This Taco Stuffed Zucchini Recipe is low carb, keto, gluten free and packed full of taco flavor!
Stuffed Zucchini Recipe
Stuffing vegetables....... it's a thing. You can find a million and one recipes stuffing delicious filling into other veggies like zucchini, eggplant, spaghetti squash, even tomatoes!
I'm all for making recipes that are unique, but often I find I've forgotten some simple recipes never posted on my blog and this is one of them.
I've stuffed an eggplant, and I've even made a low carb, 3 Cheese eggplant roll up lasagna too. But eggplant is a veggie that you either love or hate so it's not as popular as zucchini.
So I'm stuffing zucchini and loving it. I double up on the meat so one half is enough to keep you full and satisfied, add a salad and it's a nice dinner or lunch! If you're not into taco flavors, try my Bacon Cheeseburger Stuffed Zucchini Boats!
Taco Zucchini
If you're the only one who likes zucchini you can use just some of the filling to fill just zucchini for yourself and your spouse. Use the rest of the filling for making tacos for the kids. Try my Cheesy Low Carb Shells.
I used more ground turkey then the recipe required because I wanted extra filling for the kids. I doubled the rest of the ingredients as well. I love having left overs for easy lunches for the week ahead. I used the remaining filling for the kids to make taco salad or to use with gluten free tortillas.
This was a win with everyone!
The filling is dynamite! Stuffed Zucchini is a great way to use an in season vegetable. You can use this stuffing to stuff another vegetable too if you're just not into zucchini, either way it will be a recipe the family will continue to ask you to make weekly!
Low Carb Taco Stuffed Zucchini Boats
This recipe was originally posted in April 2015 and updated with video June 2018.
Low Carb Taco Stuffed Zucchini Boats
Ingredients
- 3 zucchini medium
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 ½ pounds ground turkey or beef
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup salsa
- 1 ½ cups Mexican shredded cheese blend
- optional toppings: sour cream cilantro
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Scoop out the insides of the zucchini with a spoon or melon scooper and chop them.
- Add the chopped zucchini to a large skillet.
- Place the scooped out zucchini shells into a 9 by 13 baking dish. (If you prefer a softer zucchini, place this dish in the oven and cook for about 15 minutes then scoop the cooked filling into the zucchini boats and bake as directed below).
- Cook the chopped zucchini with olive oil and garlic on medium heat and add the turkey.
- Once the turkey is browned, add the seasonings, salsa and 1 cup of cheese.
- Continue to cook until cheese is melted.
- Fill zucchini with this mixture then top with remaining cheese.
- Cover and bake 20-25 minutes or until zucchini is tender.
- Enjoy with optional toppings!
Notes
Nutrition
About Brenda
Brenda Bennett is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, certified Sugar Detox Coach, certified Keto Coach and certified Life Coach. She has been Sugar Free & Refined carb free for 17 years and has written 2 cookbooks, Sugar-Free Mom, and Naturally Keto and her 3rd book The 30-Day Sugar Elimination Diet, is a four part program to help you detox from sugar, eliminate cravings, balance blood sugar and lose weight all while eating a delicious, nutrient dense whole foods. Meal plan offers two tracks to follow, low carb or keto. She is the founder of the Sugar Free Fresh Start course and Sugar Free Tribe weight loss membership. Learn more.
Diane
This is a truly inspired recipe! I made it for dinner tonight with a side salad. DELICIOUS and easy! I will be making this again, and often. Thank you
Loel Bomgardner
These were amazing! On the serving size, is it half of the sliced zucchini, or 2 halves?
Brenda
It's one half stuffed zucchini. 6 stuffed Halves in the entire recipe so 6 servings.
Fiona McCall
Brenda, thank you for the clarification with regard to Loel's stion. Could the nutritional info be amended? The intro clearly says 3 zucchini/courgettes, but the nutritional info states 'serving size 1 zucchini' instead of 'per half zucchini' so it is confusing unless you happen to spot the answer in the comments.
Brenda
3 zucchini, sliced in half and stuffed. Serving size is 1 stuffed zucchini half.
Lori Cowen
I drained the turkey, zucchini and onion before adding the other ingredients.
Liren | Kitchen Confidante
Zucchini boats are irresistible -- and even more so when stuffed with taco filling!
Alli
Loving this recipe. This is going on my menu for sure!!
Richa Gupta
Wow this looks yummy, such a wonderful dinner idea!
Crystal Faulkner
This sounds like a great weekend meal!!
