Healthy Pizza Stuffed Zucchini Boats

These Pizza Stuffed Zucchini Boats are made with ground turkey, quality marinara, cheese, and all the fixin’s! They’re an easy and healthy meal. Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #DeliciousSpeaksForItself #RaosHomemade #CollectiveBias

I love a good pizza night. It’s fun, delicious, and convenient.

But the healthiest? Not so much.

I’ve been making stuffed zucchini boats for a while now, filling them with ground turkey, spicy sausage, or making a meatless version. Zucchini boats are tasty, filling, low-carb, gluten-free, and quick and easy to make.

Which is why I love that pizza stuffed zucchini boats are a thing. They satisfy pizza cravings and are much lighter. They’re also ready and on the table in about 30 minutes!

It’s the first day of October today, and October is Italian Heritage Month. You guys know that I love my Italian roots, and some of the most popular recipes on P+P are my spins on Italian classics: Italian Cannoli Cake, Vegan Italian Stuffed Peppers, and Italian Chopped Kale Salad, to name a few.

Now, let’s update pizza to a low-carb and healthy meal that still tastes amazing.

I have even made non-believers into zucchini boat fans with this recipe!

My husband and our friend Andrew say that zucchini boats don’t really look like boats, but more like a canoe. So they’ve lovingly named my Pizza Stuffed Zucchini Boats “zuccanoes.”

Zuccanoes is a very, very fun word to say. No matter what you call these, I’m sure you’ll love pizza zucchini boats.

What sauce to use for zucchini boats?

No need for homemade, but I highly suggest a good quality marinara. The marinara is going to give your pizza zucchini boats amazing flavor, especially since we aren’t loading on the fat and cheese here. I used and recommend Rao’s Homemade Marinara Sauce (available at your local Walmart for a great price!).

This is my go-to store-bought marinara for creating quick and delicious recipes. Rao’s Homemade Marinara Sauce is made with only natural ingredients and no fillers, added sugar, or artificial colors. It’s gluten-free and made in small batches. The marinara has a robust, balanced flavor of sweet Italian tomatoes, garlic, basil, pure olive oil, and onions. It adds so much flavor to these Pizza Stuffed Zucchini Boats!

Are zucchini boats healthy?

Zucchini boats are a great low-carb alternative to traditional, heavier fare like pizza or lasagna. However, be mindful as zucchini boats, specifically pizza zucchini boats, can still be on the unhealthy side. These are made with ground turkey instead of processed meats and contain only a little cheese. You only need a little cheese for flavor (and to hold the zucchini boats together!). We add a ton of flavor to these pizza zucchini boats with shallots, garlic, spicy and pickled pepperoncinis, salty olives, and fresh veggies.

How to make Pizza Stuffed Zucchini Boats:

Buy larger zucchini as they make for sturdier boats. Slice zucchini in half length-wise and scoop out the center of the zucchini. You can reserve the scooped zucchini for a later use (like muffins, bread, or scrambles). Cook any meat before stuffing your zucchini boats. Top your boats with your meats, vegetables, toppings, and cheese. Bake until zucchini is tender and the filling is bubbly!

These Pizza Stuffed Zucchini Boats are made with cooked shallot, garlic, turkey, spices, herbs, and Rao’s marinara. They’re topped with Parmesan, part-skim mozzarella, green peppers, pepperoncinis, olives, and mushrooms. Here’s some other pizza toppings you may like instead:

• fresh mozzarella
• sausage or turkey sausage
• BBQ chicken
• artichoke hearts
• spinach
• pesto
• sun-dried tomatoes
• jalapenos

We hope that you make and enjoy these Healthy Pizza Stuffed Zucchini Boats! Get Rao’s at your local Walmart for a great price, and find some more delicious inspiration here.

Healthy Pizza Stuffed Zucchini Boats

★★★★★ 5 from 7 reviews

• Author: Tiffany
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 6 servings 1x

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Description

These Pizza Stuffed Zucchini Boats are made with ground turkey, quality marinara, cheese, and all the fixin’s! They’re an easy and healthy meal.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 6 large zucchini
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large shallot, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 24-oz jar Rao’s Homemade Marinara Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
• Sea salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 cup thinly sliced green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup sliced olives
• 1/4 cup pepperoncinis
• 1 cup (4 oz) shredded part-skim mozzarella
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Slice zucchini in half length-wise and scoop out the centers*, leaving some flesh on the bottom and sides but creating a hole for the filling. Set the zucchini on baking trays.
3. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan and cook the shallot and garlic until softened. Add the ground turkey and cook until cooked through, breaking up with a wooden spoon. Season with sea salt, pepper, and the thyme, oregano, paprika, and red pepper flakes. Add in half the jar of marinara (reserving the rest for serving). Cook until bubbling and remove from heat.
4. Spoon the turkey and marinara filling into the zucchini boats. Top with mozzarella and sprinkling of Parmesan. Arrange thinly sliced mushrooms, olives, and peppers on top. Sprinkle with some additional cheese.
5. Bake the zucchini boats until the boats are tender and the cheese and filling is bubbly, 20-25 minutes.
6. Warm the rest of the marinara sauce and serve the zucchini boats with additional marinara, Parmesan, and topped with some pepperoncini peppers.

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Notes

*Reserve the scooped out zucchini for bread, muffins, or scrambles/omelets.

To make this recipe paleo or Whole30, omit the cheeses. Rao’s Marinara is Whole30 compliant.

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 serving (two zucchini halves)
• Calories: 374
• Sugar: 8.2g
• Sodium: 610mg
• Fat: 21g
• Saturated Fat: 5g
• Carbohydrates: 17g
• Fiber: 5g
• Protein: 35g
• Cholesterol: 99mg

Purchase Rao’s Homemade Marinara Sauce at Walmart!