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Published August 25, 2015 | Last Updated December 17, 2022 By Barbara Bianchi 24 Comments

Grilled Zucchini Roll Ups (Gluten-Free, Paleo, And Low-Carb)

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Rolling up grilled zucchini with bolognese sauce and fresh parmesan really takes grilled zucchini to the next level. Wow! These little grilled zucchini roll ups make an amazing appetizer.

gluten free, grilled, zucchini, bolognese sauce

Nicole took me on a field trip last week. I say that because when my kids were small, I planned many of the field trips for our homeschool group.

Now the kids are all grown up, and Nicole planned a trip into Manhattan with Michael and Peter to visit the Neue Galerie in New York City. She asked me if I would like to join them. Of course, I did.

The museum is currently running an exhibit called “Gustav Klimt and Adele Bloch-Bauer: The Woman in Gold” which coincides with the recent movie, Woman In Gold.

The movie is about the return of five Klimt paintings that had been seized by the Nazis during World War II. It’s a remarkable story, and The Woman in Gold oil painting created with actual gold and silver is quite beautiful to behold.

Simple Appetizer

And what does this have to do with grilled zucchini roll ups? Well, when you’ve traveled into the city and walked around a museum and then walked and walked all around Central Park, you work up quite an appetite. I did a little quick thinking on the way home.

What could I put together for an appetizer until dinner would be ready? I knew that I had bolognese sauce in the refrigerator and lots of zucchini. Voilà! Quick and easy grilled zucchini roll ups were born.

gluten free, grilled, zucchini, bolognese sauce

Our zucchini crop is winding down, and so is the summer. We’re trying to enjoy the warm weather as long as it lasts. 

Of course, grilling outside rather than cooking in the hot kitchen is the way to go. That includes grilling vegetables.

I wish I had come up with this recipe at the beginning of the summer. Rolling up the grilled zucchini with bolognese sauce and fresh parmesan really takes it to the next level.

Wow! These little grilled zucchini roll ups make an amazing appetizer.

Let me show you how easy they are to make.

Instructions

*Free printable recipe card is available at the end of the post.

We’re going to make my same quick bolognese sauce that I made for my zoodles with bolognese sauce and stuff each roll up with the delicious saucy meat. Here we go.

Sauté onion, garlic, carrot and celery in oil in a large skillet. Next, we add the beef to the sautéed vegetables, season with salt, and cook stirring frequently, until the meat has browned. Then, we add tomato puree, tomato paste, a bay leaf, salt, and oregano to taste.

Cover the skillet and let it simmer over low heat until the sauce thickens.

Meanwhile, using a sharp knife cut the zucchini lengthwise into thin 1/4 inch strips. You should be able to get about 4-5 slices from each zucchini discarding the outermost slices of zucchini. Then brush both sides of each slice with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Grill for about 2-3 minutes on each side. Set them aside to cool a bit before handling.

sliced zucchini

Now for the fun part. You’ll stuff each zucchini strip with a tablespoon of the saucy beef and store the remainder of the sauce in the fridge. Spread about a tablespoon of meat along half of each grilled strip.

Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese, roll up and place seam side down on a platter.

gluten free, grilled, zucchini, bolognese sauce

Repeat with the rest of the zucchini slices. Sure go ahead and lick the spoon. Mmmm. And that’s it.

gluten free, grilled, zucchini, bolognese sauce

Pro tips and recipe notes

  • You can use this mandoline slicer to cut your zucchini. I love this simple tool for cutting up thin strips.  The food holder protects your hand from the blade while you slice.
  • If you don’t have an outdoor grill, you can grill your zucchini inside. Preheat a grill pan like this one on your stove until it’s hot. You’ll know when it’s hot when you drop a few drops of water on the pan and it sizzles. Carefully add your oiled zucchini slices. You can use any skillet, but a griddle will give you the iconic grill lines. You could also broil them.
  • Can you use store bought Bolognese sauce or your favorite meat sauce? Yes. It would save on clean up and time. 
  • For a dairy-free option, just eliminate the parmesan from the recipe. 😊

Gluten free, paleo friendly, low-carb, and just plain fun. Enjoy, friends!

P.S. If you make this recipe, share your snap on Instagram and tag #glutenfreehomestead. I always love seeing your photos.

More recipes you’ll love

Spicy Salmon Bake Cups These are a tasty, easy, and quick to make appetizer.

Creamy Cauliflower Mash You can make cauliflower mash taste just like mashed potatoes. Promise.

Stuffed Zucchini Boats 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!

Eggplant Rollatini Bolognese You’re going to love this healthful low-carb eggplant rollatini bolognese . Serve it as an appetizer or as the main course. Buon appetito!

Cheese Lover’s Zucchini Casserole This delicious side dish tastes like pizza!

Mozzarella Wrapped In Prosciutto With Basil Sauce Baked sweet ground sausage and creamy mozzarella wrapped in delicate slices of prosciutto makes an amazing quick appetizer.

