Pizza Stuffed Zucchini Boats
All the flavors of pizza neatly packed in healthy, nutritious zucchini boats! It’s cheesy comfort without any of the guilt!
With the influx of football type party foods here lately, I figured it was time to share something a little bit more hearty for skinny jeans weather.
After all, we all need to practice some clean eating here and there, right?
I’ve actually been meaning to make zucchini boats for quite some time but I just never got around to it until now.
I guess I was just worried it would be incredibly time consuming to scoop out the insides of the zucchini but with the use of a melon baller, it’s unbelievably easy!
Effortless, really.
And with a handful of simple ingredients, you’ll be able to have pepperoni cheesy goodness guilt-free in 30 minutes or less.
Pizza Stuffed Zucchini Boats
Ingredients
- 4 medium zucchini
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 ounces ground turkey
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon basil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 ½ cups marinara sauce
- ⅔ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup mini pepperonis
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
- Cut each zucchini in half horizontally, then carefully scoop out the center of the zucchini, reserving for another use, leaving about 1/2-inch of zucchini on the skin.
- Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Add ground turkey, oregano and basil; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the turkey as it cooks; drain excess fat. Stir in marinara sauce until heated through, about 1-2 minutes.
- Place zucchini in a single layer, skin-side down, onto the prepared baking sheet; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add ground turkey mixture to each zucchini and sprinkle with mozzarella, topping with mini pepperonis.
- Place into oven and bake until the zucchini is tender and the cheese has melted, about 20-25 minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with Parmesan, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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Another great recipe with delicious flavors. Easy to make. Would cook a little longer to soften the zucchini. Will reheat the leftovers for lunch. Yum!!!
I haven’t tried these but they look delicious! Just want to confirm on the calorie count. Is it for all 4 zucchini’s that its 412.8 or is it per zucchini? I’m on a weight loss/healthy eating journey and trying to find great recipes that will fit my needs!
Hi Andrea! The nutritional information is per zucchini. Hope that helps!
These look so good! I’m definitely going to try them. My parents love zucchini so I’m going to pass along the recipe to yt to them too. Can these be cooked and frozen, or prepared ahead and frozen?
Freezing sounds like an amazing idea but unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself. Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I made these tonight but I have several leftover stuffed zucchini boats, can they be saved and reheated in the microwave for dinner tomorrow night? I’m concerned that the zzucchini will be mushy.
Yes, this reheats vey well! 🙂
thats ilt sausage
I sent this recipe to my mom friends with the following commentary after I made this again last night: “K girls I have to put this recipe back out there…ridiculously easy and honest to God the following came out of my kids mouths: “this seems like a really good recipe for me to take to college with me” and “you need to make this more often, it’s really good”. Tips: Don’t save the zucchini guts for another use – I added them to the sauce and was so good. I made extra sauce by using a whole jar and doubling the meat plus adding the zucchini guts and served with basil linguini for those who were freaked out by the actual zucchini boat…they had no idea they were eating zucchini in the sauce.”
I cannotttt get away from your page! And every time I can pull myself away, it’s with a growling stomach and some major drool. Loving this recipe so much- a great low carb dinner option!
I’ve made zucchini boats with sausage before, but I love the pizza take! Sounds so yummy. I need to go get some zucchini!
That is a brilliant way to use up your zucchini! Nice work (:
Love all your recipes. You’re a lifesaver!
There are little pepperonis in the picture but none in the recipe? Or are they tomatoes? Or maybe I need more coffee. 🙂
Yes, they are mini pepperonis!
But where is the pepperoni?
It’s there! 🙂
This was actually what i was looking for, and i am glad to came here! Thank you very much
THANK YOU for such a brilliant zucchini recipe; I have been pining for one for about three years now, tried all sorts of “stuffed zucchini” recipes, but this knocked everything else to the side. This will forever be my go-to for a stuffed zucchini dish, thank you so much. It was an instant dinner hit for my husband and I, and the leftovers kept fairly well for the next day’s lunch. Can’t thank you enough for this sheer brilliance!
Do you have any suggestions on what to do with the leftover zucchini when you scoop out the center?
Sometimes I use the leftovers in a stir-fry – might as well put them to use, right? 🙂
Can you make these the night before serving then cook them in the morning? Will the zucchini get mushy from the turkey meat/tomato sauce combination? Thanks!
