Zucchini Taco Boats are full of flavor and cheesy goodness. Let’s face it tacos make everything better, especially zucchini.
Taco Boats
Tacos make a regular appearance on the menu around our house but every once in a while we need to mix things up a bit. Usually mixing it up means hard or soft shells but zucchini makes a good option my kids actually really like.
For filling these taco boats my preference is ground beef. I do like to go a bit leaner on the ground beef for these. A 90/10 works really well with little to no grease to discard.
To season the meat I keep homemade taco seasoning on hand. Here is my favorite recipe for taco seasoning, it is so simple and packed with flavor. You can also use prepackaged.
What I love about most taco recipes is that you can use whichever meat you like best or have on hand. Ground turkey, beef, or chicken, shredded leftover pulled pork or chicken, I can’t think of any meats that we won’t happily toss with taco seasoning.
When making taco boats, you’ll want to use medium-sized zucchini that are even in thickness and of similar length. This makes baking them simpler as they will cook evenly and all be ready at the same time, resulting in everyone having a perfect zucchini boat.
To make the boats start by scooping out the seeds and a little bit of flesh. Leave about a ¼ inch of zucchini along the skin. This will give you a hollowed out spot for the filling as well as remove the center portion that can get a bit mushy when cooked.
Don’t forget to roast the zucchini before adding the taco filling. However, be careful not to overcook the zucchini. Keeping the zucchini a little firm gives a nice texture and a slight crunch to the taco boat.
Taco-stuffed zucchini boats are perfect served on their own. But, sometimes I serve them on a bed of rice or top it with avocado, sour cream, or fresh crema. Maybe some black olives and jalapenos, have some fun with what you have on hand.
Zucchini Taco Boats
You’ll need the following ingredients to make this recipe:
- zucchini
- olive oil
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- ground beef
- taco seasoning
- onion
- black beans
- tomato sauce
- Mexican blend cheese
- fresh cilantro
Taco Boat Recipe
To make your taco boats, you’ll start by slicing the zucchini in half lengthwise, scooping out the seeds and part of the zucchini flesh. Leave about ¼-inch of zucchini along the skin of each halved squash.
Place the zucchini halves on a large baking sheet, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of oil and rub with your hands to coat. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Bake for 15 minutes.
While the zucchini is baking, start the filling. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook and crumble the ground beef. Season with taco seasoning while it cooks. Add the onion to the skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes until it begins to soften.
Add the black beans and tomato sauce. Stir to combine and add 1½ cups of shredded cheese. Generously fill each zucchini half with the filling, pile it on top to use all the filling. Top each zucchini with the remaining cheese.
Bake for 10 minutes, until the cheese has melted. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with cilantro and serve warm.
Zucchini Recipes
BBQ Chicken Zucchini Boats are a saucy, cheesy, deliciously hearty meal that is a refreshing change from the typical sandwiches we usually make with leftover chicken.
Zucchini Pizza Boats are proof that anything can be a carrier for the amazingness that is cheesy pizza toppings.
These Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats are baked to cheesy perfection and served warm for a winning dinner all summer long.
Fresh zucchini is shaved thin and tossed with olive oil and lemon juice before being sprinkled with salt, pepper, basil, and Parmesan to make this easy, fresh from the garden Zucchini Ribbon Salad.
Parmesan zucchini can best be described as crispy, and delicious, the best way possible to eat zucchini. Seriously so good my kids devoured seconds.
And if you have an abundance of summer squash on hand, there are a lot of great ways to cook it! From roasting to sauteeing, steaming to grilling, you really can’t go wrong using up your zucchini harvest. You can even air fry it.
Zucchini Taco Boats
Ingredients
- 4 large or 6 medium zucchini
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt divided, adjust to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper divided adjust to taste
- 1 pound ground beef
- 3 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 1 small onion diced very small, into ¼-inch pieces, ¾ cup worth
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed OPTIONAL
- ½ cup tomato sauce
- 3 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Slice zucchini in half lengthwise, scooping out the seeds and part of the zucchini flesh. Leave about ¼-inch of zucchini along the skin of each halved squash.
- Place the zucchini halves on a large baking sheet, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of oil and rub with your hands to coat. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Bake for 15 minutes.
- While the zucchini is baking, start the filling. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook and crumble the ground beef. Season with taco seasoning while it cooks. Add the onion to the skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes until it begins to soften.
- Add the black beans and tomato sauce. Stir to combine and add 1½ cups of shredded cheese. Generously fill each zucchini half with the filling, pile it on top to use all the filling. Top each zucchini with the remaining cheese.
- Bake for 10 minutes, until the cheese has melted. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with cilantro and serve warm.
Nutrition
Jo says
Hi! These look delicious! Question – how many zucchini halves does each person get? The size of the zucchini isn’t clear from the photographs (there isn’t anything easy to scale against), and it feels like half a hand length zucchini (the size of the medium to large ones here in our local market) wouldn’t be enough to feed a person as a complete meal, even with rice. But your recipe says it makes eight servings from four zucchini… Is it more filling than it looks? Thanks!
Mary says
That’s a good question, Jo. I eat one of these, my guys all eat two. (But I’m used to them eating more than most people do.) The zucchini pictured here were on the larger side, about 8-9 inches in length.
Jo says
Fantastic – many thanks 😀