A little work, but it tastes so good. A great recipe if you are growing zucchini in your garden. Goes well with mashed potatoes.
Definately doesn't need the tomato soup and water. I just used canned diced tomatoes and it didn't get "soupy" like other people said. I also browned the meat and onions together first so it cooked in 40 minutes, no problem. I added mozzarella to the top after 30 minutes. One of my family's favorites!
Read MoreI like this recipe for a base but I made some changes after making it once. I found it to be rather bland so I made the following changes for my personal preference. I substitute pasta sauce for crushed tom & condensed soup. I add garlic and italian seasonings. I top with mozzarella/Parmesan cheese. I make sure to garlic salt and pepper zucchini before stuffing. I brown the meat in a pan because I prefer to drain the fat of the meat. Bake in 9x13 for 25 minutes or until warm
Read MoreDefinately doesn't need the tomato soup and water. I just used canned diced tomatoes and it didn't get "soupy" like other people said. I also browned the meat and onions together first so it cooked in 40 minutes, no problem. I added mozzarella to the top after 30 minutes. One of my family's favorites!
Really great recipe, I make it once a week. I use vegetarian ground beef instead of the 1/2 beef 1/2 sausage mix and pasta sauce on top instead of the tomato mixture to avoid it from becoming too soupy. As long as you cover it in the oven, it doesn't dry out. As others stated there are no seasonings in the recipe so i suggest browning the meat with some garlic and adding some basil and oregano to the filling. I've had a lot of fun making it a little different each time I make it, but it's such a great base that it always turns out delicious.
This is a great ground beef meal; which I'm always looking for new ones! I of course made a few changes or else I don't think there would have been enough flavor for our taste (that's just how I roll). The biggest difference in how I prepared it is that I used a pound of ground beef/deer that was pre-cooked (I pre-cook about 6 lbs of it at a time, portion it and freeze it to save time). I would think that preparing it raw like a meat loaf would leave a lot of grease behind, but maybe that's just me. I added minced garlic, a pinch of salt and pepper and Italian herbs to the mixture. I omitted the sausage since I didn't have any on hand and honestly, there wouldn't have been room for it in the "boats". I also omitted the onions since my husband doesn't like them. I also added a pinch of sugar, salt, pepper, garlic powder and Italian herbs to the tomato sauce and next time to save me time I'll just use jar speghetti sauce which will probably taste better anyways. I also added a ridiculous amount of mozzerella cheese 30 minutes into baking and baked it until bubbly (about 10-15 min. more). This is a fantastic way to use up zucchini when you have an overabundance of it in the garden! Thank you!
Yummy. We had to bake this about 40 min. longer, because when we pulled it out of the oven, the meat wasn't cooked all the way.
I like this recipe for a base but I made some changes after making it once. I found it to be rather bland so I made the following changes for my personal preference. I substitute pasta sauce for crushed tom & condensed soup. I add garlic and italian seasonings. I top with mozzarella/Parmesan cheese. I make sure to garlic salt and pepper zucchini before stuffing. I brown the meat in a pan because I prefer to drain the fat of the meat. Bake in 9x13 for 25 minutes or until warm
This was a pretty tastey meal. I used about half the removed seed mixture, and added a clove of garlic, fresh basil, and partially cooked rice, the rice gave it a little more bulk. Half way thru baking, I sprinkled with parmesan and it turned out delicious. It's not a real quick meal, but the results are well worth it. Another way to stuff the zuke, would be to cut off the stem end, and insert a filet knive, cutting out the insides, and a spoon for the very bottom, it makes for a cool presentation. I didn't do that with this recipe, but have with other ones. Enjoy!
My husband and I both really enjoyed this recipe. I used sweet Italian basil sausage and it was great! (I had to but Johnsonville sausages and then take the sausage out of the casings, since WalMart didn't carry regular italian sausage) What a great alternative to stuffed peppers! I think next time I am going to try turkey italian sausage, since I am doing Weight Watchers and my husband low carb, to make it good for both of us. I'll let you know how it goes!