Nope – it should be fine! 🙂
These look 21 day fix approved and so yummy!!! I can’t wait to eat them!
yum that looks so delicious!
Just made this tonight. DELICIOUS! I didn’t have any ground turkey, but I used turkey italian sausage instead. I am stuffed as well. I have lost 80lbs with more to go so I have to watch every calorie. Of course it depends on the size of the zucchini, cals in the cheese you use, etc., but mine came out to 356 cals for two boats. This really was excellent! Thank you!
I’ve make this many times. I don’t cook the meat. I also use the scooped out zucchini. I mix it into the turkey mixture.
I’ll try these soon! I’ve missed pizza since I discovered that I do better without grains of any sort. This solves that problem! Thanks.
Have you tried the Cauliflower Pizza Crust? YUMMY!!
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Made this recipe and threw some of the zucchini chunks into the meat, so as to get more ‘chini goodness. GREAT RECIPE, THANK YOU!
My whole family loved these. I used Italian turkey sausage and it was delish! Thanks for another fantastic recipe
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Any idea of calorie counts on your recipes? I am still counting with my lose it app. I’ve lost 20 lbs in 3 months and I would love to try some of these recipes, but still need to track diligently.
They look delish!!! 😀
Joy, congrats on the amazing weight loss! Unfortunately, I do not publish nutritional information on my site as I am not a registered dietician. I suggest using online resources such as Calorie Count to obtain such information.
I too, am on a low calorie diet for weight loss. After a visit with my doctor, we decided on 1200 calories a day, using MYFITNESSPLAN.COM. When making this type of recipe, I weigh and measure everything on my dinner, but for the rest of the family, I just make them as they are suppose to be made. Sometimes this means I omit an entire ingredient, or substitute something that corresponds with my eating plan. Best of luck on your diet!
I think this is going to be a winning ticket to get my husband to eat zucchini! Thanks, Chung-Ah!
IN THE ZUCCHINI RECIPE WHEN DESCRIBING COOKING THE TURKEY, YOU IN THE SAME PARAGRAPH ALSO REFER TO HOW TO CRUMBLE THE BEEF WHICH SINCE NO BEEF CAN BE SEE IN THE INGREDIENTS I THINK IS A MISTAKE.
It was meant to say “turkey”, not “beef”. Thank you for pointing that out – it’s been fixed!
In response to your steamed lentils question (I tried to email you back but it seems to be an incorrect email address), you can find them at your local grocery store. If you cannot find them, feel free to steam them at your convenience. I like to purchase already steamed lentils since it makes for such easier cooking!
Made these for my husband and I tonight. Absolutely delicious! Thank you thank you! Can’t wait to make these again.
Oops! You forgot to add to top the mixture with the cheese before placing in the oven.
Thank you for letting me know – fixed!
What a fun way to eat zucchini!
Just stumbled upon to your blog while i was visiting another blog. The zucchini boats look absolutely terrific! Great pictures! Thanks for sharing.
I love anything pizza so this recipe is perfect, especially because I can use some garden fresh vegetables with it!
I prepare something similar quite often and I can confirm how delicious they are. Yours look great, as always 😉
Yum!! I love the idea of pizza atop zucchini 🙂 looks so tasty!
I love stuffed zucchini, these boats look so good (and a melon baller is what I use too, so quick and easy!).
Thank you! I need some healthy recipes!!
I love these zucchini boats…They look darn delish!
Oh man, I love these! Such a fabulous idea.
pinned.
These look so delish – and pretty healthy too!!! Love!
This is perfect for a Sunday night football party – can’t wait to try. I have so many zucchinis leftover from when I use them for my spiralizing, can’t wait to save one 🙂
The last time I made zucchini boats, the.boy was NOT enthused…but if they were pizza stuffed? That’s a different story.
Anything that involves “pizza” would be a plus with the boys! Even Jason liked these, and I didn’t think he’d even go near these boats.
I have even added stove top stuffing in with my meat then pizza sauce and mozzerella cheese on top…delish!
This. Is. Awesome. Seriously, I can’t wait to make this recipe girl!
I love healthy eating that has lots of flavor! And I can just see the flavor in the picture! This is a great way to get my kids to eat zucchini!
It’s a great way to have grown-ups eat zucchini too! I haven’t had zucchini in ages until I stuffed them with pizza!