I love zucchini. They’re so incredibly versatile and you can do so much with them. One of my favorite uses for them is making zucchini boats. These Greek zucchini boats are healthy and incredibly filling. Here’s how to do it!
Special Equipment or Ingredients Needed:
There aren’t many special kitchenware items that you’ll need for this recipe, but you will need an extra large casserole dish. I would recommend using at least a large 15×10 casserole dish for this recipe, unless you decide to make half the recipe at a time.
In terms of special ingredients, one of the ingredients I use that I feel really adds to the traditional Greek flavor of these zucchini boats is ground lamb. Depending on where you are, this may be hard to find unless you go to a butcher, so if that’s not an option, ground beef is also okay. You’ll also need Greek seasoning for this recipe. I LOVE Cavander’s Greek seasoning and use it a lot for rice, chicken, etc.
I also use tzatziki sauce to top the zucchini boats which is the sauce you traditionally find on gyros. This brings the flavor up a notch and I think it’s 100% necessary for this recipe. If you don’t have a tzatziki recipe you like, you can find my tzatziki recipe under the recipes tab as part of my Meatball Gyro meal.
Making Greek Zucchini Boats
One of the most important steps of this recipe is scooping out the seeds of the zucchini to make the greek zucchini boats. I typically use a spoon to do this carefully. You want to make sure you don’t accidentally scoop too far and scoop through the bottom of the zucchini. You also don’t want to break the sides of the zucchini boats otherwise your filling will overflow.
Aside from that, making the filling is easy and if you’re making my tzatziki recipe, that’s fairly easy too!
Here are some pictures to show you exactly what I did:
Recipe:
Greek Zucchini Boats
Equipment
- 15×10 or larger casserole dish
Ingredients
- 5 zucchini, cut in half, seeds scooped out
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder, divided
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb ground lamb
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 1 cup bell pepper, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp Greek seasoning, divided
- 10 oz frozen jasmine rice
- tzatziki sauce for serving
- feta cheese for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Place zucchini in a large 15×10 casserole dish.
- Sprinkle salt, pepper and half of the garlic powder on the zucchini. Bake 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat oil in a large, deep skillet over medium high heat.
- Add lamb and cook until fully browned, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add onion, bell pepper, minced garlic, and half of the Greek seasoning. Saute until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add rice and remaining seasonings along with a pinch of pepper. Cook, stirring well until the rice is no longer frozen.
- Scoop the filling into the partially cooked zucchini. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the zucchini reaches your preferred doneness.
- Top with tzatziki and feta cheese and serve!
- Enjoy!
Notes
These Greek zucchini boats were amazingly flavorful and satisfying. I hope that you enjoy this healthy dish as much as we do! I would love to hear your feedback so be sure to leave a review and a comment if you try them! If you liked this recipe and want to get notified of new recipes every week, make sure you subscribe to Growing Up Garlicky. You can also check out the recipes posted below or my recipes page here. Thanks everyone for reading!
Chicken Spinach Alfredo Zucchini Boats
Mushroom Swiss Burger Zucchini Boats
Caprese Chicken Stuffed Peppers
