Low Carb Zucchini Boats
Ingredients
  • 3-4 medium zucchini
  • 1lb ground beef
  • 1 small onionfinely chopped
  • 1 jalapenochopped
  • 1clove garlicminced
  • 1 eggbeaten
  • 1teaspoon salt
  • ½teaspoon pepper
  • ½teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1teaspoon Mexican chili powder
  • 1teaspoon Mexican oregano
  • 2 8-oz. cans plain tomato sauce
  • 2cups shredded Monterey Jack cheeseyou could use Pepper Jack if you want to kick it up a notch
Instructions
  1. Coat a 9×13 baking dish with a little cooking spray. I just use an olive oil mister. Halve your zucchini and scoop out the insides to make a nice “boat” for your filling. I can fit 6 halves in my baking dish, but if your zucchini are on the smaller side, you could fit up to 8. Lay your zucchini halves in the baking dish and set aside.
  2. Now, this next step is optional, but since my husband hates crunchy veggies, and the onion and jalapeno don’t get really soft in the meat mixture when it bakes, I sauté my onion and jalapeno in a pan over medium-high heat until they are soft. Then I add my garlic and cook it for another couple of minutes. This process adds about 10 minutes to the prep time.
  3. Scrape the cooked onion, jalapeno, and garlic into a large bowl. Add in the ground beef, egg, salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, oregano, one can of tomato sauce, and ¾ of the shredded cheese. I use my hands so as not to over-mix, but you could use a big spoon or spatula, but you just need to lightly toss all the ingredients together, just until they are well combined. If you mix the meat too much, it will be tough when it comes out of the oven.
  4. Take a spoon, and scoop the filling into each of the zucchini halves. I pile mine really high, so you get a good portion of meat to zucchini. This makes a lot of filling, so you can really fill them up to use up all the meat. Once you have all the “boats” full, take your second can of tomato sauce and pour equal amounts over each of them.
  5. Bake the zucchini boats for 45 minutes. Then, remove the dish from the oven and sprinkle the remaining Monterey Jack all over the top. Cook another 10 minutes or so, until the cheese is all melted. Let the dish rest for about 10-20 minutes so it can set up. Since this dish uses no breadcrumbs to really hold the meat filling together, it tends to fall apart a bit if you try to eat it right away. When you let it sit a few minutes, the cheese in the mixture tightens back up and holds together better.
Recipe Notes

Low Carb Zucchini Boats in roasting pan in overn

This recipe is one of my favorite go-to meals, especially in the summer, when I always have a ton of zucchini to use.

You can change up the flavor profile by using half feta cheese and half Mozzarella, red bell pepper, Italian seasoning, and half ground beef and half Italian sausage (instead of using the Monterey Jack, jalapeno, Mexican spices, and all ground beef)to make a more Italian meal, which is just as scrumptious as the original recipe.

I hope you’ll give this recipe a try. It really is so good, and if you just add a side salad, you have a complete dinner.