This post may include affiliate links; for details, see our disclosure policy.
This delicious grilled vegetarian stuffed zucchini features an Italian-style filling of lemon basil quinoa with red pepper and mozzarella cheese.
Why we love this recipe
We left the farmer’s market with a boat-load of zucchini this weekend. Though we didn’t grow any in our garden this year, we had to pretend we had the late summer “drowning in zucchini” problem.
Luckily, we found an amazing way to use up our produce: this grilled vegetarian stuffed zucchini. It’s so delicious and hearty, filled with quinoa that’s bursting with Italian-style flavors like basil, lemon, red pepper, and mozzarella cheese. It’s the perfect summer dinner!
Tips for 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. 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. Grilling infuses an irresistible charred and smoky flavor.
For the filling, Alex devised an Italian-style filling of lemon basil quinoa with red pepper and mozzarella cheese. It makes a fabulous vegetarian dinner idea for grilling season: the perfect summer dinner on the patio! We’d serve this vegetarian stuffed zucchini with our strawberry summer salad and a glass of frose.
Ways 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)
More zucchini recipes
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 zucchini recipes, outside of this zucchini ribbon salad:
Dietary notes
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
Loved this idea!! I didn’t have any fresh basil, but I added some dried basil and mint, pine nuts, and crumbled feta cheese (didn’t have mozzarella or good Parmesan on hand). It was super yummy. We had it as a side dish for chicken.
I just finished making this. It’s in the oven. Not sure why, but despite following recipe directions, I ended up with around 3 times the amount of filling needed to stuff 4 zucchinis! Unfortunately, I don’t have any extra zucchinis to stuff. Am I the only one with so much filling??
I wish the nutrition content was included!
What a fun way to eat zucchini! And looks filling but healthy :)
i have never tried eating this way but it does looks darn tasty!!
This is awesome! I am eating really clean lately and this is one of those yummy things that would be really good for my diet.
Thanks!
I have pinned it for later use.
Yum! Such a great weeknight meal. Easy and delicious. Will definitely be giving it a try. :)