Chicken Spinach Alfredo Zucchini Boats
These ooey gooey zucchini boats are a great way to incorporate some extra veggies into your diet while still packing a ton of flavor!
Servings: 8 boats
Equipment
- Ninja Foodi
- Baking Sheet
- Saute Pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 2 small to medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning, divided
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 4 large zucchini
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter, divided
- 1/2 white onion, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 oz chopped frozen spinach, unthawed
- 1 14 oz jar of alfredo sauce
- 1/2 c parmesan cheese, shredded
- 1 c ricotta cheese
- 3 tbsp rustic style shredded mozzarella
- 1/2 c Italian style panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp parmesan cheese, shredded
Instructions
Pressure Cooker Instructions (You can also pan fry or roast chicken)
- Add water to the bottom of your Ninja Foodi or Instant Pot. Place chicken on wire rack above the water and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and 1 tsp Italian seasoning.
- Turn pressure cooker setting onto high for 10 minutes. Allow chicken to naturally release for 10 minutes, then quick release remaining pressure. Remove chicken to a bowl or cutting board and shred. Set aside.
Zucchini Instructions
- While chicken cooks, preheat oven to 400°F. Trim the ends off the zucchini and cut them in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to carefully scrape out all of the seeds in the center, forming a boat for the filling.
- Drizzle zucchini with olive oil, rubbing it both on the skin and cut sides. Place cut side up on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 10 minutes while chicken is also cooking. Set aside until filling is made.
- While zucchini and chicken cook, place 1 tbsp of butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Once melted, add diced onion and garlic to the pan, sauteing 4-5 minutes or until just barely softened. Add frozen spinach, stirring to combine with onion and garlic. Saute for 1-2 minutes or until spinach is no longer frozen. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add alfredo sauce to the pan stirring frequently to prevent burning. Add 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, ricotta, remaining Italian seasoning, and pepper stirring well until smooth. Stir in shredded chicken until filling is well mixed.
- In a small bowl, melt remaining butter. Once melted, add panko and 2 tbsp parmesan and stir until well mixed and panko is coated with butter.
- Fill the zucchini boats with the chicken mixture. Top each boat with mozzarella followed by the crumb topping. Bake for an additional 8 minutes, then switch the oven to broil and broil for 2 minutes, or until crumb topping and mozzarella is golden brown. Serve immediately while hot.
Notes
If you don't have a Ninja Foodi or Instant Pot, you can either buy and shred a rotisserie chicken, pan fry the chicken breasts, or bake your chicken breasts in the oven.