Enchilada Zucchini Boats
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These Enchilada Zucchini Boats are one of the recipes that I’ve had on my mind for a long time and finally made it a reality now that it’s summer and zucchini is in massive abundance at our house! One of my all time favorite Vegetarian Zucchini Boats Recipes.
I had one of those weekends where I wasn’t exactly sad to see Monday get here. We spent the greater part of the past few days traveling between several different vets trying to figure out what was wrong with our cat (who wasn’t eating and who had been throwing up), how we could afford the surgery she needed, and if she was even going to make it. I’m happy to report that our poor kitten is okay.
Apparently she swallowed a string (a freakin’ string!) which got caught on her tongue and wrapped itself around her insides. Also apparently, this is a very common things with young cats and the vet said they do this particular surgery all the time. WHO KNEW? She still has a bit of a fever and isn’t eating much so the vet is keeping her one more day. Our house is so much quieter without her sprinting around and doing everything in her power to annoy the dogs (isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?).
I’ll keep you updated on how our dear Crookshanks is doing. I’m expecting a full recovery within a week.
SO, these Enchilada Zucchini Boats. I made these on somewhat of a whim. As I’ve mentioned about 10 times now, one of the many things that I have growing in my garden this summer is zucchini. It grows at a VERY ridiculous rate and I’m currently picking about 2-3 new zucchinis each day. At the beginning of the season, that doesn’t seem like a lot because I’m excited to eat veggies from my garden and I’ll eat a whole raw zucchini as an afternoon snack. But now….now our kitchen counter is stacked high with squash and I get a bit stressed trying to eat it all before it goes bad (which btw, fresh zucchini lasts WAY longer than anything you’ll buy at the store).
Since I had the zucchini, some leftover enchilada sauce, and everything else I needed for the idea I had in my head for this dish, I went for it! Since I’m sharing it here today, you know it was a winner :) I’m very pleased with how it turned out!
If you follow me on snapchat (@bbritnell if you’re interested) then you might have heard my rant recently about vegan cheeses. For the most part, I don’t like any of them. My favorite part about eating cheese has almost always been grabbing it right out of the fridge and eating it straight out of the package. This just isn’t the same with vegan cheese. Nope. What I have discovered, however, is that vegan cheese is actually pretty good in it’s melted, warmed up form. So, that’s what I did here. Enchiladas just aren’t the same without a little bit of melty yumminess on the top.
These Enchilada Zucchini Boats are essentially just partially hollowed out zucchinis that are stuffed with sautéed red pepper, black beans, garlic, and onion. Topped with enchilada sauce and the previous mentioned cheese. Easy. Done. We’re taking you on, Monday!
See How to Make the Zucchini Boats:
Enchilada Zucchini Boats
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon of oil
- 1/2 of a sweet onion
- 1/2 red bell pepper
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon of cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon of dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon of paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1 15 ounce can of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 3 medium zucchinis
- 1 1/2 cups of enchilada sauce
- optional for topping: 1/2-1 cup of vegan cheese
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F and lightly grease a baking dish.
- Prepare your zucchinis by cutting them in half long ways and gently scooping out most of the inside of the zucchini and discarding. You want it so that the shell of the zucchini is just about 1/4 inch thick once the insides have been removed (see photo).
- In a skillet over medium heat, heat your olive oil and then add in the onion and pepper to sauté for 5 minutes. Add in garlic and spices and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Add in black beans and cook for abour 3 more minutes until the black beans are heated through. Take off of the heat.
- Dividing evenly, spoon the mixture into the zucchinis and place them in the greased baking dish.
- Top the zuchinnis with the enchilada sauce.
- Optional: top with vegan cheese.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes at 400 degrees.
- Let cool slightly and ENJOY!!
- Category: Dinner
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: Mexican
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33 Comments on “Enchilada Zucchini Boats”
My kind of meal, hearty and filling. I love that it’s vegan.
Thanks, Celeste!!
I love this! Such a good idea for using up all of that zucchini.
