Zucchini Boats With Ground Beef (Italian Style!)

Tender gooey zucchini boats stuffed with ground beef are packed with savory Italian flavor and melty cheese. These cheesy stuffed zucchini boats are perfect for a flavorful dinner the whole family will enjoy.

Why We Love Zucchini Boats With Ground Beef

• Perfect For Zucchini Season– On the years when I plant zucchini, when the zucchini grows it really grows! This stuffed zucchini boats recipe is a great way to use that delicious summer zucchini.
• Packed With Italian Flavor– The meat mixture from this is similar to my one pot ground turkey spaghetti and just bursts with that Italian flavor. Don’t leave out the balsamic vinegar, it’s the secret ingredient and adds so much flavor!
• Light And Cheesy Dinner– This main dish is perfect for dinner, and any leftovers are just as tasty! While this dinner is on the lighter side and makes a really nutritious meal, it’s still full of cheesy flavor and plenty of delicious savory ground beef.

Ingredients For Zucchini Boats With Ground Beef

• zucchini Medium size is about 8 inches long to make a good boat
• olive oil
• ground beef – I like using lean ground beef like 90/10, but you could also use 80/20 and just drain the ground beef well.
• minced garlic can also use fresh garlic
• sweet onion – diced small, sweet onion, white onion or red onion all work well in this recipe.
• marinara sauce Or your favorite red tomato sauce, or you could also use diced fresh tomatoes
• Italian seasoning
• balsamic vinegar
• salt
• pepper
• mozzarella cheese – shredded

How To Make Zucchini Boats With Ground Beef

• Preheat the oven to 375. Spray two 9 x 13 baking pans generously with oil.
• Cut the zucchini in half longwise. With a large spoon, scoop out the seeds from the zucchini to make the zucchini shells. Place zucchini halves in the baking pans, lining them up in a row. You can also use a baking dish, a casserole dish, or another large pan.

• Put oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the ground beef and cook until it is brown with no pink breaking the meat up with the spatula as you go, about 3-5 minutes. Drain any excess oil from the meat.

• Add the garlic and onion to the meat, and soften it for about a 2-3 minutes until fragrant.

• To the meat mixture in the pan add the marinara sauce, Italian seasoning, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Bring everything to a gentle boil, then turn down the heat to medium and simmer for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce soaks into the meat mixture and thickens.

• Portion the meat mixture evenly into the zucchini. Top with mozzarella cheese, then place the pans in the oven.

• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the zucchini is soft when pricked with a fork, and the cheese is fully melted. Then enjoy!

Variation Ideas

• Try Italian Sausage– You can swap out half or all of the ground beef for ground sausage in this easy recipe.
• Swap Ground Turkey – Ground turkey can be swapped instead of the ground beef for a leaner zucchini boat. Ground chicken isn’t my favorite ground meat in this recipe as I find it to be a little too lean for this recipe.
• Try A Different Cheese– Mozzarella is my favorite cheese here but a provolone, Monterey jack or even an Italian blend of cheeses can be swapped cup for cup in this recipe. A sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top is also delicious. Cheddar cheese also works great, but doesn’t have quite the same Italian flavor.
• Add Chopped Bell Pepper– Adding about a half of chopped bell pepper in with the onions into the meat filling is also delicious.

Will These Zucchini Boats Freeze?

These stuffed zucchini boats really don’t freeze very well. Zucchini gets really watery when frozen, and when reheated it will become gooey and too wet. The ground beef filling would freeze just fine, but the zucchini itself will become a little soggy when frozen.

Frozen zucchini works best when it is grated for things like zucchini banana bread or zucchini muffins, but you do still need to dry the zucchini well.

How Long Will These Zucchini Boats With Ground Beef Last?

Expect these zucchini boats will ground beef will last for about three days when stored in a covered airtight container the refrigerator. Leftovers taste best when reheated either in the oven, but are still delicious when microwaved.

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Ground Beef Stuffed Zucchini (Italian Style)

Author Kristy Richardson

Course Dinners

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 12 Servings

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Tender gooey zucchini boats stuffed with ground beef with savory Italian flavor and melty cheese are the perfect delicious dinner that your family will love.

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Ingredients  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 6 medium zucchini Medium is about 8 inches long, this recipe works for 6-7 fresh zucchini.
• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 1 pound ground beef
• ▢ 2 teaspoons minced garlic about 2 cloves
• ▢ 1/4 medium sweet onion diced small
• ▢ 2 cups marinara sauce Or your favorite red tomato sauce.
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• ▢ 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375. Spray two 9 x 13 baking pans generously with oil.
• Cut the zucchini in half longwise. With a large spoon, scoop out the seeds from the zucchini to make the zucchini shells. Place zucchini halves in the baking pans, lining them up in a row.
• Put oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the ground beef and cook until it is brown with no pink breaking the meat up with the spatula as you go, about 3-5 minutes. Drain any excess oil from the meat.
• Add the garlic and onion to the meat, and soften it for about a 2-3 minutes until fragrant.
• To the meat mixture in the pan add the marinara sauce, Italian seasoning, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Bring everything to a gentle boil, then turn down the heat to medium and simmer for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce soaks into the meat mixture and thickens.
• Portion the meat mixture evenly into the zucchini. Top with mozzarella cheese, then place the pans in the oven.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the zucchini is soft when pricked with a fork, and the cheese is fully melted. Then enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 180kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 38mg | Sodium: 412mg | Potassium: 508mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 475IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 109mg | Iron: 2mg

Keyword ground beef, Ground Meat, zucchini

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