Stuffed Zucchini Boats are the perfect way to enjoy your fresh summer zucchini!
Tender zucchini filled with a rich and zesty meat sauce is topped with cheese and baked until tender and bubbly.
Serve this easy dish with a side salad and garlic bread for the perfect family meal!
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Of all of the things that grow in my garden, the herbs and the zucchini have to be my absolute favorites (ok, and the tender baby carrots). I have so many zucchini recipes and this one is near the top of the list!
Ingredients for Stuffed Zucchini Boats
Zucchini – You may need only two zucchini if the zucchini is large or 3-4 if they are smaller. Yellow summer squash can also be used in this recipe, you may need to reduce the cooking time by a few minutes.
This filling can also be added to small bell peppers (pre-cook them a minute or two in the microwave first) or even portobello mushrooms if you’d like.
Meat Filling – This recipe starts with a zesty meat sauce. I use beef but Italian sausage (or even ground turkey sausage) is great too! Use your favorite marinara sauce and chop up any veggies you love to add to the sauce.
Optional Additions – Fresh tomatoes, kidney beans, corn, or other fresh vegetables can be added. Try a sprinkle of red pepper flakes for a little heat.
How to Make Stuffed Zucchini Boats
- Prepare zucchini by scraping out the flesh in the center to create a ‘boat’.
- Make a quick meat sauce with ground beef or sausage, onion, and marinara sauce or pasta sauce.
- Fill and bake the zucchini until tender. Sprinkle with cheese and bake a little bit longer.
Garnish with fresh herbs if you’d like and serve with crusty bread.
Tips for Making Great Zucchini Boats
- If you prefer softer zucchini or if using garden zucchini that are thicker or large, this recipe can be cooked longer before adding the cheese.
- The core of the zucchini can be chopped and added to the sauce along with the red pepper or it can be added to soups or chilis if desired.
- If adding the zucchini or other vegetables to the sauce, allow them to cook a little bit before adding the marinara sauce so the sauce is not watery.
- Leftover meat sauce or chili can be used in place of the meat sauce in this recipe.
More Ways to Enjoy Fresh Zucchini
- Crispy Oven Baked Parmesan Zucchini Fries These easy parmesan zucchini fries are so good you’d never know they’re baked and not fried!
- Parmesan Chicken Foil Packets: Zucchini is the perfect addition to these quick and easy foil packets. We love to serve them over spaghetti!
- Zucchini Brownies If you’ve never had zucchini brownies, you’ve been missing out! They’re so moist topped with a perfect 1 Minute Frosting!
- Zucchini Soup This soup is creamy, flavorful, and freezer friendly!
Ingredients
- 3 medium zucchini about 6 ounces each
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
Meat Sauce
- 1 pound lean ground beef or Italian sausage
- 1 onion diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 ½ cups pasta sauce or marinara, divided
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
Sauce
- Cook ground beef, onion, and garlic in a large skillet until no pink remains. Drain any fat. Stir in the bell pepper (and any extra zucchini bits if you'd like) and cook an additional 2-3 minutes or until it begins to soften.
- Stir in 1 cup pasta sauce, Italian seasoning, and salt & pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes until thickened.
Zucchini
- Slice zucchini lengthwise and use a teaspoon to scrape out the center to create a ½-inch thick shell. Brush with olive oil and season the zucchini with salt & pepper to taste.
- Place the zucchini in a large baking dish. Fill each zucchini with the beef mixture. Top with the remaining ½ cup pasta sauce and place in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Top with the cheeses and bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until the zucchini is soft and the cheese is bubbly.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Great recipe!! Hubby and family approved! Definitely will do this again!
Any suggestions of what to do with the part you scoop out? Hate to waste that much zucchini.
You can freeze it and add it to soups or pasta sauce. Either chop or grate it.
Put it in with the meat as part of the filling. An extra serving of veggies for everyone
Why does the picture look like the Boats are sitting on a bed of pasta? The recipe does not mention pasta.
The zucchini boats are being served on pasta as an optional way to serve. But when cooking in the casserole dish they are not sitting on anything. Hope that helps Jan!
Delicious and easy to make
I made these last night but used ground turkey instead for a healthier option and OMG were they delicious and I’m usually not a huge vegetable lover! My husband loved them as well. Thank you for the recipe :)
So glad you loved it Nidia!
Delicious zucchini boats! The bake time was just right…..zucchini was firm, but soft. The only thing I did differently was to add chili powder and maple seasoning to the hamburger. And some chopped spinach.
Those sound like delicious additions Sue, thanks for sharing.
These have been in my oven for at least 45 minutes and the zucchini isn’t cooked. I have now covered the dish to see if that will help.
Sorry to hear that Sara, we have always found the cooking time to work perfectly. Hopefully covering helped!
i love to make sliced zucchini and summer squash fried with olive oil onions and garlic cloves add salt and pepper and i add sliced mushrooms cook all together about 15 to 20 min great
That sounds great Lisa!
Excellent fast easy Recipe
I didn’t have quite a pound of Beef so I added finly chopped mushrooms!
Great addition Mary! That would taste delicious!
Absolutely delicious! It was not a heavy meal. So it is the perfect summertime meal. I made a green salad and garlic bread with it. It was a hut! My 12 yr old grandson had seconds!
So glad your family enjoyed this recipe Connie!
I love your healthy veggie loaded recipes.
Thank you Abby!
Picture doesn’t match recipe…2 zucchini halved would be 4 boats – picture shows 6. How does this affect the amount of filling needed, and what temperature is required for 6 zucchini boats?
It depends on the size of the zucchini, if they’re fairly small you may have enough filling to fill 6 halves. The recipe is correct as written, I often double or 1.5x the recipe however the cook time will remain the same.
It does depend on the Zuchinni, Have made this several times and each time the amount made is the same and the amount of zucchinis is different. It also depends on how full you want them.
So you scoop out the zucchini and do what with the scooped ? Add it to ground beef and cook
Yes, you could add it to the beef to cook. I usually save it to add to soups/salads.
Can you freeze and cook later?
Raw zucchini doesn’t always freeze well. I would suggest making the filling and freezing it on its own. On the day of cooking just fill fresh zucchini with the defrosting filling mixture.
When I make zucchini boats they end up so watery….Help me please!
Zucchini can vary in how much water they hold. You could try baking them on a rack to help with this. Enjoy Mary!
I think the list of ingredients are great and am attempting to try it, but cannot find the actual instructions and the page is so full of ads that I can’t figure it out. So, I’m winging it.
Thank you for letting me know, for some reason they weren’t showing up but I’ve updated the post. It should be fixed now!
I love this recipe I cook it often. What I find works well is to rub the zucchini boats with olive oil and salt and pepper and bake in the oven to tender up before putting the stuffing ingredients in the boats ! Seems to make it better. Thanks for this great recipe my family loves it!
Thanks for the tip Kathy! And thanks for the add mushrooms idea Mary St Onge. Easy and will be a favorite in this family Holly❤️
Hi Holly, I really like this recipe but I cant figure out the following :
In step 2 you say add 1/2 cup pasta sauce.
Then there is no mention as to when to add the other 1/2 cup ??
Thanks and regards, Jeni
Thank you Jeni. You add it right before you top with the cheese. Updated! Enjoy!
I believe Teresa is right. What is the REAL ingredient?
Oops! Sorry about that, somehow they got mixed up. :) I’ve updated the recipe.
I believe there is a typo. How can you have a clove of olive oil. lol