Stuffed Zucchini Recipe Ground Turkey & Easy To Adapt!

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Stuffed Zucchini Recipe Ground Turkey – I’m sharing my Stuffed Zucchini Recipe. This dinner is full of savory flavors and topped with melty cheese. Grab a fork and dig in for an easy dinner idea. It is easy to make and adapt this recipe! Flavorful, savory, and delicious! This recipe for stuffed zucchini is made with ground turkey, bell peppers, onion, jalapeno, and garlic cloves… and topped with Mozzarella cheese. You can easily make this vegetarian by swapping out the ground turkey and adding corn or black beans.

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I remember having an abundance of vegetables in the garden. We would give them away we always had so many. I miss those days. We received ours from friends and I was excited to make dinner with zucchini.

Stuffed Zucchini

I love them, but if you don’t like zucchini see this recipe for How to make stuffed bell peppers! That’s another option for you. Plus, find other recipes below.

For this stuffed zucchini recipe ground turkey, use any size of zucchini on the bigger side that you can carve out the insides of will work. You can use ground turkey or substitute it with; ground chicken, or lean ground beef, or make this recipe vegetarian by omitting the meat and using black beans instead.

This delicious dinner is filled with healthy ingredients and full of savory flavors, plus topped with melty cheese.

Stuffed Zucchini Recipe

Let’s cook this!

Stuffed Zucchini With Ground Turkey

Ingredients

• Zucchini medium-sized to large zucchini
  I had one giant zucchini. You can use 4 medium-sized (or more).
• 1 pound of Ground Turkey
• 2 garlic cloves
• Purple onion 1/2 cup
• Orange Bell Pepper
• Olive Oil
• Jalapeno 1 (optional) seeded and deveined
• 1- 14. 5 ounces Canned Diced Tomatoes with Green Peppers
• Montreal Chicken Seasonings
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Mozzarella Cheese ( in a brick or ball)
• Rice Pilaf (or other rice)
• 2 tablespoons of butter

Recipe Notes:

• If you like spicy foods you might use these Rotel canned tomatoes with habaneros peppers (buy 2 you need 14.5 ounces). Or Hunt’s fire-roasted tomatoes. Note: For smaller cans of the diced tomatoes buy as close to 14.5 ounces and use or save the rest for another recipe.
• If you don’t have the spice blend, it has; garlic, onion, salt, black pepper, red pepper, parsley, paprika, and green pepper. It’s a nice seasoning blend to have on hand!
• The stuffing is more than you need if making zucchini boats with 4 zucchini. I saved the extra to make tacos or tostadas the next day. Or use it to make more stuffed zucchini until you run out of the zucchini stuffing.
• You will need a chef’s knife, a spoon to core out the zucchini, a baking pan, a skillet, and a pot and spoon for the rice.

Ways to Adapt Stuffed Zucchini Recipes

• Can you use other meats to stuff zucchini?
  Yes, use ground chicken or lean ground beef.
• Can you make stuffed zucchini vegetarian?
  Yes, omit the meat and use black beans or corn as a substitute ingredient.
• Can I use pre-shredded cheese?
  Yes, but if you like melty, gooey, tasty cheese go for the whole Mozzarella or other block cheese and shred it yourself!

How To Make Stuffed Zucchini

Stuffed Zucchini Ground Turkey

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400F degrees

Prepare the Zucchini

1. Slice the zucchini in half lengthwise and carve out the center leaving a hallow hull.
2. Cut it into more sections if you use an extra large zucchini. I ended up with 4 big sections.
3. Prepare a baking pan by drizzling olive oil on the bottom. Add the zucchini pieces to the baking pan.
4. Take aluminum foil and make a tent over the zucchini and place the baking dish in the oven (bake it for 15-20 minutes).

You are prebaking them. Doing this shortens the overall bake time!

Make the Rice

• Make rice in a separate pot according to the directions. I used rice pilaf. It takes about 15 minutes. But, any rice will work. You will need 1 small package or 2-3 cups of cooked rice.

Prepare the stuffing for the stuffed zucchini

1. Wash, chop, and mince the vegetables.
2. Add olive oil to a non-stick pan or skillet. Sauce the vegetables. Push them to the side after the onion is translucent.
3. Add the ground turkey and begin breaking it up while cooking it. Add the seasonings. Sprinkling over the top.
   I eyeball this but, start with a teaspoon. You can always add more.
4. Mix the ground turkey with the sauteed vegetables—salt and pepper to taste.
5. Add the diced canned tomatoes with green peppers. Stir and let the ground turkey finish cooking.
6. When the rice is done, mix the prepared stuffing with the rice. Using a 2-1 ratio of stuffing to rice.
7. With hot pads, remove the baking dish with zucchini and put it on a protected surface or stove.
8. Add the mixture to the center of each of the baked zucchini.
9. Add shredded Mozzarella cheese to the tops of the stuffed zucchini.
10. Return them to the oven to melt the cheese and finish cooking (about another 15 minutes) or until the zucchini is tender (I like to keep it tented until the last 5 minutes).

