Italian Chicken Stuffed Zucchini (Healthy | Low Carb)
Healthy and filling Italian chicken stuffed zucchini! You'll love this zucchini boat recipe with chicken sausage, marinara, cheese, and sauted veggies.
Ingredients
- 4 medium zucchini about 2 lbs
- 1 ½ cup marinara sauce
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium red onion diced
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1 lb ground Italian chicken sausage
- ½ lb roma tomatoes diced
- ¼ cup flat leaf parsley chopped
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- ½ cup almond flour
- ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese optional
- 1 + cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- Garnishes- chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 F.
- Trim the ends of the zucchini and cut each one in half lengthwise. With a spoon, scoop out the zucchini flesh leaving about ½" thick on all sides. Finely chop 1 ½ cups of the flesh and then discard the rest (or use it for something else).
- In the bottom of a 9x13 pan, evenly spread the marinara sauce on the bottom. Add the zucchini halves to the pan, with the cut side up. Side aside.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute the onion, zucchini flesh, and salt and pepper. Saute for 5-7+ minutes until the onions are soft and the liquid from the zucchini has evaporated.
- Add the crumbled chicken sausage to the pan and cook it for 5 minutes to brown (it might not be cooked all the way through and that's ok). Turn off the heat. Stir in the diced tomato, parsley, vinegar, almond flour, and parmesan (if you're using it). Add more salt and pepper to taste.
- Spoon the sausage mixture into the zucchini halves, packing it in tight and slightly mounding it if needed to get all of the chicken mix in the zucchini.
- Bake the chicken zucchini boats for 30 minutes until the zucchini is tender. Top the zucchini with the mozzarella cheese and bake it for 10 more minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the sauce mix is bubbly.
- Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and enjoy!
Notes
- Ground Italian chicken sausage was used in the recipe, you can also buy the sausage links, remove the casing, and crumbled the sausage meat. Ground chicken, ground turkey, ground beef, or plant-based crumbles will also work in this recipe.
- To keep the recipe low carb, use a sugar-free marinara sauce like Rao's. It's also recommended to shred your mozzarella cheese from a block since pre-shredded cheese adds starch which doesn't melt as well (plus it sneaks in carbs).
- Bread crumbs or crushed crackers can be used in place of the almond flour, it's used as a binder to hold the stuffed mix together.
- This can be made entirely dairy free! Use either a plant-based option or just leave it out.
Nutrition
Calories: 465kcalCarbohydrates: 25gProtein: 29gFat: 31gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 89mgSodium: 2110mgPotassium: 993mgFiber: 6gSugar: 13gVitamin A: 2078IUVitamin C: 58mgCalcium: 240mgIron: 4mg
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