Stuffed Zucchini Boats with Ground Beef
About these Zucchini Boats with Ground Beef
These stuffed zucchini boats with ground beef are a perfect dish for the zucchini season. The combination of tender zucchini, flavorful ground beef sauce, and melted cheese is truly irresistible.
Whether enjoyed as a main course or accompanied by roasted bread or rice, these zucchini boats are sure to delight your taste buds. Don’t forget to make extra, as they can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer and easily reheated for future meals.
Ingredients for my Stuffed Zucchini
To make these zucchini boats, you’ll need zucchini as the main ingredient. I recommend using medium-sized zucchini for this recipe as they are tender and the perfect size for the baking tray.
For the topping, I like to use grated mozzarella cheese, but you can also use Gouda or other cheese like feta.
The delicious and quick ground beef sauce is made with ground beef, tomato paste, chopped canned tomatoes, red onion, oil, and spices. You’ll find the complete list of ingredients in the recipe below.
When is Zucchini Season?
What to Serve with Zucchini Boats?
Tips and Notes for the Zucchini Recipe
You can chop the removed zucchini flesh and mix it into the ground beef sauce. This will give you more volume and prevent waste. However, the sauce will become slightly watery, and not all of it will fit into the hollowed zucchini. You can save any leftover sauce and enjoy it with pasta the next day.
If you have leftover zucchini boats, you can store them in the refrigerator or even freeze them. Simply reheat them in the oven until heated through.
Zucchini Boats with Ground Beef
Ingredients
- 4 medium-sized zucchini - weighing approximately 1.2 kg
- 1 pound (500 g) ground beef
- 1 cup (100 g) mozzarella - or gouda cheese
- 1 can of diced tomatoes - 14.5 oz (400 g)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 red onion
- 1 tbsp oil
Spices
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp garlic powder - or 1 garlic clove, minced
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat oil in a pan and cook the ground beef over high heat until crumbly.
- Chop the onion and sauté it with the ground beef. Add tomato paste and spices, and sauté briefly over medium heat. Finally, add the diced tomatoes and let it simmer until the zucchini boats are ready.
- Meanwhile, halve the zucchini lengthwise and remove the seeds. Place the zucchini halves on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Fill the zucchini halves with the ground beef mixture and sprinkle with cheese.
- Bake at 350 °F (180°C) in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.
Notes
- Halving the zucchini: Observe how the zucchini naturally lies and cut it from the side, rather than from the top. To make it easier, turn the zucchini 90 degrees upward.
- Removing the seeds: The easiest way to do this is by using a teaspoon. Insert the spoon slightly away from the zucchini edges and gradually remove the seeds. Depending on the zucchini, you can also scrape them out.
- Baking time: This depends on the size and desired texture of the zucchini. I prefer them to be slightly crunchy, so I bake them for 20 minutes. If your zucchini are larger or you want them softer, bake them for an additional 5-10 minutes.
- Servings: The ingredients are enough for 4 side dish servings or 2 servings as a main dish.
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