Hearty, wholesome, and absolutely delicious, these zucchini boats with ground beef will become your family’s next favorite weeknight dinner. The dish is tangy and meaty and hits all the right spots. Best of all, it comes together in under 30 minutes from start to finish.
I love using zucchini in my kitchen. It’s such a versatile and adaptable ingredient, and I’ve used it to whip up quite a few delicious recipes including my cheesy zucchini fritters and my pumpkin zucchini muffins.
I also recently tried making some buffalo chicken zucchini boats and they turned out to be a hit in my household, and that kind of inspired me to try another version of the recipe, with different flavors and maybe a different kind of meat.
And that’s when I thought of this stuffed zucchini recipe!
Why You’ll Love This Ground Beef Zucchini Boat Recipe
- Nutrient-rich: Ground beef, tomatoes, and zucchini come together to make a fantastic and hearty protein-packed meal that you’re going to love.
- Versatile: These stuffed zucchini boats are super versatile. They can be made and served for lunch or dinner and enjoyed with almost any kind of side.
- Easy to prep: It’s an easy, low-effort meal that you can actually meal prep in advance too.
- Family-friendly: This recipe is essentially a veggie boat stuffed full of spaghetti sauce and cheese, and is a great crowd-pleaser, satisfying even the pickiest of eaters.
Ingredients
Here's a look at the simple ingredients you need to make these delicious zucchini boats.
- Ground beef: I would recommend using lean ground beef for best results. If you’re using 80/20, just make sure you drain the beef well after browning it.
- Fresh Zucchini: Pick fresh, firm zucchini for this recipe. It makes all the difference in how those baked zucchini boats hold up.
- Pasta sauce: Stick to a simple tomato-based sauce. The tanginess and flavor it lends complement the other ingredients beautifully.
- Cheese: And of course, some cheese to top it all off! I used Mozzarella and Parmesan here.
- Aromatics: You’ll also need some chopped garlic and onion. Both these lend the stuffing an incredible amount of flavor.
- Seasonings: To season, I just used some salt and pepper, and a dash of Italian seasoning for some extra flavor.
- Olive oil: Just a bit for cooking the veggies and beef. You can use another neutral-flavored vegetable oil if you prefer.
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions to make this zucchini boats recipe.
Variations
- Meat swap: Try using different kinds of ground meat for the filling of zucchini boats. I love using ground chicken and ground turkey since they’re much leaner meats. You can also make zucchini boats with Italian sausage as well.
- Sauce swap: Use almost any kind of tomato-based sauce of your choice. Marinara sauce and tomato spaghetti sauce are classics you just can’t go wrong with. You can also use a roasted pepper sauce if you want to.
- Cheese swap: You can also experiment and use different kinds of cheese to top off these keto zucchini boats. I love using Mozzarella for its melty deliciousness, but you can also choose to use Mexican blend or shredded cheddar cheese.
- Veggie packed: To make the stuffed zucchini boats healthier, you can also add chopped veggies like carrots, bell peppers, and mushrooms.
- Add a Spicy Kick: Add a bit of chili pepper flakes, this jalapeno powder, or our smoked jalapeno powder to the filling mixture for a bit of heat.
How to Make Stuffed Zucchini Boats with Ground Beef
Once you have everything ready, you’ll need just about 12 minutes of hands-on kitchen time to prepare the stuffed zucchini boats and pop them in the oven.
Before starting the prep, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13x9-inch baking pan.
Step 1: Brown the meat. Cook the ground beef with onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil in a skillet. Use a wooden spoon to break it up as it cooks.
Step 2: Prepare meat mixture. Once cooked combine it with the sauce, seasonings, and half of the cheese.
Step 3: Make zucchini boats. Slice the zucchini lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and zucchini flesh. Pat dry and brush with olive oil.
Step 4: Assemble. Spoon filling into each zucchini ‘boat’, top with shredded cheese, and transfer to the baking tray.
Step 5: Bake and serve. Bake the stuffed zucchini halves for 20-30 minutes or until the zucchini is baked through and the cheese melts. Serve hot.
⭐️ Hint: Reserve the leftover zucchini pulp and seeds, blend them, and use them to make zucchini chocolate chip muffins!
Storage Directions
- Refrigeration: Your leftover ground beef stuffed zucchini will keep well in the refrigerator for about 4 days. Just make sure you use a clean airtight container to store it.
- Reheating: They're easy to reheat, as well. Just pop them in the microwave.
