Chicken Taco Zucchini Boats give you and your family all the tastes and feels for tacos without all the tortilla carbs! A healthier spin on Taco Tuesday with warm tender boats made of zucchini squash that surround homemade-spiced chicken and topped with fresh chopped vegetables and sprinkled with cheese!
Heck yes! Don't ya just love those recipes that are incredibly simple, quick to make, and above all, healthy?!?
Well, I'll answer that one...heck yes!
Table of Contents
Why you Need to Make These Zucchini Boats:
Well, now we are in luck. This Skinny Chicken Taco Zucchini Boat recipe is very easy to make, takes only 30 minutes to put together and is low-carb/gluten-free/take-out-the-tortillas-and-add-in-tender-veggies healthy alternative to chicken tacos.
So now there is a way to eat and enjoy your tacos and not worry about this bikini season that is upon us.
Whoop whoop! Yum yum! I mean...heck yes y'all!
Why Stuff a Zucchini?
Zucchini's stuffed with savory combinations and then roasted in the oven until they turn into tender squash heaven is always a great idea.
For this recipe, I have taken out the carb-loaded tortillas and replaced them with these zucchini boats instead.
So this dish still has all of the wonderful tex-mex vibes of your Taco Tuesday dreams but also tones down the carbs - so you can enjoy your fiesta without any of the guilt!
Ingredients For Stuffed Zucchini Boats:
- 3-4 chicken breasts, cubed or can use shredded chicken (see below)*
- 3 medium zucchinis, halved hotdog-style and the seeds scooped out
- coconut oil
- sweet onion, chopped
- Gluten-Free Taco Seasoning **
- grape or cherry tomatoes, diced
- 1 serrano pepper, chopped, or jalapeño
- Cotija cheese for garnish
- juice of ½ a lime
*If you would like to use shredded chicken, like you see in some of these pictures, then use canned cooked chicken and shred it using a fork or place it quickly in a food processor to shred. Alternatively, you can use shredded chicken you have made from another recipe, such as I do when I make my Salsa Lime Chicken!
**heck yes, here is the best gluten-free taco seasoning there is. It takes ya 2 minutes to put together and most likely, you already have all the spices in your kitchen!
How To Turn Zucchini Into a Boat?
So just how do you take a zucchini squash and turn it into a boat?
Great question!
Here's what you do:
Cut your zucchini in half, lon-ways, as in "hotdog" style, cutting the length of the zucchini from end to end.
Next, use a spoon or an ice cream scooper and scoop or spoon out the more tender inside of the squash, where you may see the seeds and the lighter-colored center.
Discard the center of the squash or reuse it in another recipe of your choice.
Now your zucchini is fully prepared to be a zucchini boat!
How Do you Make These Stuffed Zucchini Boats?
- Heat your oven to 400*F. Line a casserole dish or baking 9 x 13 pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the chicken until golden brown and cooked thoroughly. (If you are using cooked shredded chicken then you do not need to cook the shredded chicken in the skillet until browned and cooked thoroughly - you will start right here.) The last 2 minutes of cooking the chicken, place ⅔ of the onion and the taco seasoning in the skillet to make the onion pieces tender.
- Place the zucchini boats in the lined pan and place the chicken and onion mix into the scooped out area of the boats. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the zucchinis start to become tender.
- Top with the rest of the onion, the tomatoes, pepper, and the cheese. Place back in the oven for 1-2 minutes, or until the cheese starts to melt.
- Squeeze lime juice over the boats and enjoy!
What Goes Well with This Recipe?
These stuffed zucchini boats go really well served alongside these other dishes:
Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread Cupcakes
Chicken Taco Stuffed Zucchini Boat Tips!
You will want to scoop out quite a bit of the insides of your zucchinis out for two reasons.
Reason #1: The more of the zucchini you scoop out, the more room you will have to pack your zucchini boat full of taco toppings!
Reason #2: Zucchini, when roasted, can sometimes release quite a bit of liquid during the roasting process - therefore, the less of the tender insides available to produce these liquids, the less likely you will have liquids on the bottom of your zucchini boats!
Want More Tex-Mex Recipes?
Here you go:
Slow Cooker Mexican Quinoa Dip
Chicken Taco Stuffed Zucchini Boat
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts, cubed OR 3 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 3 medium zucchinis, halved hotdog-style and the seeds scooped out
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- ½ sweet onion, chopped
- 3 teaspoon Gluten-Free Taco Seasoning *
- ½ cup grape tomatoes, diced
- 1 serrano pepper, chopped, or jalapeño
- Cotija cheese for garnish
- juice of ½ a lime
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 400*F. Line a casserole dish or baking 9 x 13 pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the chicken until golden brown and cooked thoroughly. (If you are using cooked shredded chicken then you do not need to cook the shredded chicken in the skillet until browned and cooked thoroughly - you will start right here.) The last 2 minutes of cooking the chicken, place ⅔ of the onion and the taco seasoning in the skillet to make the onion pieces tender.
- Place the zucchini boats in the lined pan and place the chicken and onion mix into the scooped out area of the boats. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the zucchinis start to become tender.
- Top with the rest of the onion, the tomatoes, pepper, and the cheese. Place back in the oven for 1-2 minutes, or until the cheese starts to melt.
- Squeeze lime juice over the boats and enjoy!
If you make my Chicken Taco Zucchini Boats, let me know in the comments! Enjoy enjoy enjoy!
Also- be sure to follow me on Instagram and hashtag #BlessHerHeartYall or tag @BlessHerHeartYall – I love seeing and hearing the delicious things you make!
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This post was first published on July 7, 2015 and last updated on May 12, 2020.
Thanks for this recipe.
Thanks for stopping in and commenting!
Looks perfectly delicious. I just have one question, can i use beef instead of chicken? Thanks.
You absolutely can! I've substituted the chicken with beef and it was super tasty! 🙂
Wow, these look delicious! I can't wait to try this recipe! I recently started cooking more zucchini and am surprised with how much you can do with it! 😀
Emily
Something Gold, Something Blue
When you get a chance to make it, let me know what you think! I love hearing other's opinions about the recipes!