These ZUCCHINI ENCHILADA BOATS are the easy way to enjoy keto enchiladas! The whole family loves these Mexican zucchini boats stuffed with chicken, enchilada sauce, and cheese.
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I have a hard time resisting Mexican flavors, especially when there is melty cheese involved!
Lucky, this chicken enchilada recipe skips the tortillas and starts with zucchini instead.
I think zucchini is pretty decent in most forms, but when you stuff it with ca quick chicken enchilada mixture and top it off with plenty of cheese? You can’t go wrong.
This recipe is quick and simple. Plus, it’s super easy to customize to suit your tastes. I’ll give you some ideas below.
Keep on reading for the walk through, or skip straight down to the recipe card for the full recipe.
How to:
Zucchini Boats: To make the zucchini boats, you’ll just slice your zucchini in half, length-wise. Scoop out the insides (you can add that to your filling, save it to add to smoothies, use it to bulk up other dishes like my cauliflower mac and cheese, or just toss it). Brush with olive oil and bake until the zucchini have softened, about 25 minutes.
Filling: The enchilada filling is made up of sautéed onion, garlic, and green chiles mixed with enchilada sauce and chopped chicken.
You can use my keto enchilada sauce or a can of sauce, if you prefer.
Assembly: Spoon the filling into the zucchini boats, top with plenty of cheese, and bake for another 10 minutes or so.
Topping: You can use any toppings you like here. We usually sprinkle these with chopped tomatoes and cilantro. A spoonful of sour cream or my keto guacamole and keto salsa are always good additions too.
Substitutions:
Chicken: We use leftover shredded or chopped chicken in this recipe, but you can use ground chicken, turkey, or beef instead. Season the meat with taco seasoning or a blend of cumin, paprika, chili powder, onion powder, and salt.
Cheese: We like a mix of cheddar and Monterey jack, but any blend of cheese will work fine. Pepper jack will add a nice kick.
Zucchini: Seems crazy to swap the zucchini in a zucchini boat recipe, but you can use the yellow crookneck squash in place of zucchini, if that’s what you have on hand or prefer. We use them interchangeably.
More keto Mexican recipes:
- Baked Salsa Chicken
- Mexican Shredded Beef
- Mexican Cauliflower Rice
- Enchilada Meatballs
- Keto Taco Casserole
Chicken Enchilada Zucchini Boats
Ingredients
- 4 medium zucchini
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 4 ounces canned green chiles
- 1 1/2 cups enchilada sauce
- 1 ½ cups cooked shredded chicken
- 1 cup shredded cheddar
- 1 cup shredded Monterey jack
- Cilantro tomatoes, avocado, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Slice the zucchini in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to scoop the centers out of the zucchini. Discard the scooped out zucchini or save for another use. Brush the shells with 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil.
- Place the zucchini in a baking dish (you may need to use two to make them fit) and bake for 25 minutes, or until tender.
- While the zucchini bakes, heat the remaining oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add the onion. Cook until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds more.
- Remove from the heat and add the green chiles, enchilada sauce, and shredded chicken to the pan. Stir to combine.
- Spoon the filling evenly between the cooked zucchini and sprinkle with the cheese.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
- Sprinkle with cilantro, tomatoes, and diced avocado before serving.
Patrice says
Chicken Enchilada Zucchini Boats taste awesome. Can I freeze the Leftovers?
Karly Campbell says
I haven’t tried freezing this one, but I imagine it would freeze well. 🙂
Dustin says
Wow, so easy to make. Thank you for the detailed recipe. Your photographs speaks a lot.
Marsha Spannagel says
Hi Karly! This recipe looks delicious. We love healthy Mexican dishes. I’d like some clarification on the Nutrition information/serving size please. Your notes mention that the nutrition info is only based on the Enchilada sauce (3g carbs per 1/4 cup).. so what about the rest of the ingredients nutritional value? Would you elaborate for me please. thank you!!
Karly Campbell says
Hi Marsha! The full nutrition info is in the recipe card at the bottom. I don’t have the breakdown of each individual ingredient. I just wanted to point out that it was calculated with a 3 net carb sauce, since that will be the big variable for most people.