This delicious grilled vegetarian stuffed zucchini features an Italian-style filling of lemon basil quinoa with red pepper and mozzarella cheese.
I left the farmer’s market with a boat-load of zucchini this weekend. Unfortunately we didn’t grow any in our garden this year, so we had to pretend we had the late summer “drowning in zucchini” problem. We tried a few things that didn’t work out, even zucchini noodles with a spiralizer. But luckily one recipe did turn out: this grilled vegetarian stuffed zucchini. And it’s so darn good. Keep reading for the recipe!
Related: 10 Easy Quinoa Recipes
Making this vegetarian stuffed zucchini
This vegetarian stuffed zucchini was one of those ideas that Alex dreams up that I’m a little skeptical about until he convinces me otherwise. And looking back, I’m not so sure why I was so skeptical. Vegetarian stuffed zucchini is a genius way to make a filling vegetarian main dish out of zucchini. And adding the grill to that? It makes the zucchini boats charred and smoky, which adds an irresistible element.
For the vegetarian stuffed zucchini filling, we’ve been enjoying the lemon and basil flavor combination lately. Alex devised an Italian-style filling of lemon basil quinoa with red pepper and mozzarella cheese. It makes for an extraordinarily tasty grilled zucchini boats. They’re a fabulous vegetarian dinner idea for grilling season; a fitting late summer dinner on the patio! We’d serve this vegetarian stuffed zucchini with Strawberry Summer Salad and a glass of frose.
How to make quinoa
Outside of grilling the zucchini, the only special skill required for this vegetarian stuffed zucchini is cooking the quinoa! Cooking quinoa is a simple process, but it can be easy to mess up! Cook it too fast and it’s hard and crunchy, or overcook it and it’s mushy. Here are our two best methods for how to cook quinoa for this vegetarian stuffed zucchini:
- Perfect Quinoa on the Stovetop This is our master recipe for cooking quinoa on the stovetop. It takes about 25 minutes, and it requires a little baby sitting to make sure the liquid is cooking out evenly, but it’s mostly hands off.
- Instant Pot Quinoa (Pressure Cooker) If you have a pressure cooker, you can use it to make quinoa! It takes about 16 minutes and is almost totally hands off! This is the method we’ve started to use more often, since we have an Instant Pot. (Here’s the Instant Pot we use)
Video: How to make quinoa
And, to show you how to do it: here’s a video of us making quinoa in our kitchen!
Other ways to use zucchini
We’re all about creativity when it comes to using up zucchini. Zucchini bread and muffins are delicious and all, but we like thinking outside the box: like zucchini ribbon salad or chocolate cake! Here are some of our favorite ways to use up zucchini, outside of this zucchini ribbon salad:
- Amazing Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
- Summer Pasta with Zucchini
- Zucchini Ribbon Salad
- Zucchini Lasagna Boats
- Mexican Quinoa Recipe
- Greek Grilled Veggie Skewers
- Italian Vegan Pasta Salad
- 30 Zucchini Recipes
Looking for more grilling ideas?
Outside of this grilled vegetarian stuffed zucchini, here are a few more recipes for your summer grilling game:
- Best Grilled Veggie Burger
- Grilled Vegetable Pasta
- BBQ Grilled Cauliflower (or Grilled Cauliflower)
- Grilled Eggplant with Herbed Quinoa
- Greek Grilled Portobello Burger
- Grilled Buffalo Cauliflower Sandwich
- Grilled Veggie Fajitas
- Grilled Cauliflower Steak with Corn Salsa
- Pesto Portobello Mushroom Burger
- Tomato & Grilled Eggplant Stacked Sandwich
- Grilled Teriyaki Mango Skewers
- Loaded Grilled Nachos
- Grilled Eggplant Salad with Yogurt
- Greek Grilled Veggie Skewers
- Grilled Carrots with Lime and Cilantro
- Grilled Romaine Lettuce
- Simple Grilled Paella
- 100 Grilling Recipes
- Mint Pesto Grilled Cheese on the Grill
This vegetarian stuffed zucchini recipe is…
Vegetarian and gluten-free.
Vegetarian Stuffed Zucchini
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 to 6 servings 1x
Description
This delicious grilled vegetarian stuffed zucchini features an Italian-style filling of lemon basil quinoa with red pepper and mozzarella cheese.
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa (uncooked)
- 1 red pepper
- 1 shallot
- ¼ cup basil leaves, loosely packed
- 2/3 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- 1 lemon
- 4 medium zucchini
- Olive oil
- ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat a grill to medium high. (Alternatively, you can bake at 425°F covered with foil for 15 minutes, then uncovered for 5 minutes.)
- Cook the quinoa (or use our Instant Pot quinoa method): Place 1 cup quinoa in a saucepan with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to very low. Cover the pot, and simmer where the water is just bubbling for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the water has been completely absorbed. (Check by pulling back the quinoa with a fork to see if water remains.) Turn off the heat and let sit covered to steam for about 5 minutes.
- Finely dice 1 red pepper, mince 1 shallot, and chop ¼ cup basil leaves.
- When the quinoa is done, mix the vegetables above with the quinoa, ⅔ cups mozzarella, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and the zest of 1 lemon.
- Cut off the ends of 4 zucchini, then cut them in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, remove the fleshy centers. Brush the zucchini lightly with olive oil and grill cut-side down for 3-5 minutes.
- Remove the zucchini from the grill and and sprinkle with kosher salt. Spoon in the quinoa stuffing, then top with grated Parmesan cheese (or Mozzarella cheese). Grill indirectly on a medium high grill for 8-10 minutes until tender.
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Grilled
- Cuisine: Italian Inspired
Keywords: Vegetarian stuffed zucchini, Grilled zucchini, Zucchini Recipes, Vegetarian Grill Recipes, Grilling Ideas
Stuffed zucchini is the best! Love this quinoa version!
Mmm, the lemon-basil flavor combo sounds delicious with quinoa. I never tire from cooking with quinoa and probably have it once a week, so this stuffed zucchini is going in my file.
Oh wow, these look so wholesome and yummy! I would totally add some meat into the stuffing as well for a protein kick! Great recipe!
I make zucchini noodles fairly frequently – there are two dishes I make fairly regularly, one raw, one cooked. They have turned out well for me every time. This recipe sounds like a wonderful way to use zucchini. I would need to do something to add more protein, but I would love to try it.
I love stuffed zucchini and quinoa sounds super tasty!
This is such a great time of year to get boat loads of zucchini at the best price. We make zucchini spaghetti a lot, and these stuffed zucchinis are right up our alley! Delicious!
Yummy! What a great idea! Love that these would be so hearty, especially for vegetarian meals! These will go a long way in convincing people to eat meatless, so please linkup to my page for meatless monday. Meatfree can be hearty, and definitely way more healthy! Thanks for the recipe :)
This looks delightful. I am really in the ‘drowning in zucchini’ conundrum, but not because I grow it – my CSA has been sending lots, plus I can never resist it at the farmers market. Then I get home and realize I bought way too much. This looks just lovely. I made a similar recipe last week with bell peppers; we were drowning in those last week. Thanks for sharing.
These look amazing! I’m so glad I found your blog :)
What a great idea! I do this every kind of squash imaginable — acorn, butternut, winter, even patty pan, but never thought of zucchini. Add a few pieces of chorizo to top and I can pass this off as pizza to my preschooler, which somehow just makes it more fun.