I wish we had some organic zucchini to make this awesome dish! Love it! Unfortunately we’re still waiting for some at my in-laws garden, they are slow this year!
oh funny!! Zucchini was the first thing to come in in my garden this year. My peppers and cucumbers have been slow going for me this season
Pinned! Looks so delish, I love blackbeans.
You mention cumin twice, and don’t mention the sauce in the recipe! I assume I just add cumin once and also heat the sauce with the mixture.
SO SORRY! I switched my recipe cards on my site recently and a bunch of the recipes got all messed up. Although, I think the cumin twice was totally my fault :) thanks so much for pointing it out. Recipe is fixed now!
Can’t wait to try these! Thanks for the very easy recipe. We’ve also got an abundance of Zucchini and I wanted something quick, delicious, and vegetarian.
PS— typo on line 4 of the recipe… “abour 3 minutes”
Maybe I missed it, but how many servings would you say this makes?
If you’re making it with a side dish, it serves 4! If you’re eating it on it’s own, maybe 2-3 servings
This was a fantastic dish and so easy to make! As I am very new to being a vegan, I made it without any vegan cheese and it was still fantastic! The filling is very very good and next time I plan to take the filling and stuff it in a whole wheat tortilla! My family, who are meat eaters, couldn’t stop talking about how great the filling smelled and they ate most of my boats! Great dish – is one of my favorites that I will definitely repeat making again!
I am going on a road trip next week in our motorhome and thinking of making is a head of time, do you think they would freeze well?
Hi CHantelle!
Unfortunately, I’ve never tried freezing these. I’m not sure how well the zucchini would do frozen but maybe since they’re baked would be okay? SOrry I couldn’t be of more help. Let me know how it goes if you try it out!
Brita
Hello! Follow up on this topic. I’ve made these a couple of times and LOVE them. I am traveling and was thinking of making the filling and then refrigerating it until the next day when I can assemble and bake. Have you ever made them ahead like this? Any pointers would be great. Thanks!
I actually have made them like this before! I wanted to take them to a friends house who just had a baby so that all she had to do was fill them, top with cheese and pop them in the oven when they were ready. She said it turned out great!
is it possible to get some kind of nutrition facts for this recipe? Looks amazing btw. I’m not vegan but some of the things I see people come up with are absolutely delish!
Great Recipe!!! I added some finely chopped kale, finely chopped jalapeño & poblano chilies!! Thanks so much for sharing!!
Love this simple vegan recipe! I make this for my lunch for the week.
I’m surprised that you would toss out the Zucchini “meat” & it’s nutrients, when it could be used as an integral part of the dish, much like Calabacitas. Waste not, want not.
haha. My dad said that ALL of the time. This is definitely a good point and I should find a way to use it up in the recipe. I’m bad about thinking of these things sometimes bc I live in the country where zucchini grows out of our ears and we’re never able to eat it all AND we give the insides of the zucchini to our chickens who LOVE them. BUT I do know that is not the norm for the average family.
Very yummy recipe and easy to make. I’ll definitely be doing this one again at some point, Even my poppa who barely eats anything without meat loved it so definitely a winner
★★★★★
aww yay! So glad that y’all liked them! Thank you so much for coming back to tell me! I really appreciate that
Made this tonight after searching for zucchini recipes since have a ton from the garden. It was delicious! I followed it exactly and topped it with follow your heart cheddar vegan cheese and avocado! Will definitely make again! Thanks!
★★★★★
Oh my stars!! These were Devine!! I made them with the zucchini’s from my garden and also home made the enchilada sauce. Seriously I could not stop going back for more. I’ll definitely be making these regularly. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe.
★★★★★
Were the enchiladas supposed to he covered before baked? There was no mention of that, and the cheese in top burned. Please let me know how to have them look like the picture.
Is there nutritional information?
An incredible recipe that’s simple yet hearty. It’s a dinner that many of my meat eating friends enjoy!
★★★★★
Do you eat the boat part???
yes! FOR SURE. so good!
Curious if u have nutrition info for this recipe
just added that info to the recipe card for you!
These were great! Easy, filling and the zucchini was the perfect base for the filling. Even my non-zucchini husband loved it! Thank you! This is exactly the type of weeknight meal that works after a long day and I look forward to making it again!
★★★★★