Vegetarian Stuffed Zucchini Boats Recipe

Name: Vegetarian Stuffed Zucchini Boats
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 3 Zucchini; 2 tbsp Oil; 1 tbsp Oil; ½ tsp Cumin; 1 big Onion (finely chopped); 1 small Tomato (finely chopped); ⅓ cup Green Pepper (finely chopped); ¼ cup Red Pepper (finely chopped); ¼ cup Yellow Pepper (finely chopped); ¼ Teaspoon Turmeric Powder; 1 Teaspoon Chilli Powder; 1 Teaspoon Garam Masala; Salt (a pinch); handful Coriander (chopped ); 1 Teaspoon Oil; 3-4 cloves Garlic (finely chopped); ½ cup Bread Crumbs; 2 Tablespoon Yogurt (optional); 2 Tablespoon Tomato Ketchup (optional)

Published: Sep 27, 2018 · Modified: Dec 20, 2022 by Geetha Priyanka · 50 Comments

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Vegetarian stuffed zucchini boats are a healthy and wholesome dish to enjoy as dinner which gets ready in 30 minutes. This is a no-bake version of zucchini boats.

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Healthy stuffed zucchini
No bake zucchini boats
Ingredients
How to make stuffed zucchini boats
Variations and Substitutions
Tips and Tricks
Serving suggestions
Storage
📖 Recipe Card

Healthy stuffed zucchini

Healthy and tasty vegetarian stuffed zucchini boats are simple yet delicious and flavourful dishes loaded with a mix of spices, fresh herbs and vegetables. Zucchini is such a versatile vegetable that it provides endless options to stuff in it that goes well with the smooth and silky texture of the zucchinis and brings out the maximum flavours to delight an individual's taste buds. It is one of the best meatless recipes that even a meat lover can't resist asking for more.

This hearty and wholesome dish is perfect for fall and it is an excellent main course with the goodness of nutrients from vegetables and subtle spices. Those who love vegetables would surely love this super amazing dish. It is a simple recipe made with basic ingredients that the whole family would love it.

No bake zucchini boats

Zucchini boats recipe call for baking them in the oven. That's usually because they have cheese that needs to be melted. Since I am not using cheese in this recipe I realised it's not necessary to bake them, instead I scraped out the pulp from zucchini and cooked the hollowed zucchini on stove top griddle pan until tender then stuffed them with cooked spicy vegetables, finally topped with toasted garlic and breadcrumbs, yogurt and tomato ketchup.

These vegetarian stuffed zucchini boats are a scrumptious and delicious dish to enjoy for dinner like other dishes such as kothu parotta, lemon rice, coconut rice.

Ingredients

Zucchini: 3

Olive oil: 2 tbsp

For Stuffing:

Olive oil: 1 tbsp

Cumin seeds: ½ tsp

Red onion: 1 large, finely chopped

Fresh tomato: 1 small, chopped

Green bell pepper / Capsicum: ⅓ cup, finely chopped

Red bell pepper / Capsicum: ¼ cup, finely chopped

Yellow bell pepper/ Capsicum: ¼ cup, finely chopped

Garam masala: 1 tsp

Chilli powder: 1 tsp

Turmeric powder: a pinch

Salt: as required

Coriander: handful, finely chopped

For Topping:

Oil: 1 tsp

Bread crumbs: ½ cup

Garlic: 3 - 4 cloves, finely chopped

Yogurt: 2 tablespoon (optional)

Tomato ketchup: 2 tablespoon (optional)

How to make stuffed zucchini boats

Trim the ends of zucchini, slice it into two lengthwise and scoop out the pulp, chop it roughly and keep aside to use later for stuffing.

cut and remove pulp of zucchini and chop it

Pre heat griddle pan greased with little oil on medium heat.

Place the zucchini on the griddle and cook for 3-4 minutes, then turn and cook for another 3 - 4 minutes or until tender.

Remove zucchini from the griddle and drain over the kitchen towel.

Heat oil in a pan/ large skillet over medium-high heat.

Add cumin, once it splutters add onion, and fry for a couple of minutes or until onions are soft and translucent.

Now add mixed peppers, tomato, stir and cook for 3-4 minutes or until peppers are tender yet firm.

Finally add scooped zucchini flesh, turmeric powder, chili powder, garam masala and salt, stir and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until all the moisture evaporates. Finally, mix in coriander and turn the heat off.

To prepare the topping, heat 1 teaspoon oil in a small pan (2nd pan) on medium-low heat.

Add finely chopped garlic and fry until tender and fragrant.

Now add bread crumbs and fry for just a minute or until toasty stirring occasionally and turn off the heat.

cooking vegetables for stuffing and frying breadcrumbs

Arrange zucchini shells on a baking sheet.

Now spoon the vegetable mixture into hallow zucchini halves (zucchini shells), sprinkle the toasted breadcrumb on top of each zucchini boat, finally top it with tomato ketchup, yogurt and coriander.

stuffing zucchini boats with cooked vegetables and topping with breadcrumbs ketchup and yogurt

Enjoy vegetarian stuffed zucchini boats with garlic bread as a side dish or just on their own.

Variations and Substitutions

For the vegan version of vegetarian zucchini boats, replace yogurt with vegan sour cream, coconut yogurt or just skip yogurt completely.

Adjust spices as per your personal preference.

You can add any fresh veggies of your choice such as yellow squash, summer squash, and even mushrooms make a good addition.

You may use up leftover subzi as stuffing in these little boats.

For the gluten-free version do not add breadcrumbs.

