Easy Taco Zucchini Boats
on Aug 17, 2018, Updated Aug 22, 2024
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Quick and Easy Taco Zucchini Boats are made with a simple taco meat and corn mixture, cheese, and zucchini – all done in about 30 minutes. A flavorful zucchini boat recipe and a fast dinner recipe for those of you with a busy schedule!
Homemade Taco Zucchini Boat Dinner Recipe
Welcome to the final recipe of Zucchini Week! I’ve gotten you all kinds of great sweet and savory zucchini recipes this week such as Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Zucchini Cookies, Easy Healthy Make Ahead Zucchini Egg Bake, Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread, and Supreme Pizza Stuffed Zucchini and we are finishing up the week with these awesome Taco Zucchini Boats – because tacooooos! I’m so excited that you all loved this week as much as I did. It’s so fun to see your pictures on Instagram and hear your reviews. Thank you! I love the feedback.
Taco Zucchini Boats are awesome because they take all those great taco flavors and stuff them into an unassuming zucchini. Top it with cheese and some hot sauce and you have yourself one veggie filled dinner that is packed with flavor. My whole family loved digging into these and I loved that they were good for us and that they were on the table in a flash. You can use fresh sweet corn in the recipe if you have it. If you have zucchini in your garden, chances are you’ll have some sweet corn in there too.
Long live easy dinners that are a bit out of the box but taste like tacos and are full of vegetables. That’s a big win in my book. I can’t wait for you to make these too!
Tips and Tricks for Making Taco Zucchini Boats:
- Use small zucchini here (6 to 8 inches). Save the monster zucchini for grated zucchini dishes (like Easy Healthy Make Ahead Zucchini Egg Bake or Pineapple Zucchini Muffins).
- I consider 2 halves a serving size though one half is more realistic if serving children. This recipes is easy to scale up and down as needed.
- You can save the scooped out zucchini for zucchini bread, to saute with eggs in the morning, or you can even freeze it and throw it in smoothies (you’ll never know it’s there!).
- You can sub the ground beef for other kinds of meat if you prefer, such as ground turkey or chicken.
- You can serve this recipe with a side of chips and salsa and some seasonal fruit for dinner. My kids ate the zucchini well but definitely filled up on the chips too, so I was glad that I had them out.
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Easy Taco Zucchini Boats
Ingredients
- 4 small zucchini, about 6-8 inches long
- 4 ounces lean ground beef
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup prepared salsa
- 1 cup corn kernels
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- hot sauce, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Slice the zucchini in half from stem to blossom end. Use a spoon to scoop out the inner flesh and seeds, leaving about 1/2 an inch of zucchini shell.
- Place the zucchini, cut side up, in a rimmed baking dish (9×13 inch works well) and place in the hot oven for 15 minutes.
- While the zucchini cook, add the hamburger to a medium skillet over medium-high heat and cook for 3 minutes.
- Add the onion and cook for an additional 6-8 minutes or until the meat is cooked through and the onion is very tender.
- Add the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and salt. Stir well to combine.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the salsa and corn.
- When the zucchini are done baking, carefully remove from the oven. Distribute the meat mixture evenly among the zucchini.
- Top the stuffed zucchini boats with shredded cheddar.
- Turn your oven to broil and broil the zucchini boats until the cheese is melted and starts to bubble and brown, 3-5 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and top with chopped tomatoes and cilantro.
- Serve right away with optional hot sauce.
Notes
- I consider 2 halves a serving size though one half is more realistic if serving children.
- You can save the scooped out zucchini for zucchini bread, to saute with eggs in the morning, or you can even freeze it and throw it in smoothies (you’ll never know it’s there!).
- You can replace the ground beef with ground turkey or chicken if desired.
- You can cut the kernels off of two ears of sweet corn for this recipe. Great for using up leftover corn in the summer.
Nutrition
Taco Zucchini Boats hitting the spot? You might also like these recipes:
- Supreme Pizza Stuffed Zucchini
- Zucchini Boats with Tomatoes and Fresh Mozzarella
- Classic Zucchini Bread Recipe
- The Best Easy Zucchini Cornbread
- Chocolate Zucchini Cake
I love how varied and fun all the zucchini recipes are. I feel like it’s a wonder vegetable! If you can throw it in a cake and turn it into a healthy taco inspired dinner, it has a lot to offer!
Thanks for enjoying Zucchini Week with me. I can’t wait for you to try all of these recipes and let me know how you liked them. Enjoy from my kitchen to yours!
I loved this!!!! Mr. I-Refuse-to-Eat-Vegetables actually ate half of the zucchini and all of the filling! That is a major win in my book! I was given a 12″ zucchini, so I split it and used the recipe as given for the filling. The perfect amount. I had to leave off the tomatoes, because, um…they are a “vegetable” and I didn’t have Cilantro….I forgot that I forgot to water it…oops. I will definitely make this again. Thanks!!!!! 🙂
These sound so good – perfect for a healthy week night dish…and a great way to use zucchini!