Vegan Stuffed Zucchini with Quinoa and Lentils in Tomato Sauce
These vegan stuffed zucchini with quinoa and lentils are cut into thick tubes, hollowed out, packed with a savory filling, capped with a slice of tomato, and baked in tomato sauce until tender. It is the Romanian way of stuffing zucchini, made meatless and naturally gluten-free.
Where I grew up, stuffed zucchini never meant boats. My mom cut the pale green squash from the market into chunks, hollowed them out with a teaspoon, and stood them up in a pot of tomato sauce, each one wearing a tomato slice like a little hat. Hers had rice and minced meat; mine has quinoa and lentils, and nobody at my table has asked where the meat went. The one thing I learned the hard way: cook the scooped-out flesh until it is dry before it goes into the filling, or you will be eating zucchini soup.
Why Tubes Instead of Zucchini Boats
Cutting the zucchini crosswise and coring it gives you a little cup with walls on every side, so it holds more filling than a halved boat and keeps it moist instead of drying out on top. Standing in the sauce, the tubes half bake and half braise: the bottoms soak up the tomato, and the tomato lid keeps the steam inside.
Look for straight, fairly thick zucchini, around 2 inches (5 cm) across. Cut them into 3-inch (7 to 8 cm) pieces and hollow them out with a small spoon or a vegetable corer, leaving walls about ⅓ inch (8 mm) thick. Thinner and they collapse in the oven; thicker and there is no room left for the filling.
What Goes into the Quinoa and Lentil Filling
Quinoa gives the filling its light, grainy texture. Rinse it well before cooking to wash off the bitter coating, and cook it a day ahead if you can; leftover quinoa is perfect here.
Red or yellow lentils are my pick because they soften just enough to hold everything together, the way rice does in the classic version. Cook them until just tender, not mushy, and drain them well. Brown or green lentils work too and make a firmer, chunkier filling.
Onion, carrot, and the scooped-out zucchini flesh make up the rest, cooked down with garlic until the pan is almost dry. Sweet paprika and thyme season it the way my mom seasoned hers, and a big handful of parsley (or dill, if you want it really Romanian) goes in at the end. Season generously: zucchini is bland, so the filling should taste a little saltier than you would eat it on its own.
Swaps and Add-Ins
- Use cooked short-grain rice instead of quinoa for the classic Romanian version, or bulgur if you do not need it gluten-free.
- Stir finely chopped mushrooms into the filling along with the onion for a deeper, meatier flavor. If you love that combination, try my mushroom stuffed zucchini boats too.
- Not keeping it vegan? Crumble a little feta over the tops for the last 10 minutes of baking.
- No fresh tomatoes for the lids? Skip them and spoon some of the sauce over each tube instead.
- The same filling works in bell peppers or large tomatoes; you will find more ideas in my stuffed vegetable recipes.
Making Them Ahead (They Are Better the Next Day)
Make the filling up to 2 days ahead and keep it in the fridge, then stuff and bake the zucchini when you are ready. Baked stuffed zucchini keep for 3 to 4 days in a covered dish in the fridge, sauce and all, and honestly taste better on day two, once the flavors have melded. Reheat them covered in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or in the microwave if you do not mind them a little softer.
Still have zucchini to use up? Make my zucchini moussaka with mushrooms next, or pick something from my vegan zucchini recipes.
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Vegan Stuffed Zucchini with Quinoa and Lentils
Equipment
- Baking tray
- Spoon
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
For the zucchini
- 4 zucchini medium, about 2.5 lb (1.2 kg) total
- 2 tomatoes large, cut into 8 thick slices
For the filling
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 carrot grated
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1½ cups quinoa cooked (from ½ cup dry)
- 1 cup lentils red or yellow, cooked (from ½ cup dry)
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- ¼ cup parsley fresh, chopped, or dill
- salt and black pepper to taste
For the tomato sauce
- 1 can diced tomatoes 28 oz (800 g)
- ½ cup water or vegetable broth
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). If your quinoa and lentils are not cooked yet, simmer ½ cup rinsed quinoa in 1 cup water for 15 minutes, and ½ cup red lentils in plenty of water for 6 to 8 minutes, until just tender but not mushy; drain the lentils well.
- Trim the ends of the zucchini and cut each one crosswise into 2 pieces, about 3 inches (7 to 8 cm) long. Hollow them out with a small spoon or a vegetable corer, leaving walls about ⅓ inch (8 mm) thick; if you can, leave a thin base at one end so the filling stays put. Finely chop the scooped flesh.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion and carrot for 5 minutes, until soft. Add the garlic and the chopped zucchini flesh and cook for 5 to 6 minutes more, stirring, until the pan is almost dry.
- Take the pan off the heat and stir in the quinoa, lentils, paprika, thyme, and parsley. Season generously with salt and pepper.
- Pour the diced tomatoes into a baking dish (about 9×13 inches / 23×33 cm) and stir in the water, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, the salt, and the bay leaf.
- Stand the zucchini tubes upright in the sauce and pack the filling into them with a spoon, pressing gently. Cap each one with a tomato slice.
- Cover the dish with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 to 20 minutes more, until a knife slides easily into the zucchini and the sauce has thickened.
- Let them rest for 10 minutes, then serve with the sauce spooned around them and a sprinkle of fresh parsley or thyme.
Notes
Stuffed Zucchini Questions
Cook the chopped zucchini flesh until its liquid evaporates before it goes into the filling, and bake uncovered for the last 15 to 20 minutes so the sauce reduces. Because the tubes stand in tomato sauce, any juice they release simply becomes part of the sauce.
Yes. Halve the zucchini lengthwise, scoop out the centers, fill them, and bake them uncovered on top of the sauce for 25 to 30 minutes. Boats cook faster, but tubes hold more filling and stay juicier.
Straight, medium zucchini about 2 inches (5 cm) thick. Pale green summer squash, sold as kousa in Middle Eastern shops, is ideal because it has thin skin and few seeds, but regular dark green zucchini works the same way.
Yes. Make the filling up to 2 days ahead, or bake the zucchini completely and reheat them later. They keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge and taste even better the next day.
You can, though the zucchini turns softer after thawing. Freeze the baked tubes in their sauce for up to 3 months, thaw them overnight in the fridge, and reheat them covered in the oven.
Crusty bread or soft polenta to soak up the tomato sauce, plus a green salad. In Romania they come with a spoonful of sour cream; a dollop of plant-based yogurt keeps them vegan.
