Hollowed zucchini boats stuffed with sautéed ground turkey, carrot, zucchini, white onion, taco seasoning, and salsa topped with feta cheese. These Southwest Zucchini boats are packed with flavor and an easy weeknight dinner.
Y’all, if you are looking for a delicious but super simple weeknight dinner, these Southwest Zucchini Boats are where it’s at! With only 20 minutes of effort on your end and 30 minutes in the oven, dinner will be fully ready in under an hour. This dish offers a savory with a hint of spice taste, soft yet crunchy texture, and contains all of the colors. As I always mention, try to “eat the rainbow” and consume a variety of fruits and vegetables so that you can reap the health benefits of each color. The next time you feel that you have no time to make a nutrient-packed dinner, pull out this recipe and thank me later.
Southwest Zucchini Boats Ingredients
- Zucchini
- Carrots
- White onion
- Avocado oil
- Ground turkey
- Taco seasoning
- Salsa
- Feta cheese
Nutrition Content
- This dish is a low-carb dinner option (25g of carbohydrates per serving) that can aid in weight loss, if desired.
- Ground turkey and feta cheese provide ample amounts of protein (25g of protein per serving) that aid in hair, skin, nail, muscle, and tissue growth and repair.
- Avocado oil and feta cheese provide the fat in this dish to help maintain satiety and post-meal satisfaction.
- Salsa is an AMAZING way to add all of the flavor to your food without the excess carbs and fats.
Health Benefits
- Zucchini is a rich source of vitamin A (eye health), vitamin C (immune health), and antioxidants (prevents free radical damage).
- Carrots provide vitamin A as well, biotin (hair, skin, and nail health) and potassium (healthy heart rate, prevents muscle cramping).
- Salsa offers vitamin C as well and lycopene (may reduce risk of cancer).
- White onions are an excellent source of folate (needed to synthesize DNA and other genetic material) and vitamin B6 (proper nervous system function).
Southwest Zucchini Boats
Equipment
- Oven
- Cutting Board
- Chef knife
- Sauté pan
- Wooden spoon
- Bowl
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchini, halved and insides scraped out
- 1 tsp avocado oil
- ¼ cup white onion, chopped
- 4 baby carrots, halved and chopped
- 3 oz ground turkey
- 1 tsp taco seasoning
- ½ cup salsa, ¼ cup for cooking, ¼ cup for a topping after cooking
- 1 oz crumbled feta cheese with mediterranean herbs found at Trader Joe's
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Halve the zucchini, scrape out the insides, and place in a bowl. Halve and chop the carrots and onion, place in the same bowl.
- Place a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the avocado oil and use to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the zucchini, carrots and onion. Let sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the ground turkey to the vegetable mixture in the sauté pan. Cook until there is no more pink. Add the taco seasoning and salsa to southwest stuffing. Let the flavors combine and the mixture cook for 1 more minute.
- Place the scraped zucchini boats on a cooking sheet. Add the southwest stuffing the inside of the zucchini boats. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Plate the zucchini boats and top with the feta cheese and salsa.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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