All the toppings
We used all of our personal favorite pizza toppings in these zucchini boats, so use it as your starting point. If you want to add or ditch anything, go for it. These pizza boats are also great because if you’ve got kids, they can customize theirs to their own liking. Let the kiddos pick their toppings and make it their own. Everyone will be happy and enjoy a fun dinner!
Cheese isn’t Paleo or Whole30, right?
We know! And that’s why it is purely optional. Feel free to use cheese or not. These zucchini pizza boats turn out great either way! We’ve learned that sometimes not the whole family follows a strict Paleo or Whole30 approach, and we want to offer some flexibility so the whole family can be satisfied. Because really, who wants to make multiple meals to satisfy everyone?!
Tips for making zucchini boats
- Use mild or spicy Italian sausage, whichever is most preferred by your people. We tend to go for spicy.
- For the pepperoni, it’s optional because finding a Whole30 compliant pepperoni is really hard, but if you’re not worried about staying Whole30 compliant, some brands we use are Willshire Farms and Applegate. We are able to find both at our local Whole Foods and Natural Grocers has some options as well.
- If you’re using cheese, some options we like ourselves are grass-fed cheddar or buffalo mozzarella. We get Kerrygold grass-fed white cheddar at Costco and buffalo mozzarella at Whole Foods.
Zucchini Pizza Boats (Paleo, Keto + Whole30 Options)
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground italian sausage, (no added sugar)
- 4 zucchini, sliced in half lengthwise with flesh scooped out
- 1/2 bell pepper, diced
- 1/4 cup mushrooms, sliced
- 1/4 cup olives, sliced
- 1/2 cup marinara sauce, (no added sugar)
- 1/4 cup cheese, shredded, (Optional, keto only)
- 1/4 cup pepperoni, chopped, (Optional, double check ingredients)
- Chopped parsley or basil, (Optional topping)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° Fahrenheit, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium skillet over medium heat, cook Italian sausage, breaking up with a spatula and stirring occassionally until fully cooked.
- While the sausage is cooking, prep the rest of the ingredients as noted.
- Place prepped zucchini halves on baking sheet and spoon some marinara sauce into each boat.
- Once Italian sausage is cooked, scoop some into each boat over the sauce. Layer on the rest of the toppings as desired.
- Transfer to oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until toppings are heated through and cheese is melted if you're using it.
- Once done, remove from the oven and serve. Enjoy!
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Love this recipe! Super easy and delicious! What are the rough nutritional numbers per serving for this recipe?
Hi there – you can drop the URL here to get nutrition information – https://samsungfood.com/recipe-nutrition-calculator/
You mention that finding Whole30 compliant pepperoni is difficult….since I started trying to shop for ingredients to be very strictly Whole30 for a friend who needs to lose some serious weight, I have been appalled at the things that have sugar added!!! I was at a large Albertson’s & almost didn’t find some chicken sausage without sugar added. Before this, it had never dawned on me to even look at the label on a can of tuna packed in water; but I had to read the label on 7-8 brands before finding 2 that didn’t have sugar. Why in Heaven’s name do food manufacturers add sugar to literally everything?
Was trying to find some lunch meat, even the really high dollar sliced roast beef has sugar added. It’s absolute craziness.
Yes, it’s a huge eye-opener when you first start reading labels and find sugar in everything. Over time you will find some brands you can trust and the process of shopping won’t be as painful. Here are a couple of posts you might find helpful where we outline a lot of Whole30 compliant brands/options:
https://realsimplegood.com/instant-pot-jambalaya/
https://realsimplegood.com/whole30-snacks/