Brenda
Thanks Crystal!
Echo
I've made lasagna boats, but never a taco boat in a zucchini. Great idea. I'll be trying it when the zucchini is on in a few weeks. Thank you!
Lindsay @ The Live-In Kitchen
I love zucchini boats!
Brenda
Me too! Thanks Lindsay!
Gwen H.
We made these for dinner and they were a hit! Definitely a keeper!
Adrianna
I came across this recipe last night desperate for something quick and low carb. My family devoured these. My husband absolutely loved them and most importantly my 7 year old ate them and asked for seconds. He never asks for seconds. Thank you so much for this amazing recipe!
Carmela
Hi this looks delish. I usually make it italian style. We love tacos as well. Can i use the taco seasoning pack instead of those spices?
Brenda
You could.
Sarah Dickerson
This is an all time winner. It was delicous. I chopped up the left overs and mixed them with eggs in a skillet the next morning and it was just as good as the night before. My 5 year old boy ate something green and this recipe made my taco obsessed boyfriend's day.
Brenda
Awesome!
Vicky
These look so yummy! I just recently posted a recipe round-up of the best low carb lunches and this was one of my favorites! Here’s the whole list: http://www.tasteaholics.com/recipes/quick-bites/the-best-low-carb-lunches-to-go/
Carly
I was scouring the web to find some low-carb ground turkey recipes and couldn't help but to go with yours! SO GOOD! I used canned diced tomatoes instead of salsa because that's all I had but somehow it all still worked. Non-fat greek yogurt as a topping--perfect dinner! Thank you so much ^_^
Minnie
You dont know me but my name is Elisa and I bought The 3 Week Diet one month ago. I want to share my weight loss story with you, Brian. Since having my first child, I've been carrying around an extra 30 pounds. I've tried many diets and couldn't make anything work. Your diet just made sense and showed me that everything I was doing was wrong and a waste of my time.
The 3 Week Diet plan was so refreshing and so simple to follow. I did everything you said and lost 23 pounds in first three weeks. Im now starting the diet again from the start to lose the 7 pounds more. You have changed my life, and I am incredibly thankful. http://9nl.it/The3WeekDiet2015
Janet
These were absolutely delicious!!! I am going "gluten free", so I used organic gluten-free salsa too! I also prefer ground chicken over ground turkey, and also had to drain off a cup or more of liquid when cooking the zucchini with the chicken, to get the meat to brown up a bit.
I also made them in advance (in the morning) and chilled them until dinner time (which was nice); but when did bake them, they needed much more time than a half hour because the zucchini bottoms were still firm. So next time I either need to allow another 20 -30 more minutes for baking, or I will pre-cook the zucchini shells for 10-15 mins before filling, to reduce baking time.
Question: how long do you cook the zucchini & garlic before adding the chicken... is there a time suggested for this? I cooked it for a few minutes, but am not sure that was even necessary.
Great recipe!
Brenda
I prefer my zucchini to be more crisp as i like it like that. My hubby likes it precooked to be more tender as well so I did add that to the directions. I cooked the scooped out zucchini with the garlic for a good 5-6 minutes to soften. Thanks!
Nutmeg Nanny
I grew up eating a ton of stuffed zucchini because we grew soooooooo many of them during the summer. Love this taco twist....yum!
Andy
Confused about step 5. Am I cooking what I scooped out of the zucchini (and not the boats placed in the 9X13 baking dish)? Just a little perplexed without some additional clarification. Thanks.
Brenda
Sorry about that, just clarified it better. Yes the chopped zucchini is being cooked in the skillet.
Paula - bell'alimento
What a creative way to stuff a zucchini!
Cookin Canuck
It's so true that we, as food bloggers, forget about the simple, classic recipes sometimes when we're coming up with new recipes to test. Stuffed zucchini are some of my favorites and this recipe is making me salivate!
Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet
This is such a fun dish! My boat obsessed little boy will love it!
Martha @ A Family Feast
My family will LOVE this recipe! Looks delicious!
The Food Hunter
WOW! They look amazing. We grow zucchini so this will be perfect
Wenchypoo
My husband wants to know of you can pick these up and eat them with your hands, or use knife and fork? We happen to have small zucchinis in the fridge, and this recipe in them would make a nice snack. I think this is a hint for me to get started ASAP. 🙂
Brenda
If you cook the zucchini for just 15 minutes instead of 25 then will be firmer and not as soft and tender but better for grabbing and picking up. My hubby prefers the zucchini more tender and ate it with a fork and knife.