Easy Ground Beef Zucchini Boats
Need a recipe to use up all the zucchini from your garden? Try these easy zucchini boats! They are stuffed with a delicious ground beef filling and baked to cheesy perfection.
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 289kcal
Ingredients
- 6 small-medium zucchini
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion finely diced
- 1 pound ground beef OR ground beef and pork
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil optional
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs OR dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder OR 2 cloves freshly minced
- ½ teaspoon salt or more to taste
- pepper to taste
- 1 (15oz) can tomato sauce
- 1.5 cups shredded cheese I used mozzarella; cheddar or Gouda work, too
Instructions
- Prep zucchini: Wash 6 small-medium zucchini well, then slice in half lengthwise. Scoop out flesh with a small spoon and set aside. Place zucchini halves on baking sheet.
- Brown beef and season: Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 onion and cook until softened, then add 1 pound ground beef and cook until well browned. Stir in 2 tablespoons tomato paste, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, 1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon salt and pepper.
- Finish filling: Stir in 1 (15oz) can tomato sauce and scooped out zucchini flesh (chop if desired for more even filling), then simmer, covered, on low heat for 10 minutes. Remove the lid, stir well and simmer for another 5 minutes.
- Fill and bake: Heat oven to 360°F. Spoon filling in prepared zucchini halves. Sprinkle with 1.5 cups shredded cheese and bake 20-25 minutes until bubbly.
Notes
Cooking tips
- make sure to brown the beef well; more color = more flavor! No need to drain if using lean ground beef, but feel free to drain if using a fattier meat.
- if filling seems dry, stir in a few tablespoons of wate or beef broth. But careful - it needs to be quite thick for filling the zucchini, so don't add too much liquid.
- if filling seems too watery, simmer for longer without a lid on (depends a lot on thickness of tomato sauce used)
Ingredient notes
- ground meat: can use any ground meat in place of the beef - pork, a mix of beef and pork or ground turkey
- zucchini: if you have a giant zucchini from the garden vs smaller ones, slice into thick rounds, scoop out (make sure to leave a substantial bottom!) and fill that way.
- seasoning: feel free to switch up the seasoning to taste - Italian seasoning, ground paprika, taco seasoning... All wonderful!
- cheese: for a lighter version, skip the cheese and only sprinkle lightly with grated parmesan.
Storage
Store leftovers in the fridge, well covered, for up to 3 days. Reheat in the oven at 360°F until piping hot all the way through. Or freeze for up to 3 months. Flash-freeze zucchini boats in a single layer on a lined baking sheet, for about 2 hours or until solid. Transfer to a freezer bag or container, label with the name and use-by date and freeze. To reheat, thaw zucchini in fridge overnight, then bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes at 360°F. Or reheat from frozen, covered, at 360°F for around 1 hour.Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 289kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 82mg | Sodium: 865mg | Potassium: 610mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 722IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 268mg | Iron: 3mg