This last zucchini recipe might be my fave. Using zucchini as a receptacle/ boat is such a fun idea and you could put whatever you want inside. I scooped out the “guts” and actually chopped it up and put it in my filling too, so there was no waste.

For my filling, I made like a taco beef/chili mixture with ground beef, onion, the chopped zucchini guts, pureed tomato and lots of spices. It was tasty on its own (you could also eat it with rice as a meal), but eating it as part of the zucchini boat was delicious. I will write out the whole recipe below so you can make it too. Also, you could easily make it vegetarian or vegan by swapping the ground beef for soy crumbles, cooked lentils or even rice.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 3 zucchini
• 1/4 tsp: salt and pepper
• 1 lb lean ground beef (or 1.5 cups soy crumbles, cooked lentils or rice)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 cup tomato puree (passata)
• 1 tsp: paprika, chili powder, cumin
• 1/2 tsp: garlic powder, white sugar, salt
• 1/4 tsp: chili flakes, black pepper
• 1 green onion, sliced

Directions:

1. slice zucchini lengthwise down the middle and carefully scoop out “guts” to get boat shape. chop scooped zucchini guts and set aside
2. drizzle 1 tbsp oil over boats and sprinkle with salt and pepper
3. bake for 20 minutes in 375 degree oven
4. while that is cooking, start on the filling – in a pot, heat remaining 1 tbsp oil and saute onion for few minutes then add ground beef (if making vegetarian version, add crumbles/lentils/rice after step 6*)
5. once that is fully cooked, add all remaining ingredients (except green onion) and mix well
6. cover and let simmer 10 minutes
7. remove zucchini boats from oven and generously spoon taco mixture into each one, you may have leftovers which can be your snack (haha)
8. pop back into oven for 10 more minutes
9. sprinkle green onion right before serving

If you made it all the way to the bottom, first of all, you’re the best. Second, do you like when I post the complete recipes for what I make? If so, let me know and I can do it for posts in the future 🙂 Note: I will only do this for my own recipes, if I am making someone else’s recipe, I will simply attach the link.