Italian Stuffed Zucchini in Tomato Sauce

This Italian stuffed zucchini is simmered in a homemade tomato sauce and topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese. The zucchini stuffing is a traditional Italian meatball made of ground beef, minced garlic, soaked bread, nutmeg, and parmesan. The homemade tomato sauce is made with crushed tomatoes, garlic, onion, and dried Italian herbs.

What I Love About This Recipe

The flavors of the Italian meatball, zucchini, homemade tomato sauce, and parmesan all come together beautifully in this simple and elegant dish. Serve this stuffed zucchini in tomato sauce by itself (as the Italians) or alongside any type of pasta or rice.

Ingredient Notes

• Zucchini: The best zucchini for this recipe is large green zucchini, not baby zucchini or kousa, because it is stuffed with the Italian meatball mixture.

For the Italian meatball stuffing:

• Ground beef: Use 85% fat to 90% fat ground beef.
• French bread: The interior dough of the baguette is used in the meatball mixture. it's easier to remove if the french bread is fresh.
• Milk: Use almond milk, cow's milk, oatmilk, or water.
• Ground nutmeg: Make sure to use this spice in the meatballs because it is a main ingredient.
• Shredded parmesan: Use freshly grated parmesan or pre-grated parmesan.
• Mashed fresh garlic: Mashed or pressed garlic is used for the Italian meatball stuffing.

For the homemade tomato sauce:

• Crushed tomatoes: Use a large can of crushed tomatoes.
• Onion: I recommend white onion, brown onion, or sweet onion.
• Finely chopped fresh garlic: Finely chopped fresh garlic is used for the tomato sauce.
• Dried Italian Herbs: Many grocery stores sell dried Italian herbs in a bottle. Substitute fresh herbs like oregano, rosemary, or basil.

See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for quantities.

How To Make Italian Meatball Stuffed Zucchini

For large zucchini, cut the zucchini into thirds (each section about 3" in length). Cut the stem off the end of the zucchini. Using a corer or knife, core out the yellow soft flesh while keeping the outside of the zucchini intact. This is a delicate process that might need some practice.

Add the milk and bread dough to a bowl. Let soak for 2 to 3 minutes. Squeeze the bread in between your hands, squeezing out the excess milk.

Important: Squeeze out the excess milk so the meat mixture is not too moist.

Add the ground beef, minced garlic, salt, pepper, ground nutmeg, grated parmesan, and egg. Mix the Italian meatball mixture well with your hands until combined.

Stuff the cored zucchini with the Italian meatball mixture. Once the zucchinis are all stuffed, add some vegetable oil and olive oil mixture to a nonstick pan.

On medium heat, fry the zucchini in the oil for about 10 minutes covered. Rotate the zucchinis every few minutes to cook the zucchini evenly.

Using a slotted spoon, set the Italian meatball stuffed zucchinis aside.

Drain the nonstick pan of the excess oil. Turn the heat on medium-high. Add the chopped onions. Once the onions soften (about 3 to 4 minutes), add the minced garlic and fry for another minute. Add the crushed tomatoes, water, dried Italian herbs, salt, and pepper. Simmer the homemade tomato sauce for about 5 minutes covered. Add the fried stuffed zucchinis continuing to simmer covered on medium heat.

Simmer the Italian meatball stuffed zucchini in the homemade tomato sauce for about 20 minutes covered. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Additionally, serve with rice or pasta if desired.

Tips and Tricks

• Use mashed garlic (or pressed garlic using a garlic press) in the meatballs and finely chopped garlic in the homemade tomato sauce. Mashed garlic, using a mortar and pestle, is different from finely minced garlic, using a knife to finely chop the garlic. Mashed garlic forms a paste that can easily distribute in the meatball mixture. Minced garlic is more suitable when frying in oil, like for the homemade pasta sauce.
• Use large green zucchini. Baby zucchini is not suitable because it's hard to core and stuff with the Italian meatball mixture. Kousa, a light green squash, is not the best substitute either because it's softer than green zucchni. Kousa will fall apart more easily in ther frying step.
• Core the zucchini delicately. The easiest way to core the zucchini is using a corer in the same way as kousa for kousa mahshi.

Variations and Substitutions

• Substitute non dairy milk for cows milk. The Italian meatball mixture normally uses cow's milk, however, substitute almond milk, oat milk, or even water.
• Substitute sliced bread for french bread. Use the doughy part of the sliced bread (not the edges).
• Use a jarred pasta sauce. Rather than making the homemade pasta sauce from scratch, use jarred pasta sauce (either homemade or store-bought).
• Add spicy pepper to the pasta sauce.

Equipment

• Chef's knife and cutting board to prepare the zucchini, onions, and garlic
• Mortar and pestle to mash the garlic OR a garlic press to press the garlic
• Large non-stick pot with cover to fry the zucchini and simmer the stuffed zucchini in tomato sauce
• Zucchini corer

Storage

Store the stuffed zucchini in tomato sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Freeze the stuffed zucchini in tomato sauce in freezer-friendly bags. Defrost at room temperature. Reheat in the microwave or on medium heat on the stovetop.

FAQs

Zucchini Recipes

Italian-Inspired Recipes

Join The Tribe

Subscribe to The Matbakh Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or Pinterest pages. We also have a saucy newsletter.