Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Cheesy, saucy, rich and hearty Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats are a new favorite in my house.

Whether you serve them on their own, with a side of rice or potatoes, or chopped up and tossed with pasta (my personal favorite for lunch leftovers), your family is likely to love these as much as we do.

As with most vegetable-filled meals, this particular one is always a bigger hit with adults than with the kids, but the vegetables get eaten nonetheless.

Stuffed Zucchini Boats

These Zucchini Boats have become a recent favorite for my lunches and I can hardly wait for zucchini season to be in full swing so that I can pick up zucchini at the Farmer’s Market once again.   Sausage Tortellini

I especially love these zucchini boats chopped up with angel hair pasta. I add a splash more marinara sauce over the pasta.

This has been my favorite lunch for over a week now, so I’m a happy camper that my kids are leaving all the leftovers for me.

I stumbled across these Cheddar and Sausage Zucchini Boats from The Garlic Diaries a while back and I couldn’t get them out of my head. They were absolutely delicious!

I’ve been making several different versions of these Zucchini Boats on repeat and I love how endlessly adaptable they are.

Not a fan of mushrooms? Skip them and mix in a different vegetable. Sausage isn’t your favorite? Switch it up with ground chicken, turkey, or beef!

Just a note though, if you decide to switch out the sausage, be sure to heavily season the meat with salt, pepper, and your favorite spices. Taste it when after cooking and make sure there is plenty of flavor there.

What To Do With Zucchini

About 8 years ago, I was the one asking “What am I supposed to do with all the zucchini?!”

We were planting our first garden and Sean asked me how many squash plants I wanted him to plant. In total cluelessness, I answered, “you can’t plant too many squash plants for me!” HA! Live and learn.

60+ squash plants later… I had far more squash than I knew what to do anything with!

If you too have an abundance of squash in the house, you can check out all 30 Zucchini Recipes I came up with that year as we baked it, roasted it, sauteed it, stir-fried it, dehydrated it, slivered it, chopped it, and spiralized it!

Round zucchini are awesome for stuffing with all kinds of deliciousness. I love this Round Zucchini Stuffed with Lemon Butter Orzo. And the fillings for these Mexican Stuffed Peppers and Spicy Italian Peppers works beautifully in zucchini too!

Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Slice zucchini in half lengthwise, scooping out the seeds and part of the zucchini flesh. Leave about 1/4-inch of zucchini along the skin of each halved squash.
2. Place the zucchini halves on a large baking sheet, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of oil and rub with your hands to coat. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bake for 15 minutes.
3. While the zucchini is baking, start the filling. Warm a teaspoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage. Cook and crumble into very small pieces. Transfer the cooked meat to a plate, leaving any grease in the pan.
4. Add the onion to the empty skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes until it begins to soften. Add the peppers, mushrooms, and garlic. Continue cooking for 3 minutes until the garlic is fragrant and the vegetables are tender. Season with remaining salt and pepper.
5. Return the sausage to the skillet. Add the marinara sauce and spices. Stir to combine and taste the mixture. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Add about ⅔ of the cheese and stir once more.
6. Generously fill each zucchini half with the filling, pressing it firmly into each zucchini. Top each zucchini with the remaining cheese. Bake for 10 minutes, until the cheese has melted. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve warm.

Get New Recipessent to your inbox!Sign me up!We never share your information with third parties and will protect it in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats

5 from 1 voteFresh zucchini is roasted and then filled with cheesy sausage and vegetables. Loaded with plenty of great flavors, this is a terrific way to make the most of the summer’s harvest! recipe inspired by The Garlic DiariesSavePinPrintReviewPrep Time: 25 minsCook Time: 20 minsTotal Time: 40 minsCourse: Main CourseCuisine: AmericanServings: 6 servings

Ingredients 

• ▢4 large or 6 medium zucchini
• ▢2 tablespoons olive oil divided
• ▢1 teaspoon kosher salt divided, adjust to taste
• ▢1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper divided, adjust to taste
• ▢1 pound regular or hot breakfast sausage Italian sausage works as well
• ▢1 small onion diced ½-inch pieces, ¾ cup worth
• ▢1 small red pepper diced ½-inch pieces, about 1 cup
• ▢8 ounces fresh mushrooms diced ½-inch pieces, about 3 cups
• ▢6 cloves garlic minced
• ▢1 1/2 tablespoons Italian seasonings
• ▢1/2 cup marinara sauce homemade is my preference
• ▢4 cups shredded mozzarella
• ▢Fresh Italian parsley chopped small for topping

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Slice zucchini in half lengthwise, scooping out the seeds and part of the zucchini flesh. Leave about 1/4-inch of zucchini along the skin of each halved squash.
• Place the zucchini halves on a large baking sheet, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of oil and rub with your hands to coat. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bake for 15 minutes.
• While the zucchini is baking, start the filling. Warm a teaspoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage. Cook and crumble into very small pieces. Transfer the cooked meat to a plate, leaving any grease in the pan.
• Add the onion to the empty skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes until it begins to soften. Add the peppers, mushrooms, and garlic. Continue cooking for 3 minutes until the garlic is fragrant and the vegetables are tender. Season with remaining salt and pepper and the Italian seasoning.
• Return the sausage to the skillet. Add the marinara sauce and spices. Stir to combine and taste the mixture. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Add about ⅔ of the cheese and stir once more.
• Generously fill each zucchini half with the filling, pile it on top to use all the filling. Top each zucchini with the remaining cheese. Bake for 10 minutes, until the cheese has melted. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve warm.