From the Garden: Grilled Stuffed Zucchini Boats
Grilled stuffed zucchini boats are a delicious combination of garlicky buttery flavor, salty melty cheese and char from the grill. This recipe doesn’t take much prep – some scooping and a quick sauté – and uses ingredients often already on hand. Elevate the simple garlic, cheese base with any number of additions – from pancetta to fresh herbs to nuts to spicy jalapeño.
While we love garlic, my 5-year old is less of a fan. After reducing the garlic in her boat, she loved the zucchini “smiles” (her name for them). Adjusting the amount of garlic for different eaters is easy with this recipe, just add more or less garlic to each boat. Remember to mark the boats with more garlic; we place a slice of garlic visibly on garlicky zucchini boats.
Check out some other veggie recipes:
Grilled Stuffed Zucchini Boat Ingredients
Zucchini: Medium to large zucchini work best for this recipe so there is plenty of flesh after scooping out a small channel for the stuffing.
Garlic: Sautéed garlic is the predominant flavor, adding a nutty, spicy goodness to the zucchini.
Cheese: Mozzarella is a wonderful melty cheese. Pecorino Romano or Parmesan adds a nice salty kick. We purchase blocks of Pecorino Romano and Parmesan and shred on a box shredder or coarse microplane, but pre-shredded cheese is fine.
Breadcrumbs: Breadcrumbs provide a nice crunch for the stuffing. We prefer panko because it is light and airy, but unseasoned bread crumbs work just as well.
Paprika: Paprika adds vibrant color and a very slight sweet pepper flavor.
How to Make Grilled Stuffed Zucchini Boats
Ingredients
2 medium sized zucchini (6-8″) or 1 large (12″)
2 teaspoons butter
2 cloves minced garlic
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 cup shredded or sliced mozzarella
1/4 cup shredded Pecorino Romano or Parmesan
2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
sprinkle of paprika
salt and pepper to taste
Prepare the Zucchini Boats
Preheat the grill to 350-400 °F. Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise. With a spoon, scoop out the seeds and a small channel in the middle of the zucchini, leaving most of the flesh.
Sauté Garlic
Melt the butter in a small sauce pan over low heat. Add minced garlic and cook until garlic is golden brown, about 3 minutes.
Stuff the Zucchini Boats
Spoon the butter and garlic mixture into the hollowed-out zucchini, then add lemon juice evenly between zucchini halves. Top with mozzarella, Pecorino Romano, and panko, and spread the filling evenly over each zucchini. Sprinkle with paprika. Season to taste with salt and pepper
Grill Stuffed Zucchini Boats and Enjoy
Place on grill, skin side down and cook until zucchini is tender, about 25 minutes for a 6″-8″ zucchini and 35-40 minutes for a 12″ zucchini. Do not turn over the zucchini. Test tenderness with a fork, but be careful not to pierce through the skin as the filling will leak into the grill. Use spatula to remove zucchini from grill.
Serve full stuffed zucchini boat or cut into 1″-2″ slices.
Elevate the Boats With Tasty Additions
Measurements for 2 medium zucchini.
Pancetta: sauté 3 tablespoons chopped pancetta with garlic and add to hollowed out zucchini
Bacon: sprinkle 3 tablespoons pre-cooked bacon on top of boat after removing from grill
Jalapeño: add chopped jalapeño either sautéed with garlic or after grilling
Nuts: sauté 1 tablespoon chopped nuts (almonds, pine nuts, walnuts) with garlic
Olives: top grilled boats with 1 tablespoon chopped black, green, or kalamata olives
Fresh basil or parsley: chop 3 tablespoons fresh basil or parsley and sprinkle on grilled zucchini before serving
Fresh tomato: top grilled boats with 3 tablespoons chopped tomato
What will you add to your grilled stuffed zucchini boat? Let us know.
Grilled Stuffed Zucchini Boats
If you're looking for an easy, garlicky, buttery, cheesy zucchini recipe, try grilled stuffed zucchini boats.
Ingredients
- 2 medium sized zucchini (6-8") or 1 large (12")
- 2 teaspoons butter
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1/4 cup sliced or shredded mozzarella
- 1/4 cup shredded Pecorino Romano or Parmesan
- 2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
- sprinkle of paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the grill to 350-400 °F.
- Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise. With a spoon, scoop out the seeds and a small channel in the middle of the zucchini, leaving most of the flesh.
- Melt the butter in a small sauce pan over low heat. Add minced garlic and cook until garlic is golden brown, about 3 minutes.
- Spoon the butter and garlic mixture into the hollowed-out zucchini, then add lemon juice evenly between zucchini halves.
- Top with mozzarella, Pecorino Romano and panko, and spread the filling evenly over each zucchini.
- Sprinkle with paprika. Season to taste with salt and pepper
- Place on grill, skin side down and cook until zucchini is tender, about 25 minutes for a 6"-8" zucchini and 35-40 minutes for a 12" zucchini. Do not turn over the zucchini. Test tenderness with a fork, but be careful not to pierce through the skin as the filling will leak into the grill. Use spatula to remove zucchini from grill.
- Serve full stuffed zucchini boat or cut into 1"-2" slices.
Notes
Add-ins - measurements for 2 medium zucchini:
- Pancetta: 3 tablespoons chopped pancetta sautéed with garlic
- Bacon: 3 tablespoons pre-cooked bacon sprinkled on top of boat after removing from grill
- Jalapeño: chopped jalapeño either sautéed with garlic or added after removing boats from grill
- Olives: 1 tablespoon chopped black, green or Kalamata olives
- Nuts: 1 tablespoon chopped pine nuts, almonds or walnuts sautéed with garlic
- Fresh basil or parsley: 3 tablespoons chopped basil or parsley sprinkled on top after removing boats from grill
- Tomato: 3 tablespoons chopped tomato sprinkled on top after removing boats from grill
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Looks easy and fun to make and tasty. Bob