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Go boating with these Thai vegetarian zucchini boats! It’s a spicy, simple stuffed zucchini recipe with delicious Thai flavors!

red thai zucchini boats

*Please note* this post was originally published in 2017. I’ve since updated the post but the recipe remains the same.

I’m keeping with my #ThaiTuesday theme. If you haven’t noticed, we really like our Thai spices around here; a couple of weeks ago, I posted one of our favourite Thai dishes. Although today’s recipe doesn’t have quite the same standing in our dinner rotation, with all the zucchini I’ve been harvesting it might quickly catch up.

I have been making zucchini boats for a while now, but I usually fill them with tomato sauce, beef and cheese. This is undoubtedly a delicious way to serve zucchini, but the foodie in me is always asking “what else could I do”…? I couldn’t let this question go unanswered, so I started playing around with a few different ideas.

 

I wanted to try and keep it meatless, so we would have yet another option for our Meatless Mondays. Thai flavours seemed like an obvious choice. Stuffing a squash with a grain? Another obvious choice. I looooove to make red Thai basmati rice – we eat it  or coconut rice almost weekly,  often with grilled vegetables and chicken on the side. It’s so good! I find plain rice disappointing now.

Thai vegetarian Zucchini Boats

How do you make the Thai red curry rice?

Making the rice is easy peasy. Toss into your pot the rice, coconut milk, water, lime juice, a touch of brown sugar and the curry paste. Bring it to a boil, stir it around and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes. Ta da!! It’s pretty hard to resist just eating it with a spoon.

 

How do you make these Thai vegetarian zucchini boats?

Turning the squash themselves into boats is really easy. Cut the tips of the zucchini off, then cut them each lengthwise down the middle. Scoop out the soft flesh inside using a spoon or a melon baller, and they’re ready for filling.

Hold on to the pulp if you want to use it in the actual filling as well!

What else do you stuff these zucchini boats with?

Along with the amazing, creamy, red Thai curry rice, we’ve added some diced up veggies to throw into the boats. You could really use anything, but I kept it simple with mushrooms, red bell peppers and carrots. You could also add in the zucchini pulp that you just scooped out!

While the rice is cooking, stir fry the veggies in a large pan with garlic and ginger. Combine the veggies with the cooked rice and proceed to filling the boats!

Now, you could stop here…but that would be foolish. The red Thai sauce that goes on top of the zucchini boats takes this dish to another level!! I could seriously drink this sauce (I might have). You can prepare the sauce while the zucchini is cooking, and then drizzle over the tops as soon as you take them out.

The softened zucchini, spicy sauce and creamy rice make for the perfect combination of textures in your mouth. This dish has real substance – for rice and vegetables, it’s pretty darn filling. Etienne and I could only eat 1 each!

Do you have a ton of zucchini in your garden? Try these zucchini boats for a quick, fun way to use up those veggies. #ThaiTuesday lives on!!

Red Thai Zucchini Boats

red thai zucchini boats

Some of my other favorite meatless dishes from the blog:

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Thai vegetarian Zucchini Boats

Thai Vegetarian Zucchini Boats


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  • Author: Katherine
  • Total Time: 1 hours 5 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings // 1x

Description

Go boating with these Thai vegetarian zucchini boats! It’s a spicy, simple stuffed zucchini recipe with delicious Thai flavors!


Ingredients

Scale

Red Thai Basmati Rice

  • 1 cup basmati rice
  • 1 cup coconut milk (light or full fat)
  • 1 cup water
  • 3 tbsp red Thai curry paste*
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp lime juice

Zucchini Boats

  • 3 large zucchini
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1” piece of fresh ginger, grated
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 carrot, finely diced
  • 1 cup white mushrooms, diced

Red Thai Sauce

  • 1 cup coconut milk (light or full fat)
  • 1 tbsp peanut butter
  • 1 tbsp red Thai curry paste
  • 1 tbsp lime juice
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Prepare the rice by combining all of the rice ingredients as listed above and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, stir the rice around and simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on. When the rice is done, remove from heat and set aside.
  2. While the rice is cooking, trim both ends of each zucchini and slice them open lengthwise. Using a spoon or a melon baller, remove the soft flesh of the zucchini, creating a “boat”. Set the flesh aside for later or discard*. Place the zucchini side by side on a large baking sheet or casserole dish.
  3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When it begins to shimmer, add the garlic and stir fry for a minute or two, before adding the ginger and frying for another minute. Add the diced veggies and sauté for about 5 minutes. Remove the veggies from the heat and combine them with the basmati rice.
  4. Using a spoon, fill each zucchini cavity with the rice and vegetable mixture; if you have some leftover, it can be saved and served with the zucchini boats. Once all of the zucchini have been filled, place the baking sheet into the oven for 40-45 minutes, or until the zucchini is fork-tender.
  5. While the zucchini is cooking, whisk together all of the sauce ingredients in a small pot over high heat. Whisk continuously, or until the sauce has started to thicken. Reduce the heat to medium and continue whisking every few minutes until the sauce has thickened to your liking, about 15 minutes for me. Keep the sauce on low until your zucchini is ready.
  6. Serve the zucchini on a bed of rice (if there is some leftover) with sauce poured over the top.

Leftover zucchini and sauce will keep in the fridge, in an airtight container, for 3-4 days.

Notes

  1. If you’re not a big fan of spice, use 2 tbsp red curry paste.
  2. You can also combine the scooped out flesh from the zucchini with your vegetables; sauté the flesh along with the other veggies.
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 45 minutes
  • Category: vegetarian
  • Method: stovetop
  • Cuisine: Thai
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red thai curry zucchini boats

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moroccan acorn squash

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Thai Vegetarian Zucchini BoatsThai Vegetarian Zucchini Boats

About Katherine

Heeey! Thank you for stopping by! I like 30-minute dinners and giant peanut butter cups made with only 3 ingredients. I LOVE food! If you do too, you're in the right place.

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25 Comments

  1. How did I miss this? Must have been while I was away… Thai is absolutely a favorite in our house and my daughter is going to love it! Thanks for sharing!

    1. So many blogs! I keep finding myself missing things too! We love Thai too, Annie! I hope your family loves it. 🙂

  2. I’ve been looking for stuffings for delicata squash. This is one of two on your site that look appealing. Thanks!