- Freezing: If you want to store this for longer, you can freeze these zucchini boats in an airtight, freezer-safe container or in heavy-duty freezer bags though it does change the texture of the zucchini a bit. Allow the leftovers to cool completely and then place them in your container or freezer bags.
- Make Ahead: You can prep the ground beef mixture up to 2 days in advance and refrigerate it until you’re ready to stuff it into the zucchini boats.
Serving Suggestions
These delicious stuffed zucchini boats with ground beef are hearty and filling and can be served on their own.
If you want to go the extra mile, you can pair them with a simple side salad like my hot girl summer salad or my all-time favorite mixed green salad.
It also goes great with a starch side dish like this creamy boursin pasta or risotto pasta.
Recipe Tips
- Keep the peel on: You might be tempted to peel the zucchini, but for this recipe, it’s best to keep it on. Baking will make the skin nice and tender, and without the skin, the entire thing would just fall apart.
- Cook right: Avoid overcooking the meat mixture. Take it off heat once the onions and garlic are soft, and the meat is fully cooked.
- Core wisely: Zucchinis are soft, and it's very easy to scoop out too much if you aren't careful. Make sure you only remove the seeds with a spoon or melon baller.
- Add more flavor: To add a bit of extra flavor and deliciousness, you can add a splash of balsamic vinegar or some powdered stock cube into the ground beef mixture.
Recipe FAQs
It takes anywhere between 20-30 minutes for the zucchini to be cooked to perfection. This usually depends on the size of the zucchini boats. Check the boats at the 20-minute mark and cook them for a few more minutes if needed.
Yes! Zucchini stuffed with ground beef can be enjoyed as a nice keto-friendly meal.
Enjoyed making this zucchini stuffed with ground beef? You can also stuff the same mixture into different colored bell peppers. Stuffed summer squash is a great variation you could try too!
More Delicious Dishes with Ground Beef
Ready to get cooking? Remember that you can print this recipe if you want.
Stuffed Zucchini Boats with Ground Beef
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchini ends trimmed, then cut in half lengthwise, 8 inch
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ cup onion finely chopped
- 4 tblsp garlic minced
- ½ pound ground beef ground chicken, ground turkey, ground pork, or ground sausage
- ⅓ cup parmesan cheese grated
- ⅓ cup cheese shredded
- ⅓ cup tomato based pasta sauce
- 2 tablespoons dried Italian seasoning
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13x9-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
- Get out and measure all of your ingredients.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and ground meat. Cook together 4 to 6 minutes, stirring often, until the onions are softened and the meat is cooked through.
- In a small bowl, mix the cheeses together. Remove four heaping tablespoons of the cheese and set aside. Add the rest of the cheese to the meat mixture, along with the marinara sauce and Italian seasoning. Add salt and pepper, as desired. Mix well.
- Use a small spoon to scrape out the insides of each zucchini half - the seeds and pulp. Make a valley to hold the stuffing! Pat inside of the zucchini with paper towel.
- Brush lightly with olive oil. Divide the meat mixture between the zucchinis. Filling each one.
- Put the stuffed zucchinis onto the prepared pan and sprinkle the reserved cheese on top. Bake 30 minutes. Or until baked through and tender.
- Enjoy every bite.
Notes
- Keep the peel on: You might be tempted to peel the zucchini, but for this recipe, it’s best to keep it on. Baking will make the skin nice and tender, and without the skin, the entire thing would just fall apart.
- Cook right: Avoid overcooking the meat mixture. Take it off heat once the onions and garlic are soft, and the meat is fully cooked.
- Core wisely: Zucchinis are soft, and it's very easy to scoop out too much if you aren't careful. Make sure you only remove the seeds.
- Add more flavor: To add a bit of extra flavor and deliciousness, you can add a splash of balsamic vinegar or some powdered stock cube into the ground beef mixture.
Nutrition
This post was originally posted in November 2015. It has been updated with new images and content.
Bonnie Dietrich says
Can you use any kind of cheese and can I use the cheese in the jar?
Karin and Ken says
I believe it would work blended with the meat mixture but I’m not sure how it would work on top of each boat. I would only use it blended with meat and use less than half of what the recipe calls for. About 1/4 cup. You don’t want the meat mixture too wet. I’m excited to hear how this works and what you do. If you try this recipe please let me know. All the best. Karin
Dena Neill says
Delicious!! I think next time I’ll bake about 40 minutes so the zucchini is more tender…although the crunch is ok, too!!
Karin and Ken says
So happy to hear you enjoyed this zucchini recipe. It’s a personal favorite. You made my day. Hopefully you find some other recipes on this site that you enjoy just as much. All the best. Karin