Healthy Zucchini Boats

Looking for a healthy lunch or easy meal idea? Try these Healthy Zucchini Boats! They take less than 15 minutes to make and only 3 ingredients. They are the perfect combination of zucchini, lunchmeat, and cheese.

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These stuffed zucchini boats are a great idea for a healthy snack or part of a nutritious meal. Pair them with your favorite protein-packed salad for dinner or just heat one or two up on the go for a snack. They are so easy, but still satisfying and filling.

If you like zucchini or easy dinner recipes, you will love my healthy zucchini taco boats and zucchini turkey burgers!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Only 3 Ingredients: These cheesy zucchini bites require only 3 easy ingredients: zucchini, ham, and shredded cheese. It’s great for a hurried meal or eating healthy on a budget.
• Quick and Easy Recipe: This low-effort recipe is the perfect lunch, dinner, or snack. In less than 15 minutes, you have a delicious and nutritious warm zucchini boat.
• Gluten Free, Low Carb, and Low Calorie: Not only is this recipe gluten-free, it’s also low carb and low in calories! It’s perfect if you eat keto or are just watching your carb intake.

Ingredients

• Ham or Turkey Lunch Meat: You can use your favorite lunchmeat for these low-carb zucchini boats, whichever brand or type of meat you prefer.
• Zucchini: Fresh zucchini, cut into halves, is the base for these boats. You don’t even need to scoop out the pulp! Have extra zucchini? Try this zucchini hummus for another zucchini-inspired snack.
• Cheddar Cheese: Shred up your favorite cheddar cheese to melt over the top of your boats. You could also use Gouda, provolone, Swiss, or any cheese you like!

See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.

Variations & Dietary Modifications

Remember that when you swap ingredients, it will change the nutritional values and calories from what you see in the recipe card at the end of this post.

• Try a Different Meat: Instead of lunch meat, you can use shredded chicken, healthy pulled pork, ground chicken or turkey, or even ground beef to stuff your zucchini boats. You may need to scoop out a little of the center pulp so the meat stays inside the zucchini.
• Make Them Vegetarian: Try these healthy stuffed zucchini with tofu or beans instead of meat to make them vegetarian. You could also use vegan cheese and make them vegan!
• Sauce It Up: Add another punch of flavor to these zucchini boats by adding a little sauce. You could use buffalo sauce, healthy enchilada sauce, homemade tomato sauce, or a BBQ sauce low in sugar to change the flavor completely. 

How to Make Healthy Zucchini Boats

Enjoy these easy zucchini boats as a snack, lunch, or part of dinner! They only take 15 minutes to make, including the time spent cutting the zucchini and preheating the oven to 425°F.

Step 1: Prepare the Zucchini. Wash and slice your zucchinis, then place the ham and turkey on top.

Step 2: Bake and Add Cheese. Bake the boats at 425°F for 10 minutes. Then remove them from the oven and top each boat with cheddar cheese and broil for a couple minutes.

Expert Tips

• Don’t Remove the Pulp: For these zucchini boats, you don’t need to remove the pulp from the middle. Leave it intact and just cook the lunchmeat on the flat top of the zucchini.
• Par Bake: Your zucchini may be a little hard after only baking for 10 minutes, so par-bake it before adding the lunchmeat to soften it. Par-bake means to bake for a few minutes, then cool and finish assembling before baking again.
• Season the Zucchini: Keep your keto stuffed zucchini from being bland and season the zucchini with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, or a spice blend before assembling the boats and baking them. 

Serving Suggestions

These healthy stuffed zucchini are a great snack or lunch option for a busy day. Since they are fairly low in calories, you would need to enjoy another dish or two with them to make a meal for dinner. They also make a great low-carb, gluten-free zucchini appetizer for parties, especially if you cut them smaller!

• For a quick lunch or light dinner, try pairing these zucchini boats with a garbanzo bean cucumber salad or high protein macaroni salad to make a full meal.
• If you scoop out some of the zucchini pulp, use it to make some yummy zucchini oatmeal balls or zucchini brownies.
• Make these zucchini bites as an appetizer along with cottage cheese spinach artichoke dip.

Healthy Zucchini Boats Recipe FAQs