These Enchilada Stuffed Zucchini Boats are super flavorful, easy to make and are a much healthier alternative to regular enchiladas!
So I have a bit of a confession. I am utterly OBSESSED with cookbooks. Seriously! I love to collect them, display them, flip through them and admire all the gorgeous photos so when a fellow blogger comes out with her very own cookbook you can bet I get pretty excited!! Megan Gilmore from the blog Detoxinista just launched her brand new cookbook called No Excuses Detox and the recipes are simply mouthwatering!
Megan is all about detoxing naturally using whole foods that are delicious and keep you full all day! When people think of detoxing most assume that you’ll go hungry, but that’s just not the case. Her cookbook No Excuses Detox features 100 healthy recipes complete with gorgeous photos, shopping lists and user-friendly labels that let you know if a dish is gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, etc. She also lists some helpful tips on how to kick start your healthy lifestyle!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- zucchini – the star of this recipe and a great way to use up all that zucchini growing in your garden! You’ll need 4 large zucchini which will be the vehicle to hold the delicious tomato filling.
- veggies – the delicious filling consists of fresh tomatoes, chopped bell pepper, onion and jalapeno.
- olive oil – this is to coat your shrimp and veggies and I like to use a good olive oil that doesn’t have to be expensive, just make sure it’s cold-pressed and organic for the most flavor.
- garlic – fresh garlic always tastes best, but feel free to use one teaspoon of garlic powder in place of fresh garlic if that’s all you have on hand.
- spices – a combination of chili powder, cumin, and salt to give these enchilada boats delicious Mexican flavor.
- cheese – shredded mozzarella cheese is the perfect way to finish off this salad, but any type of cheese will work in this recipe. Just make sure to use a good quality cheese for the best flavor.
How to Make Zucchini Boats
- Make the filling. In a large skillet, drizzle the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onion, bell pepper, and jalapeño until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, tomatoes, salt, cumin, and chili powder and sauté until the tomatoes are tender and much of their moisture has been released, another 8 to 10 minutes.
- Prep the zucchini. While the filling is cooking, slice the zucchini in half lengthwise (cut off the hard top) and use a teaspoon to scoop out the soft centers. Be sure to leave enough of the zucchini flesh so that the bottoms of the zucchini boats are sturdy enough to hold the filling, you don’t want to scrape them too thin though.
- Bake zucchini boats. Arrange the zucchini shells cut-side up on baking sheet lined with foil or sprayed with nonstick spray and fill each zucchini shell with the tomato mixture. Top each with shredded cheese and bake at 400 degrees F until the zucchini is tender and the cheese is bubbly, about 20 minutes.
Tips for Making Stuffed Zucchini Boats
- Don’t scoop too much – you want to make sure you gently scoop out the zucchini filling while still leaving a thick enough shell to hold all the filling.
- Zucchini substitutions – instead of using zucchini as the vehicle for all this delicious filling, feel free to use yellow squash, spaghetti squash or even small eggplants.
- Add extra protein – these zucchini boats are meatless, but feel free to add in some cooked ground beef, ground chicken or ground turkey. Spicy sausage would also make a flavorful addition!
- Optional toppings – we topped these with shredded cheese, but feel free to add other toppings such as extra tomatoes, avocado, jalapeno slices, pesto or fresh cilantro.
How to Serve
These enchilada zucchini boats are pretty filling all on their own, but if you need a side dish or a little something else to pair them with, here are a few suggestions:
- Instant Pot Mexican Rice
- 7 Layer Spicy Taco Dip
- Black Bean and Corn Salad
- Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice
- Southwestern Salad
- Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quinoa
Prepping and Storage
Leftovers will last about 2 to 3 days in the fridge stored in a sealed, airtight container. I don’t recommend freezing zucchini as it will become mushy once thawed.
More Zucchini Recipes You’ll Love
- Summer Zucchini & Tomato Gratin
- Chicken Parmesan with Zucchini Noodles
- Zucchini Noodles with Creamy Avocado Pesto
- Healthy Zucchini Bread
- Lemon Garlic Zucchini Noodles
Hope you all enjoy these Enchilada Stuffed Zucchini Boats and if you love this as much as we do, please leave ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using the hashtag #eatyourselfskinny! I love seeing all your delicious recreations!
Enchilada Stuffed Zucchini Boats
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 4 large zucchini
- 3 ounces shredded cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or spray a baking dish with nonstick spray.
- To prepare the filling: In a large skillet, drizzle the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onion, bell pepper, and jalapeño until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, tomatoes, salt, cumin, and chili powder and sauté until the tomatoes are tender and much of their moisture has been released, another 8 to 10 minutes.
- While the filling is cooking, slice the zucchini in half lengthwise (cut off the hard top) and use a teaspoon to scoop out the soft centers. Be sure to leave enough of the zucchini flesh so that the bottoms of the zucchini boats are sturdy enough to hold the filling – you don’t want to scrape them too thin. Arrange the zucchini shells cut-side up on the prepared baking sheet and fill each one with the cooked tomato mixture. Top each “boat” with shredded cheese.
- Bake the boats until the zucchini is tender and the cheese is bubbly, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These were so tasty! I added a little chicken to the filling for some protein and it was just as yummy as could be! I just found your website a couple weeks ago and am finding many of your recipes to try. Thanks for sharing yummy things!
What can I do with all that scraped out zucchini?
I like to toss my scraped out zucchini into a frying pan with a little olive oil, salt and pepper – tastes great!
Hi! Do these reheat well?
These look sooooo good. I’m in the process of moving but once moved I’m going to make them. You could had a little lean ground beef to these also I think?
Yes definitely! I use ground beef or ground turkey in this recipe a lot for my hubby!
Thank you for the share. Looks amazing. I am buying the cookbook today!