Easy, healthy stuffed zucchini boats are the best!
If you’ve been following my blog for a while now, you know how much I LOVE zucchini. Whether tossed in this healthy and delicious lemony marinated zucchini salad, baked in zucchini lasagna, or spiralized, I haven’t run out of ways to enjoy zucchini.
Today’s recipe features beautiful green sticks of zucchini hollowed into cute, little boats and filled with sausage and Gruyere cheese. So incredibly tasty and so fun to eat too!
But before I get to the delicious recipe, I have several exciting announcements to share with you! 🙂
What’s New
First, Nicole has been updating our site design with the Foodie Pro theme from StudioPress. Our recipe index has been revamped with pictures and organized into categories so you can easily search for our recipes by ingredient or diet (vegetarian, paleo, and more!).
We also have a new page all about Celiac Disease, and we’re working to add more resources like this.
Second, I want to say a big hello to anyone who has found us through Yummly! Yummly is a similar website to Pinterest but it’s dedicated exclusively to food. It recommends recipes to you based on your taste and diet preferences.
You can also search for recipes in its database or create your own recipe box by “yumming” recipes from your favorite food blogs. We’ve added a Yum button to our posts to make it easy for you to add our recipes to your recipe box. Check out our recipe page here.
Thank you so much, friends, for reading through all of our news! Now on to the zucchini boats!
One of my kids described this recipe as pizza on zucchini, and then proceeded to ask for more. Hey, we know kids have pretty high standards when it comes to vegetables, so if they’re crazy about a vegetable recipe, it’s got to be good, right? 😉
How to make stuffed zucchini boats
*Free printable recipe card is available at the end of the post.
To make these zucchini boats, you’ll need to trim the ends from the zucchini and cut them in half lengthwise. Scoop out the inside of each zucchini half with a small spoon leaving a little less than a quarter of an inch on the sides.
Keep the zucchini pulp as you’ll be using it for the stuffing! Sprinkle the zucchini halves with salt and pepper, transfer to a baking sheet, and bake in the oven for about six minutes.
For the stuffing, heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Then add garlic and chopped zucchini pulp and continue cooking for 3 more minutes.
Slip each sausage out of its casing and add to skillet. Crumble up the sausage with a spatula, combining with the vegetables while sautéing. Cook for 15 more minutes.
Remove from the heat and mix in eggs. Spoon the mixture into each zucchini boat, top with Gruyere cheese, and bake for 25 minutes. So easy to prepare and such a delicious and healthy treat!
Baked zucchini, melted Gruyere cheese, Italian sweet sausage. What’s not to love? I served these with my homemade Marinara sauce. You can pour the Marinara sauce over each one or serve as a dipping sauce.
Pro Tips And Recipe Notes
- I use Premio Italian sweet sausage in this recipe. Feel free to substitute any sausage you prefer: hot or mild, turkey sausage, or even ground beef. It’s up to you.
- I top my zucchini boats with Gruyere cheese. They would also be great topped with mozzarella cheese, Parmesan, or provolone.
I’ve been coming up with so many zucchini recipes this past winter and now this spring that I really can hardly wait until my vegetable garden is ready for planting.
I’m hoping this summer we’ll have a bumper crop so I’ll have an excuse to make zucchini every day week. 😉
Enjoy, friends! Have a happy and healthy week!
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Watch How To Make It
Stuffed Zucchini Boats
Ingredients
- extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 medium zucchini
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 onion minced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 pound Premio Italian sweet sausage
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 cup Gruyere cheese grated
- Marinara sauce for dipping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper and brush with olive oil.
- Wash zucchini and trim the ends from the zucchini and cut them in half lengthwise. Scoop out the inside of each zucchini half with a small spoon leaving a little less than 1/4 inch on the sides. Chop the pulp and set aside.
- Sprinkle the zucchini halves with salt and pepper, transfer to the prepared baking sheet and bake for 6 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and chopped zucchini pulp and continue cooking for 3 more minutes. Slip each sausage out of its casing and add to skillet. Crumble up the sausage with a spatula, combining with the vegetables while sautéing. Cook for 15 more minutes. Remove from the heat and mix in the eggs.