This was pretty good. However, I used ground turkey and sausage and the turkey just didn't have enough flavor. I would only use ground beef for this recipe.
This was very good. I used hot italian sausage and that really added some zip. My husband does not like zucchini so I stuffed some green peppers also. Did have to cook this a little longer than 45 minutes, but I covered it with foil the last 30 minutes because the veggies were starting to dry up. Overall a very good filling.
This was a delicious base! We used sausage and ground beef sauted with herbs, garlic and onions. We skipped the tomato soup and used canned diced tomatoes and fresh tomatoes (didn't have enough fresh to use only fresh) added to the meat mixture along with the scooped out zucchini. Warmed it through then filled the scooped out zucchini. Covered the halves with a combination of mozzarella and co-jack cheeses. Sprinkled a little Parmesan on top. Covered it loosely with foil (so it wouldn't mess up the cheese) and baked at 350 for 30 min. Next time we'll do 45 min. We all loved it and will be making this again soon!
This is very tasty...It reminds me of meatloaf with a twist. I used spicy itlalian sausage. It went really well in the dish. I will probably make it again.
Delicious! After reading some of the other comments, I also made a couple of changes. I used ground venison instead of beef and did mix it with the sausage. I added some seasoning to the meat... salt, pepper, garlic and oregano and cooked it with the diced onions. Did not do tomato soup or crushed tomatos but used a can of diced fire grilled tomatos and they sure added a lot of flavor! After 30 mins of baking in oven I topped them with shredded mozza and they were done perfectly by the end of the 40 mins! Definate new addition to our regular menu at home!!
I'm not a zucchini fan, but my wife is and loved it. I highly recommend making a marinara sauce instead of using the crushed tomatoes (50% tomato sauce 50% paste, add garlic, Italian seasoning, oregano, and marjoram) mix about 2 cubs in with the mixture then pour the rest over the top. Also mixing some Parmesan cheese and then adding some mozzarella on top will change your life.
Delicious. I made these adjustments. Instead of bread crumbs used potato flakes. (we are a wheat free) and instead of crushed tomatoes, soup and water used a large jar of black bean and corn salsa. Topped off with sharp cheddar cheese. Wonderful.
This was a wonderful way to use zucchini. I grew some monster zucchinis in my garden this year and wasn't sure what to do with them. This fit the bill perfectly. I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I read others reviews and picked a chose. I would defiantly cook this again and recommend it to others who want something to do with zucchini that isn't muffins or bread
Excellent recipe. A little bit of time to prepare but well worth the wait. I did add some garlic, oregano and used hot Italian sausage. Gave it a real flavourful taste. I also substituted Campbell's tomato-rice soup for the regular tomato soup and the rice in the soup gave it some bulk. The cooking time was 1 1/2 hours. At the end I topped it off with some Kraft 4 Italiano 4 cheeses and it was absolutely marvelous. Have placed it in my favourtites and will definitely make this again.
I sprinkle them with a little grated Parmesan and shredded Cheddar or Mexican cheese blend during the last 5-7 minutes of baking.
I made this for super & it was great. It does not need the crushed tomatoes or tomato soup. I did put some cream cheese in the boats before stuffing them & it added a very good flavor. Thanks for sharing.
I had a huge zucchini, so I knew it would work well for this recipe. I used 1 lb. of ground chuck, 1/2 lb. of Italian sausage, and 1/2 lb. of ground turkey. I wondered if I would regret not adding salt and more spices, but fortunately, this dish was seasoned fine for my tastes. It did take right at 2 hours to completely cook the meat. Next time, I would omit the zucchini seeds.
Good! Used hot Italian sausage and NO ground beef. I also cooked the stuff in a pan before packing it into the zucchini and had no problem with time (adding bread crumbs and the egg after cooking of course). I will use this recipe again!
We really enjoyed this! It was fun and easy to make. I'll be embellishing it a bit when I make it next though(adding some garlic, oregano, maybe some shredded carrots); I used hot italian sausage, and wasn't sure how spicy it was going to be so the only extra thing I added to this was parmesan sprinkled on top when it was done. I'll be using that tomato sauce mixture for other things, so that was great to learn as well.
