Italian Stuffed Zucchini
Updated
Updated
My Italian Stuffed Zucchini are filled with savory sausage and a flavorful tomato-couscous mixture, then topped with cheese and baked until tender. Easy, hearty, and filling! I like to serve them as a side or sometimes as a complete meal.
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Easy Italian Stuffed Zucchini Recipe
I’m willing to bet that come the end of summer, you’ll end up with an abundance of zucchini from your garden. I know I will. So, before it has a chance to go bad, I like to make this stuffed zucchini recipe. Or, if you just like to take advantage of vegetables in season, you can’t go wrong with this recipe.
I take fresh zucchini and stuff it with a mix of savory sausage, fluffy couscous, and melted cheese, The flavorful combination is a hit!
Helpful Tips and Variations
- Gently scrape. The easiest way to remove the insides of the zucchini is to gently scrape using the tip of a small spoon or a melon baller. Remove the seeds and discard them, then scoop out the center flesh to chop and use in the filling.
- Don’t remove too much of the insides. You want to remove enough flesh so the zucchini can cook properly, but not so much that the frame is too thin to hold the filling.
- For bacon lovers. Swap the sausage for cooked, crumbled bacon, or use both.
- Make it vegetarian. Omit the sausage and sauté chopped mushrooms and bell pepper with the reserved zucchini insides.
- Give it a Mexican twist. Use your favorite taco fixings for the filling.
Stuffed Zucchini with Sausage
Ingredients
- 6 medium to large zucchini, roughly the same size
- salt and pepper
- 1 cup low sodium chicken stock
- ¾ cup plain couscous
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb. Italian sausage
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 15 oz. can petite cut diced tomatoes with garlic and oregano, (undrained)
- ¼ cup parsley leaves, finely chopped
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- freshly grated Parmesan, for serving
- freshly chopped basil, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Coat a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise. Using the tip of a spoon, remove the seeds and discard. Then scrape out the flesh and finely chop it up; set aside. (You want to remove enough flesh so the squash can cook properly, but not so much that the zucchini frame is too thin and weak to hold the filling.)
- Place zucchini shells in the baking dish, cut side up. Season with salt and pepper.
- In a small saucepan, bring chicken stock to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the couscous. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.
- In the meantime, in a medium sauté pan, warm olive oil over medium-high. Add in the sausage and reserved chopped zucchini; cook, breaking up the sausage into small crumbles with a wooden spoon. Cook until zucchini is soft and the sausage is cooked through and no longer pink and cooked through, about 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Drain off any grease.
- Transfer mixture to a large bowl, along with the cooked couscous, tomatoes (with their juice), and parsley.
- Divide mixture among the zucchini shells (it's ok if some spills over into the dish.) Sprinkle with the mozzarella.
- Bake until squash is tender and cheese is golden, about 25 minutes.
- Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan and fresh basil before serving.
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and any changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are very important to you, I would recommend calculating them yourself.
Did you make this? Leave a rating below!How to Make Italian Stuffed Zucchini Step by Step
Get the oven going and prepare a baking dish: Preheat the oven to 425°F and coat a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Set aside. Gather your ingredients.
Prep the zucchini: Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and, using the tip of a spoon, remove the seeds and throw them away. Scrape out the flesh, finely chop it, and set it aside. Make sure the zucchini shell is sturdy enough to hold the filling.
Place hollowed-out zucchini in the baking dish with the cut side up. Season with salt and pepper.
Cook the couscous: Bring 1 cup of chicken stock to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat and stir in the ¾ cup of couscous. Cover, let it stand for 5 minutes, and then fluff with a fork.
Prepare the filling: In the meantime, in a medium sauté pan, warm 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium-high. Add in 1 lb. of sausage and the chopped zucchini; cook, breaking up the sausage into small crumbles with a wooden spoon. Cook until the zucchini is soft and the sausage is cooked through. This usually takes me about 4 minutes. Stir in 2 cloves of garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper and drain off any grease.
Transfer the sausage mixture to a large bowl, add the cooked couscous, a 15 oz. can of tomatoes (with their juice), and ¼ cup of parsley.
Fill and bake: Divide the sausage/couscous mixture among the zucchini shells and sprinkle with the mozzarella.
Bake until the zucchini is tender and the cheese is golden, about 25 minutes.
Garnish and serve: Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan and fresh basil before serving.
What to Serve with Italian Stuffed Zucchini
For a nice summertime meal, I like to pair the stuffed zucchini with a summer corn salad or cucumber tomato salad. And, to fully enjoy all the produce of the season, I find this sour cream peach pecan pie is perfect for dessert.