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Watch how to make it

 
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5 from 3 votes

Grilled zucchini roll ups

Rolling up grilled zucchini with bolognese sauce and fresh parmesan really takes grilled zucchini to the next level. Wow! These little grilled zucchini roll ups make an amazing appetizer.
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Keyword grilled zucchini, simple appetizer, zucchini appetizer, zucchini rollups
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 6
Calories 259kcal
Author Barbara Bianchi

Ingredients

For Bolognese sauce:

  • 1 pound ground beef
  • ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 small onion finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove finely chopped
  • 1 stalk celery finely chopped
  • 1 carrot finely chopped
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 28-ounce can tomato puree (Muir Glen is organic and gluten free)
  • 1 6- ounce tomato paste (Muir Glen is organic and gluten free)
  • 1 dried bay leaf
  • oregano

To assemble roll-ups:

  • 2 large zucchini
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • salt
  • pepper
  • parmesan cheese grated *see note for dairy-free option

Instructions

  • For Bolognese sauce:
    In a large skillet, heat the oil over a medium-low flame. Add onion, garlic, carrot and celery and saute on low, about 5 minutes.
    Add meat, season with salt and cook stirring frequently, until meat has browned, about 10 minutes. Add tomato puree, tomato paste, bay leaf, salt, oregano to taste.
    Simmer covered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about ½ hour. Remove and discard the bay leaf.
  • For zucchini:
    Preheat grill.
  • Cut zucchini lengthwise into thin 1/4 inch strips. Brush each zucchini slice lightly with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and grill 2-3 minutes per side. Let cool slightly.
  • Assemble roll-ups: Spread about a tablespoon of meat along half of each grilled strip. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese, roll up and place seam-side down on a platter. Repeat with each grilled zucchini slice.

Notes

  • You can use this mandoline slicer to cut your zucchini. I love this simple tool for cutting up thin strips.  The food holder protects your hand from the blade while you slice.
  • If you don’t have an outdoor grill, you can grill your zucchini inside.
    Preheat a grill pan like this one on your stove until it’s hot. You’ll know when it’s hot when you drop a few drops of water on the pan and it sizzles. Carefully add your oiled zucchini slices.
    You can use any skillet, but a griddle will give you the iconic grill lines.
    Alternatively, You could broil them.
  • Can you use store bought Bolognese sauce or your favorite meat sauce? Yes. It would save on clean up and time. 
 
  • For a dairy-free option, just eliminate the parmesan from the recipe. 😊

Nutrition

Calories: 259kcal | Carbohydrates: 5.8g
did you make this recipe? We want to see! Take a pic, and tag @glutenfreehomestead on Instagram.

Nutrition-Label-zucchini roll-ups

  • About the Author
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About Barbara Bianchi

Barbara loves to bring fun into the kitchen and healthy food to the table. She also enjoys drinking coffee, eating a little chocolate, reading a good novel, going for walks and spending time with her family and friends.
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  • 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
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Filed Under: Appetizers & Side Dishes, Egg free, LOW CARB, Nut free, Paleo, Recipes with dairy-free option, Vegetables & Salads

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jason (from Dealspotr) says

    August 25, 2015 at 11:09 am

    This looks amazing and pretty simple to do. I’m definitely going to try it!

    Reply
    • Barbara says

      August 27, 2015 at 11:19 pm

      Yay! Hope you enjoy, Jason.

      Reply
  2. Susan Friesen says

    August 25, 2015 at 11:28 am

    Wow, what a great recipe! I’ll definitely have to give this a try, thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Barbara says

      August 27, 2015 at 11:21 pm

      This is a must try! Thanks, Susan.

      Reply
  3. Bethany says

    August 27, 2015 at 9:56 pm

    These look really interesting!

    Reply
    • Barbara says

      August 27, 2015 at 11:25 pm

      Yes, indeed. Do you have any zucchini left over from your sister’s garden? Go ahead and give these a go. 🙂

      Reply
  4. GiGi Eats says

    September 1, 2015 at 1:57 pm

    5 stars
    THIS LOOKS SO FRIGGIN’ GOOD – holy moly YUM!!! I need this in my life, ASAP!

    Reply
    • Barbara says

      September 2, 2015 at 1:17 pm

      ROTFL You certainly do, GiGi. Thank you!

      Reply
  5. Felicia Petrone says

    September 1, 2015 at 4:46 pm

    5 stars
    I made this for dinner tonight. It was sooooooooo good 😉

    Reply
    • Barbara says

      September 2, 2015 at 1:12 pm

      Thank you! Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. And thanks for taking so much of your time to come back and tell me.

      Reply
  6. Creatively Homespun says

    September 8, 2015 at 4:29 pm

    YUUM!! Thank you for linking up at the Creative K Kids’ Tasty Tuesdays! It’s great to party with you! I have pinned your post to our Tasty Tuesdays Pinterest Board! I hope to see you again next week! xo

    Reply
    • Barbara says

      September 11, 2015 at 10:55 pm

      Thank you! See you next week.

      Reply
  7. Skye says

    March 20, 2017 at 10:29 pm

    5 stars
    Have made this before and it is DELICIOUS!! Turn it into dinner and add a little depth to the flavour by popping a little fetta in the middle of your roll, then smother in passata, sprinkle with fresh parmesan and bake in a hot oven for 15 mins.

    Reply

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