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Zucchini is in full swing this time of year so I wanted to share a recipe that would show case zucchini and get us all super excited about eating it!
These turkey stuffed zucchini boats are perfect, right?
Not only do they use up a ton of zucchini but they are super family friendly (my kids love them), can be prepared ahead of time and make great leftovers. Whats not to get excited about?
The only catch with this recipe is that it does require a bit of preparation time, but I promise you they are super easy to make, they just ask for a bit of your effort and attention.
You can easily swap out the turkey for ground beef, bison, or chicken and if you prefer a vegetarian option, quinoa or lentils could make a great stuffing as well. So as always, make them work for you.
And most importantly, enjoy!
Turkey Stuffed Zucchini Boats
Yield: 8 boats
Prep Time:25 minutes
Cook Time:50 minutes
Total Time:1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 4 medium zucchini (about 2 lbs.)
- 2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lb. ground turkey
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1/2 green pepper, chopped
- 1/2 cup reserved zucchini 'meat' from the center of zucchini
- 1 tbsp. Italian seasoning
- 1 cup strained tomatoes
- 1/2 cup part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
Directions:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and pre-heat oven to 350.
- Slice zucchini in half length wise and use a spoon (or melon baller) to scoop out the center leaving about 1/4 inch zucchini shell all around (see video for demonstration). Be sure to save the zucchini you scooped out.
- Place zucchini in the pop of boiling for one minute. They go in and out.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat before adding in ground turkey. Using a wooden spoon or spatula to break the meat into smaller pieces and cook until lightly browned.
- Add in garlic, onion, green peppers, zucchini meat, Italian seasoning, strained tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Mix everything together and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the veggies are tender and all the flavors have come together.
- Place zucchini halves in a baking dish and fill each zucchini boat with about 1/2 cup filling. Top each turkey stuffed zucchini boat with 1 tbsp. shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese has melted and everything has heated through. Enjoy!
suhani
August 15, 2014 at 8:28 amDani,
I am a vegetarian. Is there any possible way to substitute the turkey with a vegetarian option? Thanks!
Dani
August 15, 2014 at 10:00 pmI agree with Darren – you can do lentils, beans, quinoa, barley, faro, etc. OR perhaps some tofu or tempeh:)
Cat
August 15, 2014 at 4:25 pmMaybe I missed something in the recipe, wondering why you need a large pot of boiled water?
Dani
August 15, 2014 at 9:59 pmIt is to bar boil zucchini before stuffing. You can skip it if you don’t want to do the extra step but your zucchini will be more al dente!
Elizabeth
August 14, 2016 at 10:07 amExactly! Kept rereading the directions! Makes no sense! Coming from someone who has to follow the directions to a “t” the boiling pot doesnt fit with anything in the directions.
Jaye
May 11, 2017 at 8:53 pmI was wondering the same thing! How long do you put the zucchini in the water?
Dani
May 15, 2017 at 9:03 amSorry for the confusion. I just fixed the recipe – the zucchini goes into the water for just one minute!
Darren Stehle
August 15, 2014 at 8:33 pmGreat recipe and so easy to make!
Suhani, why not use a firm tofu that you can crumble in place of the ground turkey? Or you could mix ground nuts with beans, or lentils, barley or bulgur.
Dani
August 15, 2014 at 9:59 pmall great ideas!
Jen Standridge
August 15, 2014 at 9:15 pmMade these tonight, we can’t stop talking about how good and flavorful they are, and such low calories!
Dani
August 15, 2014 at 9:58 pmawesome! so glad to hear it!
suhani
August 16, 2014 at 12:53 pmThanks both Darren and Dani. I am looking forward to using those choices to make this dish. 🙂
agnes
August 22, 2014 at 3:17 pmHello, what kind of Italian seasoning do you recommend? Is there a specific brand? Thank you =]
Jules
August 28, 2014 at 2:15 amWow! These are delicious! We’re cutting out carbs for dinner and this was the first recipe I tried. So good, it’ll definitely be on high rotation. Next, I’m going to try a variation with zucchini noodles, turkey meatballs (using the meatball muffin recipe), tomato sauce (from this recipe) and cheese. Yum.
Dani
September 2, 2014 at 6:26 amSo glad you liked them! I’ve been dying to try zucchini muffins myself…
Sarah
September 14, 2014 at 8:29 amI feel silly even asking this, but “strained tomatoes”? Is that canned diced tomatoes that have been drained or crushed tomatoes? Probably won’t make or break the final product but I wanted to check. 🙂 thanks!
Dani
September 15, 2014 at 11:37 am/yes – very similar to crushed tomatoes but without the seeds. Honestly – crushed tomatoes would be perfect!
Kendall
October 6, 2014 at 5:24 pmWhen do you boil the zucchini and for how long?
Jacqui
October 9, 2014 at 5:54 pmHi Dani,
I look forward to your emails every time and have passed many of your recipes along to friends and family. I have made the Zucchini Boats twice now. Didn’t have ground turkey so I used ground beef and just drained off the grease. The second time I made them I didn’t pull up your recipe. It is such an easy recipe I was so proud of myself for remembering how to do it. Something was lacking the second time though….what could it be?? I pulled up the recipe and realized I forgot the garlic!!! :/ How on earth did I forget that!? (Like you, I don’t think there is any dish I have ever made without fresh garlic.) So I gave them a good douse of garlic powder. It helped a lot but not quite the same. I won’t forget the garlic next time. Also, I like the idea of substituting the lentils or beans for meat (my boss is vegan) I’m so glad I found you!
