These Italian Style Stuffed Zucchini Boats are filled with lean ground turkey and veggies, flavored with Italian spices and marinara sauce then topped with cheese and toasted breadcrumbs… you will definitely have seconds without the guilt.
I know zucchini boat recipes have been around for a while, but this recipe is so great for a low carb meal during the week when you’re rushed to get dinner on the table. I am also making these at the request of my mom’s best friend, Kris. It’s peak season for zucchini and she gave me fresh zucchini from her garden so there is no better time to make these delicious, fun boats!
I call Kris “T” which derived from her last name, but I am not sure when or why I gave her that nickname, but for whatever reason it stuck and she has forever been T to me. T has been like an Aunt since I was a little girl. Now as a woman, she is my mentor and I am so grateful for the friend she is to my mom.
How To Prepare Zucchini Boats:
Trim ends from zucchini and slice in half, lengthwise. Use a knife to cut an outline of the area you want to scoop out being very careful not to cut through then use the tip of a spoon to scrape the flesh out and on to a cutting board. Pour small amount of marinara sauce just to coat bottom of 13″ x 9″ baking dish. Place the scooped out zucchini boats into baking dish skin side down. Drizzle with olive oil and set aside.
For this recipe I used my Le Creuset Heritage Stoneware Rectangular Baking Dish from William Sonoma. The Caribbean color is my favorite, I’m actually obsessed with this color but even more I am obsessed with this baking dish. I promise once you start cooking with this Le Creuset Stoneware you will never want to cook with anything else.
How to Prepare Turkey and Veggie Filling:
Meanwhile, add olive oil to skillet and place over medium heat, add onion, bell pepper, and garlic to the skillet and season with Italian seasoning and cook until softened. In a separate skillet add ground turkey and cook, stirring to break up the ground turkey as it cooks. Season with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes and continue to cook until turkey is cooked through, no longer pink. Combine cooked vegetables mixture with cooked ground turkey, stir to combine then add roughly 1 cup of marinara, stir well to combine. Divide the filling between the zucchini boats.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 25 minutes:
Cover the dish with foil, and bake for 25 minutes, or until zucchini is tender to poke with fork. Remove dish from oven and set oven to broil. Sprinkle zucchini boats with mozzarella, bread crumbs, and Parmesan. Place back in oven and cook for only a couple of minutes until cheese has melted and bread crumbs are golden brown. *NOTE* Keep a close eye on boats to not burn top, it only requires a few minutes on broil.
If you have extra filling, store in air-tight container in your refrigerator for a healthy lunch.
- 4 medium, uniformly-sized zucchini
- 1 jar tomato basil sauce
- 2 T. olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground turkey or ground chicken
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ⅓ cup red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp. salt
- Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
- ¼ tsp. crushed red pepper, or to taste
- 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup shaved or shredded Parmesan
- 2 T. Italian style bread crumbs
- ¼ cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped for garnish (optional)
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Trim ends from zucchini and slice in half, lengthwise. Use a knife to cut an outline of the area you want to scoop out being very careful not to cut through then use the tip of a spoon to scrape the flesh out and on to a cutting board. Pour marinara sauce to coat bottom of 9" x 13" baking dish. Place the scooped out zucchini boats into baking dish.
- Meanwhile, add olive oil to skillet and place over medium heat, add onion, bell pepper, and garlic to the skillet and season with Italian seasoning, cook until softened. In a separate skillet add ground turkey and cook, stirring to break up the ground meat as it cooks. Season meat with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes and continue to cook until meat is cooked through, no longer pink. Combine cooked vegetable mixture with cooked ground turkey, stir to combine then add roughly 1 cup of marinara, stir well to combine.
- Divide the filling between the zucchini boats.
- Cover the dish with foil, and bake for 25 minutes, or until zucchini is tender to poke with fork. Remove dish from oven and set oven to broil. Sprinkle zucchini boats with mozzarella, bread crumbs, and Parmesan. Place back in oven and cook for only a couple of minutes until cheese has melted and bread crumbs are golden brown. *NOTE* Keep a close eye on boats to not burn top, it only requires a few minutes on broil.
- If you have extra filling, store in air-tight container in your refrigerator for a healthy lunch.
Looking for other ways to eat Zucchini, try my Turkey Bolognese Zoodles recipe.