I changed the recipe a bit, instead of "stuffing" the zucchini I chopped it all up and made it more casserole like. I substituted minute rice for the bread crumbs. I topped with parmesan and mozzeralla. However, there was way too much liquid when it was done. It was like soup. I will make this again, add Italian seasoning and less water.
Excellent recipe. My garden was overgrowing with zucchini, so I fed the neighbors with this. It was a hit! Definately will make this again.
This was really simple and good. As per other reviewers I cooked the meat with the onion and minced garlic. Then I mixed all the filling ingredients together and stuffed the zucchini. I did not use the tomato soup. Rather I drained the can of tomatoes and poured the juice over my casserole. Covered the casserole with plastic wrap and then cooked it in the microwave for about 20 minutes. Zucchini is a summer vegetable and I don't want to heat up my kitchen with the oven.
This was wonderful! Even my zucchini hating husband enjoyed it. I added garlic to the meat and tipped with Parmesan and mozzarella in the last 15 min of baking. I thought the sauce was wonderful. Didn't taste like canned soup one bit! Also, I didn't add any water.
This was a good recipe. I cut the recipe in half and used only hot Italian sausage. I omitted the tomato soup and water. I put some of the crushed tomatoes on the bottom of the pan, mixed most of it in with the meat, and poured a little over the top of the stuffed zucchinis. I also added some chopped garlic to the filling. Topped with a shredded Italian cheese blend and it was great.
this recipe was wonderful. we had it for dinner last night. i made a few changes though. first, i used squash and zucchini. next, i omitted the tomatoes and soup. i instead used a large can of tomato puree and added garlic, oregano, basil and red pepper flakes to it. nstead of water, i used a dry red wine. it came out wonderful. we will definately be having this agin. i brought the leftovers to work and my co-workers all loved it as well.
This was very good. I followed the advise of some others and used rice instead of the breadcrumbs because I had some rice I needed to get rid of. Didn't brown the meat before hand as some others have done, cooked it until the instant read thermometer read 160. Turned out excellent, I think I actually had to bake it for 1 hour 15 minutes but everyones oven is different, will definitely make again next time I have a zucchini to use up.
I made this recipe with ground chicken and fresh tomato,onion, garlic and cilantro relish. Also I used cumin, paprika, chile, ground corriander for a little bit of kick. It came out great!Thank you!
Did not use tomato soup or canned tomatoes. Chopped 4 small fresh tomatoes, 10 fresh mushrooms 1/4 c. parmesan cheese. Cooked spicy Italian sausage with onion and garlic and then mixed everything together before stuffing the zucchini. Topped with mozzarella cheese the last 8 minutes. Excellent recipe!!!! Will make again.
It's good tasting, but I'm giving this only three stars because it came out so soupy and was a little cold after being in there about 50 minutes! I believe the meats should be pre-cooked, which would bring down the time in the oven to about a 1/2 hr or so. Use stewed tomatoes instead of tomato soup & crushed tomatoes, no water, and maybe add a little shredded mozzarella cheese the last 5 minutes in the oven. The sausage should state ground sausage, as I sliced the sausage into the meat mixture and I could taste the individual sausages; otherwise, plop into food processor for a quick mix before spooning into the zucchini. This was my first time making stuffed zucchini, and I'm going to make more!
Made this tonight and Hubby and I both loved it. The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because I would have liked a little more seasoning in the meat. Otherwise it was great.
This recipe got rave reviews from my family (Except my 3 year old). Personally, I felt the stuffing was a tiny bit bland. I will zip it up a little more next time to better suit our tastes. Also, I subbed 1/4 c grated parmesan for 1/4 cup of the bread crumbs. It was yummy!
Very good. I browned the meat first, and I used all beef since we don't eat sausage. I added fennel seeds, though, so it tasted like it had sausage. I also added some basil, garlic, and other seasonings. Will definitely make it often when I have a lot of zucchini.
Great recipe - although I precooked the meats and onion with a little olive oil - then added the bread crumbs and egg before stuffing.
