Air Fryer Veggie Stuffed Zucchini Boats (Vegan, Keto)

These air fryer veggie stuffed zucchini boats are a simple way to enjoy the goodness of your backyard vegetables.  

Zucchini is a staple vegetable in my fridge. We love Zucchini, whether it is steamed, shredded, or BBQed. So far, we have made zucchini pizza boat and keto zucchini lasagna. They are so good that you will forget the traditional recipe.

Add them to a salad, pasta, pizza, or as a side to go with any meal. Ever since we have tried these air fryer veggie stuffed zucchini boats at home, we are on repeat mode with it- even kids love it!

You can make these air-fried veggies stuffed boats with any vegetables you have in your fridge or growing in your garden. For example, I have made zucchini boats with pepper, tomatoes, jalapeno, and coriander without breading, without cheese, so they are vegan, keto, and gluten-free.  

These stuffed zucchini boats are a delicious, healthy, and fantastic way to enjoy zucchini. The cute boat shape of this side dish will have your picky eater try this recipe. And if you add cheese to it, it will become their favorite side dish or even dinner.

Zucchini Boats?

Zucchini boats are simple to make. Zucchini is cut in half lengthwise, and its flesh is scooped out to make a boat shape. They are a fun way to enjoy summer squash.

When you have tons of zucchini to use up in the middle of summer, zucchini boats are an exciting way to eat them up.

Stuff then with whatever flavor you like– meat and vegetables, taco flavor (beans and vegetables), or meat and vegetables taste delicious. This only veggie stuff zucchini boats are my favorite way to keep it simple and healthy.

This recipe is vegan, vegetarian, keto-friendly, and gluten-free, serving the crowd with different diet preferences.

Vegetarian/Vegan Stuffed Zucchini Boats Ingredients

Zucchini – Look for medium-sized (about 8-9 oz each) zucchini to make zucchini boats. If you have thin and small zucchini, you won’t have enough space to stuff them with your favorite filling. Also, you do not want to pick too big that it won’t fit into your air fryer basket.

Olive Oil – Olive oil works great for this recipe, but you can also use avocado oil.

Red or Yellow bell pepper – To make zucchini boats more exciting, use red and yellow peppers. The color of the cooked dish makes it tempting to eat them as this recipe is made without breading and cheese. Cut the peppers into small equal size pieces.

Fresh Tomato – Use plum tomatoes as they are firm and won’t release too much water while Air Frying.

Coriander or Parsley – Add finely chopped coriander or parsley. It gives a unique taste and vibrant color to the dish.

Salt and Pepper – Add freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste

Smoked paprika – It gives them a smoky flavor. To spice things up, you can use chilies powder.

How to make Veggie Stuffed Zucchini Boats?

Zucchini boats are super simple to make as long as you are careful about scooping the flesh out of the zucchini. Let’s look at the steps for making veggie-stuffed zucchini boats.

Prep the Ingredients

Thoroughly rinse medium-size zucchini, red/yellow papers, tomatoes, coriander/parsley, and pat dry them.

Cut the zucchini lengthwise in half.

Use a spoon to scoop out the flesh of the zucchini. If it is hard to scope out, use a knife to loosen the flesh up.

Stop scooping the flesh out once you have enough room to stuff your filling. You need ½ inch border to hold the shape and filling into a zucchini boat.

Cut the red/yellow bell papers, tomatoes, and jalapeno into small pieces.

Mix the fillings

In a bowl, put together cut vegetables and season them with salt and freshly ground black peppers, and coat them with olive oil.

Fill the zucchini boats

Brush the zucchini boats with olive oil to prevent them from becoming soggy while cooking.

Take 1-2 tbsp of vegetable mix and fill the zucchini boats.

Spray the filled boats with olive oil or avocado oil.

Air Fry Veggie Stuffed Zucchini boats

Spray the basket of the air fryer with olive oil.

Arrange zucchini boats in a single layer.

Air fry them at 400°F for 8-10 minutes.

Enjoy them with your favorite dipping sauce.

Tips for Success

If you find it hard to scoop the flesh out of the zucchini, use a knife and loosen the flesh up by running it over the flesh.

Coat the zucchini boats with olive oil before stuffing them with veggie. It will prevent them from becoming soggy while air frying.

Use firm tomatoes for filling the zucchini boats.

Serve them with marinara sauce, ranch dipping sauce, or any other sauce you like.

Other Zucchini boat Recipe:

Vegetarian Air Fryer Zucchini Pizza boats (Keto, Gluten-free)

What to serve with Veggie Stuffed Zucchini boats?

Seasoned zucchini boats taste delicious as is as a side dish. But you can serve them with any salad dressing you like. For example, I love veggie stuffed zucchini boats with marinara sauce, but you can top them with your favorite salad dressing – ranch, Italian, Greek, honey mustard, or a simple squeeze of lemon will enhance the flavor of veggie stuffed zucchini boats.

You can also top them with guacamole and sour crème if you prefer.

Recipe Variations

Zucchini is a very versatile vegetable. You can use any vegetables you like to fill the zucchini boats.

