zucchini boat – The Keto Guru

Keto Taco Zucchini Boats

Well this was good…like really good. Imagine having all the same flavors of Taco Tuesday without the extra carbs. This is exactly what you get here. Now, I’ve done several iterations of this recipe; philly boats, chicken bacon ranch, but this has to be my favorite. Did I mention how super simple this is as well? Well, get after it, what ya waiting for?

Ingredients:

1lb. ground beef
1/2 (4 oz.) block of cream cheese
3 nice sized zucchini (get them as straight as you can)
Mexican blend grated cheese
Taco seasoning
Taco fixin’s of your choice

Instructions:

We need to start out by washing our zucchini and then cutting the tip off of both ends, but just the tip! Once this is done, cut them down the center as straight as you can.

Now, take a spoon and dig out the center. Don’t dig too deep, but dig deep enough to get enough of the filling inside. Also, stop about 1/4 inch from either end so the filling doesn’t fall out. Repeat until all 6 are done this way.

Throw these into the air fryer at 400 degrees and cook for 10-12 minutes. We just want to soften them up a bit prior to filling them and cooking again. I also elect to sprinkle with salt for a bit of added flavor.

While your zucchini is cookin’, add your ground beef to a skillet and get to browning it up. Cook until it’s good and brown. At this point I elect to remove the grease because it will make a mess in our boat. And, now that it’s cooked and drained, this is when I add the seasoning. Season to your liking.

Once your meat is cooked, take your 1/2 block of cream cheese, cubed, and throw in with your ground beef. Keep your fire on low and gently work it around until the ground beef and cream cheese is combined well. Kill the fire.

At this point, everything should be ready to stuff. Take your zucchini out of the air fryer. Using a spoon, start adding your filling into your boats. Fill each one and pack them down real good. This helps prevent them from falling out. Repeat until they are all stuffed. Just for reference, 1lb. of ground beef perfectly stuffed 6 boats.

Take some grated mexican blend cheese (or cheese of your choice) and sprinkle on top of each boat. Put back into air fryer and cook for about 10 minutes, or until your cheese is nice and crispy on top.

Plate your boats and start topping with your favorite taco fixin’s. I use sour cream, guacamole and crema. Hope you enjoy!

Keto Philly Steak Zucchini Boats

A couple of weeks ago I posted a recipe very similar to this one, Chicken Bacon Ranch Zucchini Boats. I knew that the boats could be stuffed with so many other things. Tonight, philly steak was the chosen one and it did not disappoint. This one took a bit longer than a normal meal because there were several parts from trimming the steak to finish. You can cut some time off by buying pre-cut philly meat but that takes the fun from it.

Ingredients: Yields 8 zucchini boats

2-3 large ribeye steaks
1 block softened full fat cream cheese
1/2 white onion
1 cup mushrooms
2 jumbo jalapeno
8 slices provolone cheese
4 large zucchini (find them as straight as possible)
1 tbsp salted grass fed butter
1 tbsp avocado oil
Salt/pepper/garlic powder to taste

Instructions:

Start by slicing your fresh ribeye steak very thin. The thinner the better. Make sure you cut against the grain so your meat isn’t chewy. Set to the side.

On a cutting board, slice the ends of your zucchini and split down the middle. Do your best to cut as straight as possible. Using a spoon, remove the insides leaving about 1/4″ of the meat.

Spray your zucchini boats with avocado oil and place them in the air fryer or oven for 10 minutes. We just need to soften them up a bit prior to stuffing.

On a cutting board, slice up 1/2 of an onion and your peppers. Open your pre-sliced mushrooms and wash, set to the side.

In a frying pan, add 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp of avocado oil. On med-high, throw in your onions only at this point. Start sweating them down. Let them cook for about 15 minutes, casually stirring.

After 15 minutes of sweating them down, toss in the peppers and mushrooms and continue on med heat for another 10 minutes or so while you are cooking your beef.

In an alternate pan, add your beef, 2 tbsp of avocado oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder and cook for just a few minutes on med-high, just to a slight pink color. We will be adding the veggies and airfrying so the meat will continue to cook.

Once your steak is cooked, drain the juice off and add it to the veggies. Combine.

Add your cubed softened cream cheese and turn your heat back on to med-high. Stir this really well until all of the cream cheese is melted and combined with the meat/veggies. This shouldn’t take more than 4 or 5 minutes.

Now that we have everything cooked, it’s time to start stuffing the boats. Using tongs or a spoon, divide your mixture into your 8 boats. You may have to use your hand a bit to get them formed into the boat and not overflowing the sides. Once stuffed, place your boats into the air fryer/oven and cook on 400 degrees for about 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, pull them out and put a slice of provolone cheese on each of the boats. I cut my slice in half to make it go end to end. Place back into the air fryer/oven for about 2 minutes, or until the cheese is nicely melted.

And that’s it! Now remove these bad boys and enjoy!

Keto Zucchini Boats – Chicken Bacon Ranch

Wow, this turned out to be a crowd pleaser. Super simple, super fresh and super clean keto. There are so many options you can do with a zucchini boat. Tonight, I decided to try a chicken/bacon/ranch version. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 boneless skinless chicken breast
3/4 cup shredded natural cheese, your choice
1/2 cup crumbled bacon
Ranch seasoning
3 large, fairly straight zucchini

Instructions:

Get your chicken cooking so you can work on your stuffing and boats while it cooks. I prefer to cook mine in the air fryer. I air fry my breasts at 400 degrees for 13 minutes, flipping at the halfway point. Spray with avocado oil and use a seasoning of your choice.

While your chicken is cooking, cut the 2 ends of your zucchini off and slice down the middle. Do the best you can to cut as straight as you can. That’s why it’s important to select nice and straight zucchini.

Using a spoon, scoop out the insides. Be careful not to go too deep and don’t go all the way to the end. You want to create a nice pocket down the center.

Once you have scooped out the insides, spray with a bit of oil and season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven, or another airfryer if you have 2 like me, and cook for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. We just want to softened them up a bit.

Now, your chicken should be done. Let your chicken rest for no less than 5 minutes. Once rested, slice your breast longway, then chop into small pieces. I only needed 1 and 1/2 breast to fill 6 boats.

Add your sliced chicken to a mixing bowl, add your bacon and cheese and top with ranch seasoning. I didn’t measure, I just poured what I thought would be good. Mix well. Hit it again with some more ranch seasoning.

Now, time to get to filling up your boats. Get your spoon and put some of the CBR into the boat. Pack it in real good and make sure it’s not over-flowing. Continue until all of your boats are filled.

Place your boats into the air fryer or oven and cook at 400 degrees for about 10-15 minutes. You’ll know when they are ready when you see the cheese nice and brown and the bacon looking crispy. Remove, plate and enjoy!