Grilled Quinoa Pizza Zucchini Boats (Summer Grilling Series)

Mix up your Summer grilling routine with these meatless Grilled Quinoa Pizza Zucchini Boats. These are a veggie supreme combo, stuffed with sautéed mushrooms. peppers. onions and olives, but mix it up with your favorite pizza toppings! If your kids love pepperoni, adding a few slices on top might just entice them to eat grilled zucchini for dinner.

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Uncle Steve’s organic pasta sauces, and since I loved them, decided to use them in this recipe. All opinions are my own.

I wanted to come up with some interesting vegetarian BBQ main dishes this summer– and these Grilled Quinoa Pizza Zucchini Boats are a winner!

We love grilled zucchini. Most of the time, I just drizzle it with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. It’s good just simply prepared.

I also sometimes coat it with parmesan cheese, thyme and paprika. It’s really awesome that way — like cheesy zucchini fries.

When I received a box of Uncle Steve’s organic pasta sauces in the mail, I knew I needed to do some type of grillable pizza. But I wanted to keep it easy, and gluten free pizza crust? Not easy.

To make it even easier. I experimented with making the quinoa pizza filling in 1 pan. I started by sautéing the veggies, and then adding a jar of tomato basil sauce, and some quinoa. It simmered on the stove and gave me enough time to fire up the grill and hollow out the zucchini.

I never realized how difficult it is to get large zucchini early in the summer! The small ones are everywhere. These would be awesome with late-summer big zucchini, especially the ones that have started to hollow in the center.

I used a spoon and hollowed out the centers, leaving a bit of an edge to grill. I drizzled these with olive oil, seasoned lightly with salt and pepper, and grilled the cut sides.

After I stuffed with with the quinoa pizza mixture, and sprinkled some cheese on top, they took about 5 more minutes on the grill to heat up the mixture enough to melt the cheese.

Tips for Grilled Quinoa Pizza Zucchini Boats

• Make it Vegan: Sub the mozzarella for a non-dairy vegan cheese, or just omit and add extra herbs to the top!
• Make it Paleo/Whole30: These would be awesome with cauliflower rice instead of quinoa! I imagine the filling would cook pretty quickly with cauliflower rice instead of quinoa, but I have never tried it. Omit the cheese as well.
• For the Family: My niece and nephew DON’T like zucchini- they have told me many times. We added some organic nitrate free pepperoni to the tops of these, and suddenly zucchini didn’t look so bad! Add whatever pizza toppings your family enjoys.

Other Vegetarian Grilling Recipes:

• Sweet and Spicy Grilled Pineapple, by Sunkissed Kitchen
• Serano Honey Grilled Peaches, by Sunkissed Kitchen
• Grilled Romaine Salad, by Sunkissed Kitchen

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Grilled Quinoa Pizza Zucchini Boats

A fun vegetarian main dish for a summer BBQ! These delicious zucchini boats are stuffed with veggies and quinoa and are a healthy way to enjoy all the flavors of your favorite pizza.

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Calories: 326kcal

Author: Michelle Miller

Ingredients

Pizza Quinoa

• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 1/4 cup red onion chopped
• ▢ 1/2 cup mushrooms sliced
• ▢ 10 olives sliced
• ▢ 1/2 bell pepper diced
• ▢ 1 jar tomato basil pasta sauce
• ▢ 1 cup quinoa
• ▢ 1 teaspoon oregano

Zucchini Pizza Boats

• ▢ 4 zucchini
• ▢ olive oil
• ▢ sea salt & black pepper to taste
• ▢ 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese or more, if desired
• ▢ parmesan cheese to garnish, optional
• ▢ fresh herbs (basil and oregano) to garnish, optional

Instructions

• Heat up a BBQ to medium high heat.
• In a skillet with a lid, add 1 tablespoon olive oil, and heat over medium high heat. Add all the pizza veggies, and saute for about 5 minutes.
• Add the tomato basil sauce and quinoa, and stir until mixture starts to bubble.
• Lower the temperature to low, and cover the skillet. Continue to simmer covered for 15-20 minutes, until quinoa has cooked.
• Prepare the zucchinis by cutting them lengthwise. Use a spoon to scrape out the seeds making a long hollow down the centers of the zucchinis.
• Brush both sides of the zucchini with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.
• Add zucchini to grills cut side down, and grill for about 5 minutes.
• Remove zucchinis from grill, and stuff the hollows with the quinoa pizza mixture. Top with shredded mozzarella.
• Add zucchinis back to grill and cook for another 5 minutes or until cheese melts.
• Garnish with parmesan cheese and fresh herbs and serve hot.

Notes

• Make it Vegan: Sub the mozzarella for a non-dairy vegan cheese, or just omit and add extra herbs to the top!
• Make it Paleo/Whole30: These would be awesome with cauliflower rice instead of quinoa! I imagine the filling would cook pretty quickly with cauliflower rice instead of quinoa, but I have never tried it. Omit the cheese as well.
• For the Family: My niece and nephew DON’T like zucchini- they have told me many times. We added some organic nitrate free pepperoni to the tops of these, and suddenly zucchini didn’t look so bad! Add whatever pizza toppings your family enjoys.

Nutrition

Calories: 326kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 1153mg | Potassium: 1393mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 1730IU | Vitamin C: 66.2mg | Calcium: 157mg | Iron: 4.8mg

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