Turkey Zucchini Boats

Name: Turkey Zucchini Boats
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 8 medium zucchini; 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided; 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced; 1 lb lean ground turkey; 1 24-oz. jar tomato sauce; 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese; Salt; Pepper

There aren’t many summer dinner combinations better than zucchini boats. Minimal oven time? Check. Minimal ingredients? Check. Easy to prepare? Check. Delicious and customizable? Check and check.

There’s something incredibly satisfying about these Turkey Zucchini Boats. Maybe it’s the melted cheese on top. Okay… it’s definitely the melted cheese on top. They’re pretty simple to prepare, hard to mess up and totally customizable. If you’re not feeling turkey, you can also use ground chicken. If you don’t want to include meat, try using chopped tempeh or just nixing it altogether and doing cheese only. You can also easily up the veggies in these by adding different chopped veggies to the sauce - chopped carrots, diced mushrooms and crushed tomatoes all work well!

These zucchini boats pair really well with roasted veggies or a salad on the side. Scroll to the bottom to see how to get that perfect crisp on the sweet potato wedges and broccoli pictured here.

DID YOU TRY THIS RECIPE? MENTION @VEGGIESANDCHOCOLATE OR TAG #VEGGIESANDCHOCOLATE I’D LOVE TO SEE YOUR CREATIONS!

Turkey Zucchini Boats

Author: Sammi Haber Brondo | NYC Dietitian

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 40 MinTotal time: 45 Min

Ingredients

8 medium zucchini
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
1 lb lean ground turkey
1 24-oz. jar tomato sauce
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Salt
Pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 F.
Cut zucchini in half lengthwise. Remove the inner seeds and membrane by scooping them out with a spoon. Drizzle the zucchini with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and place in a baking dish. Set aside.
Add remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a large pan over medium high heat. Add diced onion and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and fragrant for about 5 minutes. Add in ground turkey, using a wooden spoon to break it apart. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 8 more minutes, until turkey is cooked through Season with salt and pepper.
Add the tomato sauce to the pan and stir. Let it simmer for another 5 minutes, until slightly thickened.
Pour the tomato sauce/turkey mixture evenly into zucchini boats. (Note: there might be extra leftover. Eat as is or store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days).
Bake zucchini in preheated oven for about 15 minutes, until zucchini has softened.
Remove zucchini from the oven and spoon cheese on top (about 2 tablespoons per zucchini boats). Put oven on broil and place zucchini boats back in oven. Broil for 5 minutes until cheese is melted and golden (watch carefully so that cheese doesn’t burn).

Notes:

To make the broccoli and sweet potato above, cut sweet potato into 1-inch wedges and broccoli into florets. Drizzle evenly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Place both in the oven at 400 F. After about 20-25 minutes, change oven to broil and broil for the broccoli for 3-5 minutes, until slightly crispy. Do the same for the sweet potato after about 35 minutes.