This was pretty good, but bland. Will make it again, leave out the tomato soup and try to give it some pizzaz with garlic, red pepper and perhaps a splash of dry Marsala. Will also parboil the zucchini for a few minutes before cutting and scooping them as the zucchini shell was a bit tough. Maybe carmalizing the onion in the meat mixture would help. It needs a bit of zing!
This was a great recipe. I added Italian seasoning,garlic and chili sauce to the meat mixture. I also added chili sauce to the tomato mixture. Very good, will make it again!
This was very good. These are the modifications I did: add garlic, basil and oregano no tom soup brown meat and onion first and reduce cook time add parm cheese
I'm going to make my own sauce next time, mainly just because I like it better. Also might try steaming the zucchini for a few minutes first- we used really large zucchini & they could have used a few more minutes of cooking time. Otherwise this was pretty good, we all liked it. My brother in law was upset that I took a little home :)
We loved it. We did add some Italian Seasoning to the meat for more flavor. It was a great use for large Zucchini.
I needed a base recipe for stuffed zucchini as the neighbor gave us one that is HUGE. I sliced the zucchini in lengthwise boats and removed all of the huge seeds. I placed them in the oven at 425 to cook them down a bit due to their size. Meanwhile, I sauteed 1/4 of a sweet onion and 3 cloves of garlic in a pan. Once browned, I added my pork and beef mixture. I took out the onions and garlic and set aside as I figured the meat would accumulate grease. I seasoned the mix with crushed red pepper flakes, oregano, fresh basil, and s+p. I cooked the mix until browned. I added back the onion and garlic that I had set aside once the pan was drained. I put the drained mixture into a bowl. I added 1/2 a heirloom tomato with some juice, 1/4 cup parm cheese, breadcrumbs, and 1 egg.
This was very good. The family loved it even with some that were skeptics about baked zucchini. The only changes I made was to make it gluten free and top it with shredded cheese. For the gluten free conversion: Instead of 1/2 cup bread crumbs, I substituted 1/4 cup ground flax meal & 1/4 gluten free chicken coating. Instead of condensed tomato soup, I used a 6oz can of tomato paste, 6 oz water, 1 tsp of sugar & 1/2 tsp "better than bouillon" for chicken. I also eliminated the extra cup of water. Worked like a charm.
Great recipe. we used ground turkey instead of beef and topped it with fresh tomato salsa. Thinking of using the mixture to make stuffed peppers next.
This was really good. I tweeked it alittle bit, things dont come out well for me if I actually follow a recipe exactly. I cooked the meat before, used 2 green onion, 3 garlic cloves, and a can of spagetti sauce. I did not use bread crumbs. I only used 3 zucchini and had plenty left over.
I par boiled the squash, then scooped out the guts, drained the guts, patted the insides dry, added less than half the guts in to stuffing mixture - used ONLY bulk pork sausage (tastes like breakfast links), no tomato anything, garlic, more SEASONED bread crumbs, two eggs, and PARMESAN CHEESE to and on the stuffing after spooning back in the squash. Takes less time to cook, and tastes awesome!
A lot of work involved. Too much meat, too much sauce, too little baking time. Could've cut the ingredients in half to stuff 8 halves. Didn't even get to eat it yet, because it took too long to bake. It smells good, assuming it will taste good. Only gave 2 stars due to the long cooking time.
Next time I will just pour a can of Pasta Sauce over this and add a tsp of salt to the meat mixture
I'm giving this four stars because I felt like I had to make a lot of revisions for flavor, but after those it is most definitely a five and something I will make again for sure! As another reviewer said, this is just like meatloaf, but more interesting, tasty, and healthy! I did not use the sausage, just 1 lb of ground beef, and it barely all fit in 4 medium zucchinis. I don't know how 2 lbs of meat would fit - maybe my onion was really big and that made up for it? For flavor, I added 2 t of garlic, 1 t pepper, 1/2 t salt, and 1 T Italian herbs. Instead of tomato soup, I used a portabello/red wine chunky marinara sauce - highly recommended! The last 15 minutes, I added about a cup of mozzarella cheese on the top. I baked for an hour, because the onions weren't soft enough after 45 min - but it was still incredibly moist. I think one of the best parts of this was that you don't have to brown anything first, saving you the pan and the extra 20 min. Love how easy and delicious this is! Thanks!