- Spoon mixture into each zucchini boat, top with cheese and bake for 25 minutes. Serve with marinara sauce.
Notes
- I use Premio Italian sweet sausage in this recipe. Feel free to substitute any sausage you prefer: hot or mild, turkey sausage, or even ground beef. It's up to you.
- I top my zucchini boats with Gruyere cheese. They would also be great topped with mozzarella cheese, Parmesan, or provolone.
Nutrition
- Spicy Salmon Bake Cups (Gluten Free And Low Carb) - December 16, 2022
- Gluten Free Baked Ziti Recipe - November 17, 2022
- Dr. Ted Naiman’s P:E Potatoes Au Gratin - August 5, 2022
- Frozen Strawberry Protein Pops - July 28, 2022
- High-Protein Smoothie With Strawberries - July 15, 2022
Carol Cassara says
These look as yummy as they are healthy. I’ll try soon!
Barbara says
Yes, Carol! Guilt-free yummy.
K. Lee Banks says
Oh my, these look WONDERFULLY YUMMY!! I also love zucchini, and this recipe sounds like a winning combination of palate-pleasing flavors! Thanks for sharing.
Barbara says
Palate-pleasing flavors! I love that. Thank you! 🙂
Barbara says
Love the recipe. Your photos are gorgeous. So glad I discovered your blog!
Barbara says
Welcome, Barbara. Thank you for your sweet comment.
GiGi Eats says
I want to stuff myself with these STUFFERS! 😉
Barbara says
Ha ha 😀 That is exactly what I did; one is not enough! Thanks for commenting, GiGi.
Linda says
I love zucchini! I would have to modify this to be dairy free, but I like the idea. I’m sharing it as one of my picks from last week’s Gluten-Free Wednesdays.
Dwana says
I see the directions say to remove the mixture from heat before stirring in the egg. How long should it be left to cool before doing so the eggs don’t scramble? These sound delicious! Thank you!
Barbara says
Welcome Dwana, Yes you will want the sausage mixture to cool a bit, only about 3-5 minutes, so that the eggs mix in without stiffening. I hope you enjoy these as much as we do!
Azalea says
These are so delicious! I made them with regular italian sausage (no added sugar) and they were still sweet. Love it!
Barbara says
I love hearing that. Thank you! I’m so glad that you loved them.
Raia says
Pizza on zucchini? Yes, please. 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing this at Savoring Saturdays! I’m going to feature it at this weekend’s party. 🙂
Michelle | A Dish of Daily Life says
I love this recipe! It’s definitely something my family would like and I love how simple it is! This is getting added to the menu plan.
Celeste Gober says
Corn syrup, dextrose and potassium chloride, even in small amounts, is not something I want in my sausage. There are alternatives, mostly online, like US Wellness Meats, Aldersprings Ranch, Tendergrass Farms and others that sell sausage without these unnecessary additives. Aside from that aspect it sounds like a nice recipe.
Kylie Kreischer says
These look incredible! Cannot wait to try! YUM! 🙂
Robyn Proctor says
This looks great! I’ll have to try this, I’m always looking for something different for dinner.
Anne Buggy says
Hi- I was looking for a different twist on stuffing zucchini halves, having used ground beef, bison, veal, turkey and lamb on various occasions with delicious results. This was my first try with sausage meat ( I had a pkg of the loose ground sausage meat to use. I varied slightly from the stated recipe: I added dried oregano, salt and pepper, red pepper flakes and about 1/2 tsp fennel seeds to the mixture. Since there re no breadcrumbs, I found that 2 eggs were way too much and the meat mixture was swimming in liquid egg so much of it stayed in the bowl. Next time I would use only 1 egg. The finished dish was delicious! Eating the leftovers as I type. Thanks for the recipe.
Barbara says
Excellent, Anne. I’m so glad that you liked them. Thanks so much for coming back and telling me. I love your spice mixture. Yum. And thanks for the stars. 💕