs are golden brown.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
Like this? Please rate & comment below!
When you scoop out the flesh, do you remove the seeds before you chop it? This sounds delicious, and I’m definitely going to try it!
Hi Judie. No, I don’t scoop out the seeds. Just give it a rough chop and you’re good to go. I hope you love it!
Thanks!! I’m sure I will!
Yum!! These were the best!! Even my picky husband loved them. Will definitely be making these again. Thanks for the great recipe, Valerie!
Do you have weight watchers points for this meal? It looks delicious just want to make sure it fits within points 🙂
ucan you use summer squash instead of zucchini for this.
I suppose you could but watch it close during the initial baking time. I think summer squash is a bit more tender than zucchini and may not need as much time to soften.
you can also use a green pepper that’s been softened with the zuch; it’s delish, did that last night …
Absolutely fantastic!!!
This is the best “new” recipe I have found in a long time it was wonderful. I froze half of it and it was fine later!
Much much much, did I say much better then we imagined, probably due to my sauce ? but an amazing dish nevertheless !!! Tks Val ?
If you made your own sauce then I am very sure it was spectacular. Thanks so much, Guy!
Can you give me the calorie count per serving?
Nutritional values?? Esp. carbs.
It is included on the recipe card.
I am also looking for the nutrition information. I have clicked print for the recipe card, but I don’t see it on there. I have looked everywhere on this site but still not seeing it.
I made these and they are delicious! Thanks for sharing!!
The nutrition information is on the recipe card below the instructions. If you still don’t see it, please let me know what browser you are using so I can investigate further. Thanks!
I didn’t see nutrition info either, I’m reading on my cell phone, I figured that was the culprit.
Thanks so much, Jaime! It must be an issue with mobile. I’ve got some smart people looking at this and it should be corrected very soon.
Do you have a recipe for the rice side dish? I can’t wait to make this 🙂
Hi Chana. The rice side dish is not so much a recipe but does involve a trick I’ve used for years. You can use any boxed rice mix you like. I believe the one pictured here is a wild rice mix. Prepare as directed with the included seasoning packet but add an additional cup of water and 1/2 cup of plain rice – white or brown – and proceed with the recipe as directed on the box. I started doing this years ago to stretch one box of rice to feed a family of 6 but the other great aspect of this is that it reduces the sodium content.
Just food for thought…it takes the same amount of time to “just cook your “own rice(white or wild) and you don’t have all the sodium” that is in any seasoned mix that is boxed .
While “rice is simmering, I’ll add chopped onion” to the rice and whatever seasoning I might have in mind.Cheaper too:)…Especially since you are “adding extra rice to the packed rice mix anyway.
Any nutritional info on this?
Just pinned and I miss u too! Happy Spring friend! -Julie
Thanks so much, Julie! I miss you too, girl!
This was simply delicious, the hubby and I ate every last bit of it. I made it with ground beef rather than turkey. Will definitely make again.
Fantastic, Becky! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