Chicken Bacon Ranch Zucchini Boats
This easy zucchini boats recipe is stuffed with chicken, bacon, and ranch for a cheesy family dinner everyone is going to love. It’s one of our favorite recipes for leftover chicken ever!
During the summer, we tend to have stuffed zucchini boats about twice a week. It’s hard not to, considering how plentiful and cheap zucchini squash often is and how versatile these stuffed boats can be! I’ve shared several variations over the years (like buffalo chicken zucchini boats or this chili cheese stuffed zucchini), and the 5-star reviews make it pretty clear that y’all love them, too.
I first shared this recipe in 2021, but after years of tweaking ingredients and trying new variations, I’ve updated it to reflect our absolute favorite way to eat these. We’ve swapped out the cream cheese for cottage cheese (creamier + more protein), nixed the liquid ranch dressing (made the filling runnier than we liked), and added green onions (great for texture and flavor). Trust me, this is one of those 30-minute dinners you will want to repeat again and again!
Can’t get enough? Try more of our keto dinner recipes!
Stuffed Zucchini Boats Ingredients
- Zucchini: medium-sized zucchini work great for this recipe. Pick a few that are about the same size and shape so that they cook evenly.
- Chicken and Bacon: Cooked. This is a great way to use up leftover rotisserie chicken, but I often make crockpot shredded chicken for this. Bacon should be cooked and crumbled beforehand.
- Cottage Cheese and Ranch Seasoning: Blend your cottage cheese until creamy for the best texture. If you hate cottage cheese, you can replace this with cream cheese. For the ranch seasoning, make sure to use the seasoning packet, not the liquid dressing.
- Cheese: Shredded. I use cheddar because I prefer the flavor, but colby jack, pepper jack, or mozzarella would work nicely, too.
- Green Onions: Finely chopped. This adds a nice flavor and texture! If you prefer, you could replace this with chives.
How to Make Keto Zucchini Boats
- Start by slicing your zucchini lengthwise (hot dog style). Use a spoon to scrape the soft insides out, creating a well to fill with your chicken bacon ranch filling. You can discard the zucchini flesh if you like, but I prefer to store it in the fridge to bulk up our scrambled eggs or stir fries later. Place your zucchini boats in a lightly greased baking dish.
- Grab a mixing bowl and combine your blended cottage cheese and ranch seasoning with your shredded chicken, green onions, half of the crispy bacon, and 3/4-cup of cheddar cheese.
- Spoon the chicken mixture into the wells of the zucchini boats and top with the remaining shredded cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees F, then sprinkle with remaining bacon before serving.
What to Serve with Chicken Bacon Ranch Stuffed Zucchini Boats
We love these garnished with some fresh herbs and drizzled with buttermilk ranch! For a little heat, try with jalapeno ranch or this tomatillo salsa recipe instead. For great sides, try:
Storage and Reheating
- Fridge: Store in an airtight container up to 4 days.
- Freezer: I don’t recommend freezing these as the zucchini gets very mushy and soft.
- Reheating: Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes, air fry at 350 degrees F for 4-6 minutes, or microwave at 50% power in two 1-minute increments.
Tips for the Best Stuffed Zucchini Boats
- The easiest way to hollow out your zucchini is with a metal teaspoon.
- Use the scooped-out zucchini in your scrambled eggs, stir fries, or veggie soups!
- Check that your zucchini is fork tender before removing from the oven. Thicker zucchini will take longer while thinner zucchini will be finished quicker.
- Want to cook them even faster? Cook the hollowed out zucchini in the air fryer (preheated to 390 degrees F) for 3-5 minutes until they begin to blister. Then spoon in the filling, top with cheese, and air fry another 4-5 minutes or until fork tender.
More Zucchini Boats Recipes
- Keto Zucchini Boats
- Zucchini Boats with Ground Beef
- Buffalo Chicken Zucchini Boats
- Zucchini Taco Boats
Get the Recipe: Cheesy Chicken Zucchini Boats Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 medium zucchini
- 3 cups chicken, cooked and shredded
- 1/3 cup bacon, cooked and chopped (about 5 slices)
- 3/4 cup cottage cheese, blended
- 2 tablespoon dry ranch seasoning
- 1.75 cup shredded cheddar, divided
- 1/4 cup green onions, finely chopped
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Slice the zucchini length wise and use a small spoon or teaspoon to remove the inside of the zucchini and form a "boat"
- Place the hollowed zucchini in a 9×13 baking dish.
- In a medium size mixing bowl combine the cooked chicken, cottage cheese, ranch seasoning, green onions, half the cooked bacon, and 3/4 cup of the shredded cheddar.
- Spoon mixture into the wells of the zucchini boats, lightly pressing down to help fill them completely. Top with the remaining shredded cheddar
- Bake 20-25 minutes until zucchini is fork tender.
- Top with remaining cooked bacon before serving.
Notes
- Net carbs are 2.8 g per zucchini boat