Very tasty filling! I can't imagine trying to mix the meats w/o pre-cooking the sausage a little first! Used a large zucchini, didn't pre-cook it. Thicker parts were a little too hard, will probably zap it a minute or so next time. Thanks Buchko!
I pretty good dish, I did not buy enough Italian Sausage and added some Jimmy Dean pork sausage. Everyone enjoyed the dish. This really could serve as the main course instead of a side dish! Have fun cooking.
I'm giving this 4 stars because I changed a bunch. I did not use the "guts" that I scooped out, and I replaced the tomatoes and soup with my homemade marinara sauce. I also microwaved the zuchini for 5 minutes with a little water before "gutting" and filling. It turned out pretty good, a good and healthy way to use up those zucchini from the garden.
This recipe was great. The zucchini at our store at the time was very small, not big enough to stuff so we just cut it up and put it in with the meat, like a casserole. We didn't use italian sausage either, the store was out so we subed charizo sausage.
great use of the those giant zucchinis from the garden. Took a bit of time to do but it turned out pretty good. the squash got kind of soggy though.
Excellent dish,i used 14oz can diced tomatoes and 14oz can diced tomatoes with chiles.
Meh - just okay. Used sausage and that added a lot of flavor but recipe is missing something.
This was so good! A friend of mine has a garden and grows her own zucchini, I was so excited to get one from her and try this recipe. It was so tasty, using the italian sausage gave the dish so much flavor. I made it for a dinner party and everyone loved it.
Excellent!! I think this is one of the tastiest meals I've had in a while. Try putting some melted mozzerella or parmesean on top.
Recipe didn't make much sense, so I followed my own common sense and suggestions from others - browned meats first with onion and garlic. Added parmesan cheese to stuffing. Topped with a lot of jarred tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. Had to cook for 10 min covered to "steam" zucchini to be sure they were done. This was very good.
I actually made my own tomato sauce by using tomato puree, a can of diced tomatoes, onions and my favorite seasonings. A little more ambitious than what the origional recipe called for but awsome. Watch out for the meat though. If you use a not so lean meat your sauce will seem to double. Very good. A keeper in our house!
Since we love cheese, I put some shredded Provolone on top just long enough for it to melt. It was great. And we have soooooooo many zuccini I am sure I will make this dish again. Thanks for sharing. Cheryl
There are no spices in this recipe. I wish I would have noticed this before I started cooking this waste of moderately expensive meat. The meat mixture requires garlic, salt, pepper, and maybe worchestershire, but I wouldn't know for sure because I would have to make it again - and that ain't happening. Sorry, I just like my food to taste like something other than just plain meat on a plain vegetable. Also, mince the onions - chopped onions are too big. But, hey, dozens of other people gave this recipe a great rating. I'm probably wrong. You should try it!
Delicious! I used canned sliced tomatoes instead of the soup. You can also use fresh. This is good over rice.
Fabulous! I added mushrooms & used sharp cheddar cheese & provolone on top! Huge success!!
I loved this recipe! I would suggest following some of the modifications though. For instance, next time I make it I will not use all the tomato sauce.
Love this recipe! I used it a few times over the summer and got many compliments over it.
Loved it. I omitted the crushed tomatoes, but did use crused red pepper to add some spice.
I used lean ground turkey instead of beef and sausage. I also use 1tbs each of bread crumbs, wheat germ and freshly ground flax seed to give it a bit more fiber and 'good stuff'. I really liked it and even my kids ate their half of the zucchini. A keeper for sure!
really enjoyed this. I added some garlic and Monterey steak seasoning. the sauce was soupy, next time i will add diced tomatoes and some spaghetti sauce.
I followed the recipe to a tee and found it to be very bland. It definitely could use some pep! Salt, pepper and a little garlic for starters. The "sauce" was a big zero. Boring. Boo.