Taco Zucchini Boats- Fill Zucchini boats with meat or bean and season with taco seasoning. Use the same ingredients to fill your taco to make Taco zucchini boats.

Pizza Zucchini Boats – Turn your zucchini boats into pizza zucchini boats. Fill zucchini boats with pizza sauce, min toppings, and cheese, and your pizza zucchini boats are ready.

Potato and cheese-filled Zucchini boats – Fill zucchini boats with meshed or spiced potatoes and top them with cheese. The air fryer will do the rest!

FAQs

Can you cook Zucchini in the Air Fryer?

Yes, you can cook zucchini in the air fryer. There are many ways you can cook zucchini in the air fryer. For example, you can make seasoned zucchini pieces, keto zucchini fries, breaded zucchini fries, and stuffed zucchini boats in the air fryer. Air-fried zucchini tastes much better than pan-fried zucchini.

You can also cook them with little oil or no oil in the air fryer. So if you are looking for no oil, no breading, keto, no onion, no garlic, low carb zucchini recipe, then cooking them in an air fryer gives you the best result.

How do you cook zucchini boats without making them soggy?

Once you scope out the flesh of the zucchini, coat them with olive oil. It will prevent them from absorbing water from the stuffed vegetable. Also, make sure to use firm tomato when preparing fillings for your zucchini boats.

If you have a crisper tray in your air fryer, use them to air fry zucchini boats. This allows air circulation on all sides of the zucchini and helps water evaporate and prevent them from turning soggy.

How long to cook Zucchini in the Air Fryer?

Depending upon the size and model of your air fryer, the time and temperature of cooking zucchini boats in the air fryer vary—also, the size of the zucchini matters. For example, I air-fried veggie stuffed zucchini boats in a Gurmia air fryer, and it took 10 minutes at 400°F to cook them to perfection.

So, for any air fryer recipe, use the given time and temperature as a reference guide. For example, if you are air frying veggie-stuffed zucchini boats for the first time, check your boats before time is up to prevent them from burning.  

Can you refrigerate Air Fryer veggie stuffed Zucchini boats?

Air Fryer Zucchini boats taste best when eaten fresh. But you can refrigerate leftover zucchini boats for up to 2-3 days.

Related: Can you put paper plates in an air fryer to warm up the food?

Can you reheat Veggie Stuffed Zucchini Boats in Air Fryer?

You can reheat stuffed zucchini boats in the air fryer at 370°F for 5-6 minutes. But they might turn a little soggy if they have taken them out of the refrigerator. They taste best when eaten immediately after cooking.

If you have leftover zucchini boats, you can cut them into small pieces, mix them with your salad or soup, or eat them with rice.

Can you eat Zucchini on the keto diet?

Yes, you can eat zucchini on the keto diet. Just like eggplant, zucchini is also naturally low in carbs. One 200gm of zucchini has 4g of net carbs. And because of their low carb content, zucchini is considered keto-friendly. Also, this recipe is made without breading, cheese, and with little oil, so it is extremely healthy.

Related Recipe

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Air Fryer Veggie Stuffed Zucchini Boats (Vegan, Keto)

Recipe by PiaraCourse: Side dishCuisine: American

Servings

2

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Total time

20

minutes

These crunchy and tender zucchini boats are filled with veggies and cooked to perfection in an air fryer.

Ingredients

• 2 medium zucchinis

• 1 Roma tomato

• 1 jalapeno

• 1/2 red bell pepper

• ½ yellow bell pepper

• 1/4 cup Chopped Coriander/parsley leaves

• Salt and pepper to taste

• ½ tsp Smoked paprika

• olive oil

Directions

• Prep the Ingredients
• Thoroughly rinse medium-size zucchini, red/yellow papers, tomatoes, coriander/parsley, and pat dry them.
• Cut the zucchini lengthwise in half.
• Use a spoon to scoop out the flesh of the zucchini. If it is hard to scope out, use a knife to loosen the flesh up.
• Stop scooping the flesh out once you have enough room to stuff your filling. You need ½ inch border to hold the shape and filling into a zucchini boat.
• Cut the red/yellow bell papers, tomatoes, and jalapeno into small pieces.
• Mix the filling
• In a bowl, put together cut vegetables and season them with salt and freshly ground black peppers, and coat them with olive oil.
• Fill the zucchini boats
• Brush the zucchini boats with olive oil to prevent them from becoming soggy while cooking.
• Take 1-2 tbsp of vegetable mix and fill the zucchini boats.
• Spray the filled boats with olive oil or avocado oil.
• Air Fry Zucchini boats
• Air Fry Zucchini boats
• Spray the basket of the air fryer with olive oil.
• Arrange zucchini boats in a single layer.
• Air fry them at 400°F for 8-10 minutes.
• Enjoy them with your favorite dipping sauce.

Notes

• If you find it hard to scoop the flesh out of the zucchini, use a knife and loosen the flesh up by running it over the flesh.
• Coat the zucchini boats with olive oil before stuffing them with veggie. It will prevent them from becoming soggy while air frying.
• Use firm tomatoes for filling the zucchini boats.
• Serve them with marinara sauce, ranch dipping sauce, or any other sauce you like.