After taking it out of the oven, let the stuffed zucchini cool for several minutes. Then serve it plated! Enjoy!

Do you like cooking stuffed zucchini with ground turkey? Or will you swap it out for another protein?

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Yield: 4

Stuffed Zucchini Recipe Ground Turkey

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Stuffed Zucchini Recipe Ground Turkey – I’m sharing my Stuffed Zucchini Recipe. This dinner is full of savory flavors and topped with melty cheese. Grab a fork and dig in for an easy dinner idea. It is easy to make and adapt this recipe! Flavorful, savory, and delicious! This recipe for stuffed zucchini is made with ground turkey, bell peppers, onion, jalapeno, and garlic cloves… and topped with Mozzarella cheese. You can easily make this vegetarian by swapping out the ground turkey and adding corn or black beans...

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Additional Time 20 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients

• Zucchini 4 medium-sized to large zucchini
• 1 pound of Ground Turkey
• 2 garlic cloves
• Purple onion 1/2 cup
• Orange Bell Pepper
• Olive Oil
• Jalapeno 1 (optional) seeded and deveined
• 1 - 14. 5 ounces Canned Diced Tomatoes with Green Peppers
• Montreal Chicken Seasonings
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Mozzarella Cheese (in a brick or ball)
• Rice Pilaf (or other rice)
• 2 tablespoons of butter

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400F degrees

Prepare the Zucchini

1. Slice the zucchini in half lengthwise and carve out the center leaving a hallow hull.
2. Cut it into more sections if you use an extra large zucchini. I ended up with 4 big sections.
3. Prepare a baking pan by drizzling olive oil on the bottom. Add the zucchini pieces to the baking pan.
4. Take aluminum foil and make a tent over the zucchini and place the baking dish in the oven (bake it for 15-20 minutes).

You are prebaking them. Doing this shortens the overall bake time!

Make the Rice

• Make rice in a separate pot according to the directions. I used rice pilaf. It takes about 15 minutes. But, any rice will work. You will need 1 small package or 2-3 cups of cooked rice.

How to make stuffed zucchini

1. Wash, chop, and mince the vegetables.
2. Add olive oil to a non-stick pan or skillet. Sauce the vegetables. Push them to the side after the onion is translucent.
3. Add the ground turkey and begin breaking it up while cooking it. Add the seasonings. Sprinkling over the top. I eyeball this but, start with a teaspoon. You can always add more.
4. Mix the ground turkey with the sauteed vegetables—salt and pepper to taste.
5. Add the diced canned tomatoes with green peppers. Stir and let the ground turkey finish cooking.
6. When the rice is done, mix the prepared stuffing with the rice. Using a 2-1 ratio of stuffing to rice.
7. With hot pads, remove the baking dish with zucchini and put it on a protected surface or stove.
8. Add the mixture to the center of each of the baked zucchini.
9. Add shredded Mozzarella cheese to the tops of the stuffed zucchini.
10. Return them to the oven to melt the cheese and finish cooking (about another 15 minutes) or until the zucchini is tender (I like to keep it tented until the last 5 minutes).

Notes

Ways to Adapt Stuffed Zucchini Recipes

• Can you use other meats to stuff zucchini? Yes, use ground chicken or lean ground beef.
• Can you make stuffed zucchini vegetarian? Yes, omit the meat and use black beans or corn as a substitute ingredient.
• Can I use pre-shredded cheese? Yes, but if you like melty, gooey, tasty cheese go for the whole Mozzarella or other block cheese and shred it yourself!

Additional Recipe Notes:

• If you like spicy foods you might use these Rotel canned tomatoes with habaneros peppers (buy 2 you need 14.5 ounces). Or Hunt’s fire-roasted tomatoes. Note: For smaller cans of the diced tomatoes buy as close to 14.5 ounces and use or save the rest for another recipe.
• If you don’t have the spice blend, it has; garlic, onion, salt, black pepper, red pepper, parsley, paprika, and green pepper. It’s a nice seasoning blend to have on hand!
• The stuffing is more than you need if making 4 zucchini boats. I saved the extra to make tacos or tostadas the next day. Or use it to make more stuffed zucchini until you run out of the zucchini stuffing.
• You will need a chef’s knife, a spoon to core out the zucchini, a baking pan, a skillet, and a pot and spoon for the rice.

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Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 633Total Fat 37gSaturated Fat 12gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 21gCholesterol 163mgSodium 995mgCarbohydrates 38gFiber 12gSugar 18gProtein 42g

Not all nutritional information is always 100% accurate.

Looking for more dinner ideas? Or meal planning ideas?

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