Italian sausage fills tender zucchini for a low-carb dinner bursting with flavor. The cheesy topping turns golden and irresistible as it bakes.
Quick prep makes it perfect for busy weeknights without sacrificing taste.
TL;DR
Italian pork sausage is flavorful and perfect for stuffing vegetables such as Zucchini.
These zucchini boats are well balanced in terms of taste, texture, and choice of ingredients. Meat combines well with juicy fresh zucchini, and the addition of a seasoned tomato sauce makes it a complete meal.
Tip: Add other vegetables to your baking dish to introduce variety to your meal. I like to stuff and bake zucchini with bell pepper and tomato in one baking dish.
Ingredient Notes
The Zucchini Boats:
- Zucchini — I used yellow summer squash because that's what we harvested in the garden, and they are technically yellow zucchini. Make sure that the zucchini are about the same size so that they cook through both evenly at the same time. I like medium-sized zucchini because they are tender. Large zucchini can be used too, but you will have to either peel them first or pre-boil them because large zucchini can be tougher.
- Italian Sausage — I like traditionally seasoned Italian sausage with the addition of fennel. Use whichever Italian sausage you prefer if you get to choose.
- Salt & Black Pepper
- Onion — Needs to be chopped very fine. It's easier to use filling to stuff with small chopped onion.
- Garlic — Also chop fine.
- Shredded Cheese — To enhance your meat stuffing. Use whichever cheese that you like. I like mozzarella or pizza cheese mix.
The Sauce:
- Tomato Sauce — I prefer a chunky passata tomato sauce. The sauce should be plain and unseasoned.
- Salt & Black Pepper
- Oregano, Dried
- Onion — chopped.
- Garlic — chopped.
Topping:
- Shredded Cheese — Some more shredded cheese to top your zucchini-stuffed boats.
- Olive Oil — Adds flavor and keeps it all juicy as the meat and vegetables roast in the oven.
Process Overview
Step 1
Cut off zucchini ends. Cut open the zucchini in half, lengthwise. Scrape out the soft center of your zucchini so that you are left with boats.
Arrange the boats in a rectangular baking dish. Chop the soft zucchini core finely.
Step 2
Prepare the filling. Add the chopped soft zucchini core to the meat in a bowl.
Add to that the chopped onion, garlic, shredded cheese, salt, and ground black pepper.
Step 3
Mix the filling well with your hands and stuff the zucchini with the filling until all is used up.
Step 4
Combine all the sauce ingredients: the tomato sauce, onion, garlic, oregano, salt, and black pepper.
Spread the sauce around the zucchini boats in the baking dish.
Step 5
Top the stuffed zucchini boats with the remaining shredded cheese and drizzle some olive oil over that.
Bake the zucchini uncovered until cooked through and golden brown.
📖 Recipe
Stuffed Italian Sausage Zucchini Boats
Ingredients
For the Zucchini Boats
- 2 Medium Zucchini or Yellow Summer Squash
- ½ Pound Italian Sausage
- ½ Onion chopped fine
- 1 Garlic Clove
- ½ Cup Shredded Cheese
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground
For the Sauce and Topping
- 1 Cup Tomato Sauce
- ½ Onion chopped
- 1 Garlic Clove
- 1 Tablespoon Oregano Dried
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground
- ½ Cup Shredded Cheese
- Drizzle Olive Oil
Instructions
For the zucchini and filling:
- Rinse your zucchini well. Cut off the zucchini ends and discard them. Cut open the zucchini lengthwise. Scrape out the soft zucchini core with a small teaspoon or a grapefruit spoon with a sharp edge and teeth.2 Medium Zucchini
- Arrange the zucchini halves in a baking dish.
- Chop the soft zucchini core small, which you scraped out earlier.
- Prepare the meat filling. Place the sausage with the chopped zucchini core into a mixing bowl. Add to that the onion, garlic, cheese, salt, and black pepper.½ Pound Italian Sausage, ½ Onion, 1 Garlic Clove, ½ Cup Shredded Cheese, ½ Teaspoon Salt, ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground
- Mix the sausage meat filling. It's easier to do that with the hand. Take some sausage filling into your hand and stuff your zucchini boats with that. Use up all the meat filling.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).
For the tomato sauce:
- Add to a bowl the tomato sauce, the chopped onion, garlic, oregano, salt, and black pepper. Mix it all well.1 Cup Tomato Sauce, ½ Onion, 1 Garlic Clove, 1 Tablespoon Oregano Dried, ½ Teaspoon Salt, ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground
- Pour the seasoned tomato sauce around the zucchini boats in your baking dish.
- Top your meat-stuffed zucchini boats with the remaining shredded cheese and drizzle some olive oil over that.½ Cup Shredded Cheese, Drizzle Olive Oil
- Roast your meat-stuffed zucchini at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius) uncoverd for about 25-30 minutes or until the zucchini is cooked through and soft and the top is golden brown.
Equipment
- 8" Chef Knife
- Mixing Bowl to prepare meat stuffing and to mix the sauce
- 9 x 13" Rectangular Baking Dish to bake the zucchini
- Teaspoon to spoon out the soft zucchini core
Nutrition
Serving
I always enjoy my zucchini boats with either cooked polenta meal or rice. I think the tomato sauce, meat, and zucchini complement these side dishes well.
You can also enjoy these with just bread or another side option such as couscous, ebly, or cooked bulgur.
Storing
Leftovers can be refrigerated and warmed up again. I keep the zucchini boats with sauce in a rectangular glass dish.
You can store them for up to 3 days cooled in your fridge.
Gradually warm them up again at a lower heat temperature so that they don't try out.
Freeze
You can freeze your filled zucchini and cook them whenever you need them at a later date.
To do that, prepare the meat stuffing and hollow out your zucchini to stuff them with the meat.
Keep the stuffed uncooked zucchini in a freezer-friendly container and freeze.
When you are ready to use them, keep the zucchini out to defrost a bit, then place them into your baking dish with the sauce ingredients and bake as per direction until all is cooked through. You will need to increase the cooking time as they are frozen.
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