I changed this recipe a little. I substituted marinara sauce for the crushed tomatoes and soup, added a sm, ground zucchini in place of seeds in the filling, added lemon marjorim and parsley,worcestershire sauce, garlic, and for the sausage I used spicy italian. I also cut and added half a wedge of monteray jack and colby cheese for the top. My dh loved it.
This is awesome served over pasta. I also tried it with yellow squash and it is just as good. LOVE IT!!!!!
I loved this recipe but somehow ended up with a lot more filler than I needed.
We had some ground deer meat, so I used that instead of ground beef and sausage. It was really good!
My family tried this recipe just as it was created. I was like soup, it was flat tasting and the sausage stuffing fell out of the zucchini as soon as you lifted it from the dish. No one was impressed
Great with spinach added, and I browned and drained the meat before adding rest of ingredients, also didn't have the soup so left it out. Cooked to perfection in 40 minutes, definitely a keeper!
Great recipe, but I'm telling you now that you have to add some salt and black pepper to the meat mixture as well as dusting salt and pepper on the Zucchini. There's no way around it. I don't know if it is an over sight, but it only stands to reason that both would be required.
Had a huge zucchini - 5# - used 2 9x13 pans and 2 hours baking. Made it with 2# pork sausage mix omiting the gr beef. Have gluten/egg free kid here so oats in place of bread crumbs and egg replacer for egg. And HM tomato sauce for the top vs canned soup mix. Loved the idea of chopping the seeds and adding to the sausage mix.
I didn't use ground sausage, but I did use ground pork. It turned out amazing. My wife was blown away, she had no idea it was going to be that good. I plan on making again but this time I think less spaghetti sauce as there was alot of extra sauce.
I used eggplant instead of zucchini but more importantly COOK THE MEAT before you stuff whatever you are using. Obviously, I am not an experienced cook and just in case there are more like me out there who use this website, heed my advice. There was so much grease that it ruined the flavor of the marinara sauce I made, knocked my wife out for the night, gave me heartburn and made the eggplant burst apart. But otherwise, it's a good meal and I'm going to try it again.
I was very disappointed with this recipe. I topped with parmesan and provolone cheeses the last 10 minutes of baking. The dish looked really nice and sounded so interesting and unique in the recipe. Alas, it was very bland and with the combination of the beef & tomato sauce..just tasted like a meat sauce for spaghetti. The flavor of the zucchini was completely lost. I have a 3 because it wasn't un-eatable..but not worth the effort to make again.
this is all in all a great recipe. i gave it 4 stars because there are a few changes i would make next time. i substituted tomato soup for tomato sauce, and next time i don't think i would add as much water, maybe 1/4 c. rather than a full cup. also, the meat was very bland, next time i will add some fresh garlic, definitely some salt, maybe some italian seasonings, etc. mozzarella or parmesan cheese would have given it a nice kick, too. i also had to bake it for about an hour and a half, turned the heat up to 400 after the 1st 30 minutes or so and covered it with foil the last 30 minutes. it wouldn't cook!! but my husband RAVED. he loved it!
I made it. I followed the basic recipe but there were a few main ingredients missing like salt & pepper. I added yellow rice, mushrooms, and 1 jalapeño pepper for a kick. It was basically converted into a stuffed pepper with flavor. Hubby loved it, will make it again; thank you.
Loved it. I did not use tomato soup - instead diced tomatoes and marinara sauce.
I changed this recipe by not using the tomato soup; I just added tomatoes. It needed some salt and other spices to enhance the flavors. I'll use the foundation recipe, but do a lot of modifying for real flavor boost.
Rated 4 stars because as it is, I can't imagine how little flavor there would be. I added of course salt/pepper to taste but I also added Italian Seasoning, Garlic, and Extra Basil. I used a jar of ragu instead of the tomatoes and tomato soup and left out the water. I topped with a light coat of parm cheese when it came out of the oven. All my kids loved it. (That is like a miracle in my house) I baked for forty minutes, and it was great. All cooked, and my zucchini was not dried out.
I will make it again! Didn't have any pork sausage to add, so that's why I only gave it a 4 ranking.