How to Store Stuffed Zucchini
Sadly, stuffed zucchini doesn’t freeze well. Contrary to what some say, they really don’t. As it thaws, the zucchini becomes watery and mushy and not really edible. But there’s still hope with the leftovers!
Once cooled, if you have any leftovers, these Italian Stuffed Zucchini can be stored in the refrigerator, in a tightly sealed container, for up to 3 days. Any longer than that and the cheese gets sort of slimy. You can store them individually in meal prep containers or several together in a casserole dish.
To reheat, pop the casserole dish in the oven for about 20 minutes at 350°F, or until the cheese melts and the zucchini boats are warmed through.
Other Zucchini Recipes
- Air Fryer Zucchini Fries
- Sauteed Zucchini and Corn
- Zucchini Lasagna Rolls
- Mini Chocolate Zucchini Cakes
- Zucchini Corn Fritters
- Zucchini Bread (of course!)
- Ratatouille (<< seriously make this if you haven’t yet. It’s amazing!)
This recipe looks delicious but it makes so much. It is only my husband and I. Can I freeze part of it?
Hi Tanya – Storage info is included in the article. I don’t recommend freezing these, sorry. The squash gets very soggy and the cheese sort of slimy once thawed. I would just cut the recipe in half.
Hi, what is italian sausage? It looks like beef mince? We’re in Australia. Thanks
seasoned ground pork
I loved this!!! I can’t have parsley so I swapped it out for fresh sage and basil! It was incredible!!!! Even the kids ate it! We have gluten issues in the house so I swapped out the couscous for quinoa…it was epic. I WILL be making this again! Thanks!
Loved this so much! Even my picky kids ate it!
Oh My! I made this two nights ago. First it was so easy it was almost scary. Second, we loved this. I made a bunch so that my husband, who works nights, could take the extra to work for the guys. Everyone loved it. Apparently it’s ‘finger food’. The guys just ate it like a french bread pizza! Anyway it got rave revues from everyone. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Carol! I’m so happy it turned out for you. We love it too, and often forego the utensils as well!
My husband made this for dinner the other night and we made it a vegetarian version where we replaced the sausage with some summer squash cut up really small & some broccoli and added a little tomato paste to the mixture to give it a little depth, and kind of replace the flavors missing from nixing the sausage. We also had to substitute Quinoa for the Couscous because I couldn’t find it in the store, and it came out amazing! I did give them a little drizzle of Olive Oil in the oven just to give them a fat for flavor and to keep them moist while they cook. Awesome recipe!!
I made this last night and it was so very delicious. Mine needed about 10 extra minutes to cook, but I think my zucchini might have just been very large. Leftovers reheated beautifully the next day. Would definitely make this again.
These are delish — summer, fall, winter, who cares! I really love stuffing anything with couscous or quinoa or some other grain…it always picks up tons of flavor and adds a good sustenance to the dish. Love this recipe!
I don’t normally cook, but I made this and everyone LOVED it. It’s simple and straightforward and DELICIOUS! I came to this site because a friend posted the ridiculous Oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies recipe on Facebook and I poked around. I then added this blog to my feed and when this recipe was posted I had to try because I actually had some home grown squash to use. I am so glad I did.
White may be the new black but zucchini is timeless. GREG
I love that this looks so delicious with a huge dose of veggies! Great recipe.
Oh Amy . . . how I love your recipes. Yum.
Looks delicious. Since it’s still in the upper 90s here in Sacramento, I’m betting this would be KILLER cooked on the grill!
I won’t tell you that it’s a chilly 60 degrees here today.
Nope I won’t. :)
I think a veggie version of this would work well, too?
Yes, absolutely! Use veggie stock instead of chicken, and the sausage part can easily be omitted. Just add a touch more seasoning to the couscous mixture.
Mmmm… that one looks tasty!
This looks super yummy! I’m printing it to make very soon! Do you serve it as dinner or as a side? I’m certain I could make a meal out of it…just not sure about Jay.
Jen, you’d really like it. It makes 6 as a meal, or 12 as an app. I serve it as a main. If Jay likes zucchini, you could totally get away with making this w/out anything else…the stuffing with the squash is very filling.
Unfortunately my CSA bit the dust after Hurricane Irene flooded the farm, so I’ve had to fend for myself when it comes to acquiring zucchini. Thankfully they are practically giving them away at the farmer’s markets…and you can bet I’m taking them! This stuffing looks delicious! I wonder if I could get my brother to eat zucchini with all this sausage inside it…
My zucchini now have a purpose!!! We’re beginning to tire of zucchini bread (if that’s at all possible!)
All I know is that I could grab some paddles and go canoeing in those babies. YUM.