Want to treat yourself to the most amazing vegetarian zucchini boats? Our quick recipe can be topped with all sorts of goodies, sure to tempt your tastebuds.

Zucchinis are a beautiful and colorful addition to your veggie rack, and one of the easiest squashes to cook. These zucchini boats and all the recipe suggestions are vegetarian, with vegan alternatives, providing a healthy meal for you and anyone else you decide to share this delight with. Zucchinis are a peak-season vegetable, but often can be found all year round in warm climates.

For your zucchini boats vegetarian style, you’ll want to choose medium to large zucchini, so that you can stuff them nicely with your yummy fillings. You can even keep some of the flesh, to avoid food wastage, and use it as part of the filling or in an alternate recipe, such as chopped up on top of a campfire pizza or as a vegan pizza topping in general.

Zucchini Boat Vegetarian Recipe

Simple ingredients for a delicious meal.
(Foto: CC0 / Pixabay / wandawolke)

Yield: 3 portions (2 boats each)

Ingredients:

3 zucchini
1 small to medium leek, finely diced
2 cups of chopped chestnut mushrooms
1 tbsp olive oil, plus a little extra for drizzling
Salt and pepper
3 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
2 tbsp cream (soy cream works a treat in this recipe, but you can use any cream you feel comfortable cooking with)

Instructions:

Slice the zucchini lengthways.
Trim off the very end parts.
Carefully scoop out the majority of the insides (don’t toss them).
Fry the leek and mushrooms in the olive oil, until soft. You can also add in some finely diced zucchini flesh if you wish.
Take off the heat.
Pour in the cream and stir.
Add a sprinkling of salt and pepper.
Spoon the creamy leek and mushroom into your prepared zucchini boats, and press down.
Sprinkle the nutritional yeast over the top of the boats.
Drizzle a little extra olive oil over the top.
Bake at 350°F, until the top begins to brown, and the zucchini tenderizes. Remember that preheating your oven is often unnecessary, like in this recipe. Check after 15 mins and add a few minutes if they need a little more cooking. Large zucchini can take up to 25 minutes.

Alternative Fillings for the Zucchini Boats

The zucchini boats go with various vegetarian toppings.
(Foto: CC0 / Pixabay / qimono)

The combination of toppings could go on and on, as there is so much to choose from, but here are some of our favorite fillers. All ingredients are easy to source, inexpensive and pack a happy health boost.

Try different combinations of mushrooms, from white to wild.
Make a mushroom and sunflower pate filling to stuff the zucchini boats.
Make a chickpea and spinach filling by flash frying and then fill. You can also add the cream to this recipe.
Experiment with garlic. Both bulb and wild garlic will give you that delicious earthy flavor. You can add to any of the combinations. Find out where wild garlic grows to harvest our own.
Throw in some chopped olives for a burst of flavor.
Try different seasonings. Why not reach into your panty and try a dash of herbs or spices. Try this DIY Italian seasoning or dried oregano for example.
Tomato and chili can bring out a fiery flavor, if you prefer things a little hotter. Tinned tomatoes or passata will work just fine. Again, you could fry your leftover zucchini flesh with some garlic and chili, add the tomato and reduce a little before adding to the boats. Any leftover sauce can be used for garnish.
Use miso butter for an extra boost of umami.
You can top with cheese too, either before baking, or grate over the finished product. Vegan cheeses work equally as well here. You may wish to use a vegan parmesan substitute, as parmesan isn’t vegetarian — most hard cheese aren’t, by the way. With our vegan parmesan cheese recipe, you can even make your own.
Other garnishes you may wish to try could include sesame or pumpkin seeds, and pine nuts.
To serve, you could also drizzle with a little fresh lemon or lime juice — this will especially pick up any garlic and chili hints.

For a heartier recipe, quickly boil up some grains or pseudo-grains and add in some chopped roast veg of your choice. See how to cook these healthy grains and seeds in our guides:

What Else Can I Use Zucchini for?

Looking for more ideas?
(Foto: CC0 / Pixabay / MootikaLLC)

Zucchini is very versatile and can be added to many other recipes. Here’s just a couple to get you started:

If you want to skip the preparation part, find out whether you can eat zucchini raw.

Read more:

** Links to retailers marked with ** or underlined orange are partially partner links: If you buy here, you actively support Utopia.org, because we will receive a small part of the sales proceeds. More info.

Do you like this post?

Thank you very much for voting!

Tags: Guide Recipes Vegetarian