Beth
November 4, 2014 at 10:03 pmThanks for this recipe! All my family loved this yummy boats!
Kristen
December 15, 2014 at 7:42 pmThank you, Thank you, Thank you for this recipe. We talked about this recipe for 3 days after we made it, it was so flavorful and delicious. I can’t wait to make this again.
Sherry
February 17, 2015 at 11:17 amThanks dani..
Came out gr8…
🙂
Dani
February 19, 2015 at 10:31 amGlad to hear it, Sherry!
joe
May 28, 2015 at 7:10 pmWhy not use a blueberry pancake and deep fry it you vegan retards – I feel bad for Dani to have to see everyone’s “what ifs” and “what about my sensitive gastrointestinal issues?”
Judi
June 26, 2015 at 4:51 pmMade these for lunch today. They were awesome very flavorful. Will be making them again for sure. Great addition to my recipe book.
Dani
June 29, 2015 at 11:36 amSo glad you liked them Judi!!
Penny
July 13, 2015 at 10:55 amMade the zucchini boats last night and they were very well received and filling die my family. Delicious!! Love your site! Thank you.
Dani
July 20, 2015 at 11:27 amThanks Penny! I love those zucchini boats too:)
Jess
November 7, 2015 at 7:28 pmJust made these tonight! They were so delicious. Would highly recommend. Served with brown rice and the meal was great. Even my 1.5 yr old devoured! Thanks for the recipe. We didn’t have the green peppers and it didn’t seem to make a difference. Also used a bit of garlic powder in the meat mixture. Yum!
Dani
November 8, 2015 at 11:12 amSo glad you all enjoyed them! They are a favorite in my house as well!
Kai
March 1, 2016 at 9:49 amI was wondering if anyone has frozen these and, if so, how they proceeded and what the results were? 🙂
Cindy giron
March 24, 2016 at 6:01 pmCan I use Marinara sauce instead of tomatoes?
What tomatoe sauce do you recommend?
Thank you
Dani
March 25, 2016 at 7:31 amHi Cindy – that would definitely work. But you will have a saucy end result:) As for sauce I usually try to find brands that have under 6 grams of sugar per serving. Hope that helps!
Natalie E Kittrell
May 9, 2016 at 4:52 pmI’ve just finished my first week of CLEAN Eating… and THIS recipe has been an eye opener on how delicious and fun that simple, clean, whole foods can be. I’ve fixed this twice in this past week and I love it! Thank you for all the work you put into your videos…. PS – I love the Bloopers you add at the end… they make me laugh and realize you’re really just a normal, everyday woman like the rest of us, and not some perfect-Martha-Stewart-wanta-be. (lol) You’re just the best!!
Dani
May 9, 2016 at 8:54 pmAwe! Thanks so much Natalie – I’m so glad you are enjoying the recipes!!
Shelly
November 3, 2016 at 7:24 pmAny chance you can add the part about putting the zucchini shells in the boiling water and for how long? I follow recipes to the “t” and this step is missing. Thank you. I found out what you were supposed to do with them in the comments but it didn’t say how long.
Can’t wait to try them tonight.
hannah
February 12, 2017 at 4:57 pmMine cane out very watery. I used Italian sausage instead could that be why? I also skipped the tomato part cause I forgot to buy it but it still turned out good I just had to take the extra water out of my boats
Dani
February 16, 2017 at 9:25 amHmmm, I’m not sure why that would be. Ground turkey is pretty lean so maybe it was the sausage.
Jessie V
May 16, 2017 at 12:20 pmThe extra water comes from the vegetables (mostly the zucchini). You can drain the excess after cooking and before stuffing the boats. When you bake them the boats will release more water. Carefully tip each boat to the side and drain each one.
Marwa
April 18, 2017 at 5:16 pmcan we freeze zucchini boats?
Dani
April 24, 2017 at 7:20 amI haven’t tried it yet, but my guess is that you can!
Randi NW
April 30, 2017 at 12:35 pmWhat can you serve as sides with these?
Dani
May 1, 2017 at 12:54 pmI love a simple green salad with lots of crunchy veggies!
debbie Fremming
June 23, 2017 at 10:11 pmThanks for the great ideas. My zucchini plant got alway from me while I was out of town so now I’m looking for a good option to use up a couple of them. I also have tomatoes and bell peppers in my garden but will probably use a canned tomato product for less watery consistancy. Spaghetti sauce over the top and a different cheese would work also. I want the zucchini al dente but don’t want the extra water so will probably par boil as suggested.
Dani
June 28, 2017 at 10:07 amSounds good!! Enjoy them:)
Layla
August 4, 2017 at 2:55 amHow long do these keep in the fridge for (cooked)?
P.S
All the recipes I’ve tried are amazing !!! 🙂
Jill
August 4, 2017 at 9:28 pmLoved this recipe! I have made it twice and everyone loved it including my husband who doesn’t normally enjoy many veggies. Thank you so much for this recipe! It’s perfect for my low carb way of life! I also love watching your videos!
Dani
August 10, 2017 at 7:54 amAwesome!! So glad to hear how much you loved this recipe. This is a staple in our house, especially when zucchini is in season!!
DLo
August 10, 2017 at 11:49 amVery good. My partner loved this. Even hustled all of our leftovers for his lunch at work.
Dani
August 10, 2017 at 1:47 pmLOL! Love that you all enjoyed it so much. Thanks for taking the time to let me know:)
Linda
August 21, 2017 at 8:17 pmAt what oven temp. ?
Dani
September 7, 2017 at 9:20 am350 degrees Farhenheit
Robin
September 16, 2018 at 5:55 pmSuper yummy!!!!!