Stuffed Zucchini Boats With Ground Beef

I think we should call August the ‘Zucchini Month’, if you have a vegetable garden you probably know what I’m talking about. It’s my third recipe this month with zucchini as the main ingredient and this one is on our top list of zucchini recipes in this house. Stuffed zucchini boats with ground beef and a creamy bechamel sauce on top, who can resist?! This recipe makes enough to serve 4 people and also kids love it. Each zucchini bite is blended with the meaty sauce and creamy bechamel, making it irresistible to picky eaters.

I know that making a bechamel sauce might sound intimidating to some of you but believe me it’s simple if you follow my steps. If you are looking for more similar recipes, why don’t you try my stuffed eggplants with feta cheese on top or my boureki (zucchini and potatoes) casserole to use up your zucchini.

Why you should try my recipe

• Hearty, delicious and healthy recipe to use up your zucchinis.
• Big hit with adults and children.
• Great tips on how to make the perfect creamy bechamel sauce.
• Substitutes for a recipe with dairy-free bechamel sauce.

Ingredients & How-to

To make these stuffed zucchini boats with ground beef and bechamel sauce on top you are going to need zucchini, ground beef, mushrooms, bell pepper, onion, garlic, tomato paste, olive oil, red wine, bay leaves, salt and pepper.

1. Preparing the ground beef filling & the zucchini

01. I start by chopping the ingredients for the ground beef filling. I like to use three or four mushrooms that I cut into slices and one bell pepper that I cut into strips. You can use any color of bell pepper that you have available in your fridge. Finally, I chop an onion into cubes and two garlic cloves roughly. Now, I’m ready to start cooking the ground beef.

02. I add a little bit of olive oil to the bottom of a pan and cook the chopped onion first until it gets soft and clear. Then it’s time to brown the ground beef. Using a wooden spatula, I break down the ground beef and let it cook for a few minutes until it has a nice brown color. I like to add some red wine at this point, which will give my filling an extra kick in the flavor. I leave it for a couple of minutes until the alcohol has evaporated.

03. Then I add two tablespoons of tomato paste. If you don’t have tomato paste, you could use instead ⅓ cup of passata tomato or crushed tomatoes. We don’t need much, as we don’t want the filling to be very saucy.

Now it’s time for the rest of the chopped veggies to go in, along with a glass of water and the seasoning. I only add a little bit of salt, freshly ground pepper and a couple of bay leaves. The bay leaves are optional but I highly recommend them as they will add some extra flavor and aromas to the filling. I cover the pan with a lid and let it cook over medium to low heat for about half an hour.

04. While the ground beef filling is being cooked, let’s prepare the zucchinis and the bechamel sauce. To make the stuffed zucchini boats, I use 4 medium-sized zucchinis that I cut in half lengthwise after removing the hard ends. Using a spoon, I remove the flesh from each zucchini boat carefully not to break any of the exterior.

05. I leave around 1cm/ 0.5in of flesh all around, enough to be able to cook whilst in the oven and give me a good balance of flavor with the rest of the ingredients. Then, I add a little bit of oil to the bottom of a tray and I place the 8 zucchini boats in, ready to be filled.

2. Making The Bechamel Sauce

Making the bechamel sauce is not overly complicated and takes around 10 minutes, but you need to be there, on top of the pot for those 10 minutes. The ingredients are really simple, all you need is butter, flour, milk, salt, nutmeg and an egg yolk.

01. We need the same amount of butter and plain flour. For this recipe, I use 50 grams of butter and 50 grams of plain flour or for US metrics that will be ½ stick of butter and ¼ cup & 1 tablespoon of flour. I start by adding the butter to the pot and let it melt over medium heat. Careful not to let it burn, we just want it to melt.

02. Then I add the flour to the pot and using a whisk, I combine the flour with the melted butter and let it cook for a minute until it gets a golden brown color. This will prevent your bechamel from having a floury taste. For this minute of cooking the flour, you need to continue whisking as you want to prevent getting any lumps.

03. Now it’s time to start adding the milk. My milk is at room temperature and I have it in a jar so it’s easy to pour into the pot slowly without creating a mess on my worktop. I add the milk little by little and not all at once. So the process is, add a little bit of milk then vigorously whisk and let it get absorbed by the roux. Then repeat until all milk is done. As you add more milk, you will see that the sauce is becoming more runny whereas at the start it will look more doughy.

04. When all the milk is added, the bechamel sauce is basically ready, so I turn off the heat and now it’s time for the spices. Just a little bit of salt for taste and some ground nutmeg, a key ingredient for the greek style bechamel sauce. I also like to add one egg yolk that will give my sauce a nice light yellow color but this is completely optional.

05. Now it’s time to assemble the zucchini boats and bake them. I add a couple tablespoons of the ground beef filling to each zucchini boat and then using a ladle, I add the bechamel sauce on top of each zucchini.

06. When they are all filled, put the tray in the oven and bake for about an hour until the bechamel sauce has some brown spots on top but it’s not burnt and the zucchinis are nice and tender.

Substitutions

• For a dairy-free bechamel sauce, you could use olive oil instead of butter and an alternative milk of your choice.
• Instead of tomato paste, you could use ⅓ cup of crushed tomatoes or passata.
• For some extra goodness, you could add some more vegetables in the meaty sauce like chopped carrots, peas or corn. Be creative!

Serving suggestions

You can serve these stuffed zucchini boats with ground beef as a main with some salad on the side. We usually have 2 zucchini boats per person, or one in case of my toddler. I recommend having them warm and fresh when they come out of the oven, and the bechamel is nice and creamy.

Storage

If you have any leftovers, then I recommend storing the zucchini boats in the fridge and consume them within the next couple of days. When you are ready to eat them, just warm them up in the microwave for a couple of minutes or in the oven for 4-5 minutes. I don’t recommend freezing them, as the zucchinis will get very watery and break down when defrosted. However, you could make the ground beef in advance and freeze it or store it in the fridge and continue with the recipe on the next day.

FAQ

• What can I put on the zucchini boats instead of bechamel sauce? If you are on a low-carb diet or simply can’t be bothered making the bechamel sauce, then you could just grate some hard cheese like cheddar or parmesan on top.

• How can I make the bechamel sauce without dairy? You could use oil instead of butter in the same ratio with flour, 1:1. For example, if you use 50gr of oil then you will need 50gr of flour or if you prefer to use spoons then 4 tablespoons of oil with 7 tablespoons of flour. Instead of cow’s milk, you could use any dairy-free milk of your choice, like coconut or almond milk.

• Can little children have stuffed zucchini boats with ground beef? Yes, of course. Stuffed zucchini boats are very healthy as they contain veggies and protein. If you are concerned about the salt intake, or you are sharing with a baby under 12 months, then I recommend not adding any salt to the ground beef filling and to the bechamel sauce.

• What can I do with the leftover bechamel sauce? If you have any leftover bechamel sauce, you could store it in the fridge for up to 2 days. You could use it on top of pasta, casseroles or roasted veggies.