Zucchini Boats

4.91 from 22 votes

Zucchini Boats are the perfect mashup for meat and veggie lovers. An easy and fun way to switch up your weeknight dinner routine!

Prep Time10

Cook Time35

Total Time45

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: American, Italian

Total Cost: $9.93 recipe / $2.48 serving

Servings: (2 zucchini boats each)

Calories: 631kcal

Author: Marsha McDougal

Equipment

Baking Sheet
Deep Stainless Steel Skillet

Ingredients

4 large zucchini (about 2 lbs.)* $3.00
1.5 Tbsp cooking oil, divided $0.08
1 lb. Italian ground sausage** $3.57
1 small yellow onion, diced $0.70
2 garlic cloves, minced $0.08
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning $0.05
3/4 tsp salt, divided $0.04
1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper, divided $0.02
1/4 tsp garlic powder $0.05
3/4 cup marinara sauce $0.97
1/4 cup breadcrumbs $0.12
1 cup shredded mozzarella $1.25

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Wash the zucchini well, trim off the top stem, then slice each one in half lengthwise. Use a spoon or a melon baller to remove the flesh from the center of the zucchini halves, leaving a 1/4-1/2 inch rim around each. Roughly chop the scooped out zucchini flesh into small pieces and set aside.
Place the scooped out zucchini halves on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush the insides of the zucchini with 1/2 tablespoon of oil and season with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Pre-bake the zucchini in the oven for 15 minutes. After 15 remove the zucchini from the oven and set aside.
While the zucchini is baking, make the filling. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add 1 Tbsp of oil. Brown the Italian sausage.
Once the sausage has browned, add the diced onion and minced garlic to the skillet. Continue to sauté over medium heat until the onion is translucent and the garlic is fragrant.
Next add the Italian seasoning, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, garlic powder, marinara sauce, breadcrumbs, and half of the reserved & chopped zucchini flesh***. Stir to combine. Simmer the mixture over medium-low heat for 5 minutes.
Next stuff the scooped out zucchini boats with the sausage mixture. Top with the shredded mozzarella cheese. Place the zucchini boats back in the oven and back for 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and the sausage mixture is bubbly around the sides. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and enjoy!

See how we calculate recipe costs here.

Video

Notes

*I like to purchase zucchini that are roughly the same size and length. I also try to steer clear of ginormous and extremely large zucchini as those tend to have an even higher water content.

**Italian sausage is pre-seasoned with herbs and spices which adds lots of flavor to the filling. You can also use ground beef, ground turkey or even Italian turkey sausage instead.

*For the other half of the zucchini flesh, it’s perfect to freeze and add to smoothies for breakfast. This also helps reduce food waste!

Nutrition

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