These low-carb zucchini boats were a hit for this carb-loving family! Featuring flavorful shredded chicken, green enchilada sauce, a boat load of shredded cheese, and your favorite taco toppings, you will be sure to make these again and again!
Shredded Chicken
To start off, you’re going to make your shredded chicken. You could use either an electric pressure cooker, or buy a rotisserie chicken and shred it.
I used the pressure cook setting on my ninja foodi, which is the best Christmas present my husband has ever bought me! We have the 8 qt deluxe model found here. When I make my chicken, I add 1 cup of water to the bottom. I then use the metal cooking rack that came with it as well as a springform pan. For this recipe, I put the chicken in the springform pan with some enchilada sauce, cilantro, onion, taco seasoning, garlic and salt and pepper. I put the pressure cooking lid on, and cook it on high for 15 minutes doing a quick release after 10 minutes, then shred.
No Instant Pot/ Foodi?
Now, if you’re using shredded rotisserie chicken, what I would recommend is first sautéing your onion and garlic in a skillet with some olive oil. After the onion and garlic are softened, then add in the chicken, taco seasoning, salt and pepper, enchilada sauce and cilantro. Basically, you want to soften the veggies, but reheat the chicken.
Zucchini
To prepare the zucchini, you trim them and cut them in half lengthwise. After cutting them in half, you’re going to carefully scoop out all of the seeds with a spoon. Make sure you don’t scrape all the way through to the backside or break the sides, like I did. Whoops!
The bottom zucchini has a broken side. Oops!
After you scrape out the seeds, you’re going to rub each of the zucchini with a bit of olive oil. You’ll also want to season them liberally with salt and pepper. You’ll bake them for 15 minutes while the pressure naturally releases from the chicken. (Or while you’re heating it up if you’re using a rotisserie chicken.) After 15 minutes, remove the zucchini from the oven and stuff them with the chicken. You’ll then pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the top and top each one with pepper jack. You’ll pop it back into the oven to finish cooking the zucchini for approximately 10-15 minutes.
Toppings
Once the zucchini is fork tender and the cheese has melted, that’s when I add my toppings. You can add really any taco toppings you want, but we used cilantro, green onion, pico de gallo, sour cream and queso fresco.
Other yummy topping ideas are:
- Roasted corn
- Black beans
- Jalapeño slices
- Guacamole
- Lettuce
- Olives
There you have it, folks! Smothered and covered salsa verde chicken enchilada zucchini boats! Please feel free to leave a comment letting me know what you think! If you like these, feel free to check out my other recipes here.
Salsa Verde Chicken Enchilada Zucchini Boats
Ingredients
- 2 medium-large chicken breasts
- 2 tbsp taco seasoning
- 1 1/2 tsp salt, divided
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 large can green enchilada sauce, divided
- 1 cup water (if using electric pressure cooker)
- 1 cup yellow onion, diced
- 1 bunch cilantro, chopped and divided
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 5 medium-large zucchini, trimmed, seeds scooped out, halved lengthwise
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 8 oz bag shredded pepperjack cheese
- Optional toppings: green onion, pico de gallo, sour cream, queso fresco, roasted corn, black beans, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- In an electric pressure cooker, add 1 cup water to the bottom. Then, use the wire rack accessory and set a pressure cooker safe dish on it, placing both chicken breasts in the dish. Season the chicken with the taco seasoning and half of the salt and pepper. Then, pour 1/3 of the can of enchilada sauce, 1/2 of the chopped cilantro, all of the garlic and all of the onion over the top, mixing well.
- Turn on the pressure cook setting on high for 15 minutes, allowing pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes when finished before quick releasing any remaining pressure. After pressure has released, remove chicken to a bowl or dish with sides and finely shred.
- While the chicken is cooking, arrange the zucchini in a large casserole dish (or two medium sized dishes). Drizzle the olive oil over the zucchini. Rub to ensure each one is fully coated. Season with remaining salt and pepper. Bake cut side up, uncovered for 15 minutes.
- When the zucchini finishes, stuff it with the shredded chicken. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the top of all of the zucchini boats and top each one with the pepper jack cheese. Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until zucchini is fork tender and cheese is melted.
- When finished, top with remaining cilantro and any other toppings of your choice, such as green onion, pico de gallo, queso fresco, sour cream, guacamole, etc. Serve and enjoy!