Toasted breadcrumbs give a nice crunchy texture to the dish, feel free to skip it if it doesn't suit your taste buds.

Feel free to use marinara sauce, hidden vegetable pasta sauce or tomato sauce for added flavour. Skip fresh tomatoes and add the sauce as a topping instead of ketchup.

Boiled chickpeas, kidney beans or black beans are a great way to add proteins to the meal.

I use olive oil for cooking, feel free to use any cooking oil of your choice.

Red onion adds a lovely flavour and colour to the dish. however, any onion that you have on hand could be used such as white or yellow onion.

Indian spices are available in the south Asian grocery store. Alternatively, use black pepper powder along with Italian seasoning, taco seasoning or any other spices that you have on hand instead of Indian spices.

Tips and Tricks

For best results, pick tender zucchinis to make this delicious vegetarian dish. You could make a light dinner recipe with smaller zucchini with fewer stuffings.

Adjust spices as per your personal preference.

Serving suggestions

Delicious zucchini boat makes a fabulous meal along with simple side dishes such as baked potato wedges, air fryer sweet potato wedges, maple roasted carrots or roasted baby potatoes.

The perfect way to enjoy this vegetarian stuffed zucchini recipe is to pair it with a simple salad such as chickpea salad, corn cucumber tomato salad or cucumber salad.

This is one of the healthy recipes to enjoy as a low-carb dinner. Medium large zucchini with stuffing makes a full meal itself.

Storage

If you are planning this vegetarian zucchini boat recipe as a part of a weekly meal or a party, prep vegetables and store them in the fridge until ready to cook. The best way is to store them separately. On the day you plan to serve, cook zucchini shells, saute onions, bell peppers, the flesh of the zucchini, spices and herbs. Make it a fun activity and let kids arrange and stuff the shells. If planning for a party, let guests assemble themselves.

Fridge: Store leftover zucchini stuffing in the fridge in an airtight container and use it up in 3-4 days.

Freezer: Consider freezing the stuffing for a longer shelf life. Divide it into desired portions, put each portion in a freezer-safe container or zip-lock bag and store them in the freezer. I wouldn't suggest freezing zucchini shells rather use fresh zucchini. The best part is that scooped zucchini flesh could be chopped and used in any other recipe such as vegetable stir fry, use up in vegetable frittatas, or stir it in the vegetable dishes such as butternut squash chickpea curry or vegetable chettinad.

Reheat: Take a portion out of the freezer and keep it in the fridge overnight to thaw. Reheat in the microwave until piping hot and then use it.

More easy dinner recipes

Pumpkin Pasta with Spinach and Walnuts

Kothu Parotta

Chilli Parotta

Pasta with Hidden Vegetable Sauce

📖 Recipe Card

Vegetarian Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Healthy and tasty vegetarian stuffed zucchini boats are simple yet delicious and flavourful dish loaded with a mix of spices and vegetables. This hearty and wholesome dish is perfect for fall and it is an excellent main course with the goodness of a nutrients from vegetables and subtle spices. Those who love vegetables would surely love this super amazing dish.

5 from 20 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: International

Diet: Vegetarian

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: people

Calories: 347kcal

Author: Geetha Priyanka

Video

Ingredients

1 Cup = 250ml ; 1 Tablespoon = 15ml ; 1 Teaspoon = 5ml

3 Zucchini
2 tablespoon Oil

For Stuffing

1 tablespoon Oil
½ teaspoon Cumin
1 big Onion finely chopped
1 small Tomato finely chopped
⅓ cup Green Pepper finely chopped
¼ cup Red Pepper finely chopped
¼ cup Yellow Pepper finely chopped
¼ Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
1 Teaspoon Chilli Powder
1 Teaspoon Garam Masala
Salt a pinch
handful Coriander chopped

For Topping

1 Teaspoon Oil
3-4 cloves Garlic finely chopped
½ cup Bread Crumbs
2 Tablespoon Yogurt optional
2 Tablespoon Tomato Ketchup optional

Instructions

Trim the ends of zucchini, slice it into two lengthwise and scoop out the pulp, keep it aside to use later for stuffing.
Pre heat griddle pan greased with oil on medium heat.
Place the zucchini on the griddle and cook for 3-4 minutes, then turn and cook for another 3 - 4 minutes or until tender.
Remove zucchini from griddle and drain over kitchen towel.
Heat oil in a pan over medium high heat.
Add cumin, once it splutters add onion, fry for couple of minutes or until onions are soft and translucent.
Now add mixed peppers, tomato, stir and cook for 3-4 minutes or until peppers are tender yet firm.
Finally add chopped zucchini pulp, turmeric powder, chilli powder, garam masala and salt, stir and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until all the moisture evaporates, mix in coriander and turn off the heat.
To prepare topping, heat 1 teaspoon oil in a small pan on medium low heat.
Add finely chopped garlic and fry until tender and fragrant.
Now add bread crumbs and fry for just a minute or until toasty, stirring occasionally and turn off the heat.
Now spoon the vegetable mixture into hallow zucchini halves, sprinkle the toasted breadcrumb on top of each zucchini boat, finally top it with tomato ketchup, yogurt and coriander.
Enjoy vegetarian stuffed zucchini boats with garlic bread as side dish or just on its own.

Notes

For a vegan version, replace yogurt with vegan sour cream, coconut yogurt or just keep them plain.

Adjust spices as per your personal preference.

You can add any vegetables of your choice, even mushrooms taste good.

You may use up leftover sabzi as stuffing in these little boats.

For the gluten-free version do not add breadcrumbs.

Nutrition

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