Watermelon and Feta Salad, Digi Product Reviews

Watermelon and feta salad is sweet, juicy, salty, and tangy! This flavorful salad is always in my top 10 side dishes every summer!

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I love recipes that seem fancy but are surprisingly easy to make like these stuffed Zucchini Boats! They’re one of my favorite ways to use up all of the zucchini that I purchase from the store or the local farmers market during the summertime. It’s the perfect weeknight recipe for meat and veggie lovers and it’s very easy to customize. And since zucchini has a fairly neutral flavor, the Italian-inspired flavors of this dish really get to shine. So if you’re looking for something new to add to your dinner rotation this week, these delicious zucchini boats definitely will not disappoint!

There are several ways to make zucchini boats, but I decided to stuff my zucchini with Italian-inspired flavors like Italian sausage, a good quality marinara sauce, and shredded mozzarella cheese. Here’s everything that you need:

Zucchini: I like to purchase zucchini that are roughly the same size and length. I also try to steer clear of ginormous and extremely large zucchini as those tend to have an even higher water content than the regular sized zucchini.
Italian Sausage: Italian sausage is pre-seasoned with herbs and spices which adds lots of flavor to the filling. You can also use ground beef, ground turkey or even Italian turkey sausage instead.
Aromatics: Onion and garlic adds another layer of flavor to the sausage filling.
Seasoning: A simple mix of Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to add more flavor to the jarred marinara sauce and the rest of the sausage mixture.
Marinara sauce: I like the convenience of buying a good quality jar of marinara sauce. It’s crushed tomatoes with extra herbs & spices combined all in one jar!
Breadcrumbs: Just a few breadcrumbs helps add body and texture to the filling and helps soak up some of the extra moisture from the zucchini flesh.
Shredded Mozzarella: Mozzarella is sprinkled on top for a gooey finish to these tasty and delicious zucchini boats!

Recipe Tips and Variations!

Pre-bake the hollowed out zucchini boats prior to adding the filling. This gives the zucchini a few extra minutes to soften and can be done while the sausage mixture is cooking to save on time. Once the filling is added, the zucchini boats only have to bake a few more minutes before they are perfectly tender.
If you want to help reduce food waste add some of the scooped out zucchini flesh to the sausage filling. I only added half of the zucchini flesh in order to keep the mixture from getting too watery. You can easily freeze the other half and add it to a green smoothie for breakfast!
Be careful not to scoop too much of the zucchini flesh. You’ll want to leave a 1/4-1/2“ rim around each one so the zucchini is sturdy enough to hold the filling mixture.
Want to change up the flavor profile? Instead of Italian flavors try Mexican-inspired flavors. Season the ground meat with taco seasoning and salsa, add the filling to the zucchini boats, then top with shredded mexican cheese. Once the boats are done you can top them with some diced tomatoes, cilantro, or avocado. So good!!

Serving Suggestions

These zucchini boats are pretty hearty by themselves, but if you want to serve something with them on the side you could easily add a simple side salad, Caesar salad, or some crusty garlic bread. They would also taste great with seasoned rice on the side.

How to Store Zucchini Boats

I’ll be honest, I love eating leftover zucchini boats. Yes they do get a little soggy after being stored in the fridge, but they still have a little bite to them and all those wonderful flavors from the filling are still there. So if you ha