Low Carb Keto Zucchini Boats

This is a low carb, keto,  easy stuffed zucchini boat recipe that is a quick dinner that can be on the table in 30 minutes! Whether you’re a fan of zucchini or not, the cheeseburger and bacon stuffed inside may change your mind.

Or just use a fork and make it into a cheeseburger bowl or salad and enjoy this amazingly delicious filling all on its own!

When you’re craving a cheeseburger and have no time to make any Low Carb Rolls, this is the perfect recipe to curb that craving and get some food on the dinner table fast!

Plus, it’s super versatile! You can change the ground beef filling to ground turkey if you prefer. 

I’m sure you must be wondering whether my kids will eat zucchini like this.

Nope. Not a chance. They just don’t like the texture of the zucchini for some reason. 

So I knew that they wouldn’t eat it, so I really just made this especially for hubby and I, and just made extra filling so the kids could enjoy it for taco night.

All was good! If you have time you can use my Cauliflower Tortillas for tacos!

Is Zucchini Keto Friendly?

Zucchini is an amazing low-carb vegetable that is super versatile and will soon be in season and with it comes the constant influx of recipes using this awesome vegetable.

This is just one of those recipes for zucchini you should keep on hand for when time is tight or you just need a new idea with the abundance of zucchini you might be getting in your garden.

One whole zucchini that had about 275 grams when weighed, has a total of 7.4 grams of carbs.

Most people don’t eat a whole zucchini as a side dish. If you are on a keto diet and only eating 20 total carbs a day, the first step is to reduce the amount you eat so you can include it on your low carb diet.

Cutting the zucchini in half for this recipe means, you are taking in just 3.7 grams of total carbs. Size matters here and fresh produce varies when you buy locally. 

A medium zucchini with 167 grams when weighed has 4.5 grams of carbs. Weighing your food is always the best bet for an accurate total carb count.

How to Make Stuffed Zucchini Recipe

You can find the exact measurements, print recipe and view nutrition information, see the recipe card at the bottom of the blog post.

Low Carb versus Keto

I had been low carb for about 4 years and then decided to go on the Keto diet in 2015 to help address some issues.

You can read about my 6 Week Keto Results here. It’s the lowest carbs in a day I ever thought I could handle, but with the higher daily fat intake it was easy and I never felt hungry even with reduced calories.

Everyone who follows a keto diet will have to determine what the right amount of fat is good for your body to lose the fat you want to lose. Your personal fat threshold will be determined by how much fat you have to lose on your body.

A lot of people may not agree, but in my opinion, calories and total carbs also matter when it comes to weight loss. 

I currently eat a higher protein diet and lower grams of carbs then I used to just a few years ago. It seems to really be helping with my hypothyroidism symptoms and the best way for me to maintain my weight and feel completely satiated. .

So the motto is, don’t fear the fat, embrace it on a low carb keto diet!

This easy stuffed zucchini boats recipe is meant to taste everything like a cheeseburger so it’s definitely not meant to be low fat.

In fact I hope all of you know by now that fat doesn’t make you fat, it’s not the enemy, carbs and sugar are. When fat is combined with carbs that’s a deadly combo. But fat with keto low carb is perfectly good for you and in fact the fat truly helps you feel satiated.

It’s quick. It’s delicious. It’s everything you love about a bacon cheeseburger without a high carb bun.

Enough said. 🙂

If you want to make this for your whole family, but you know the kids won’t like the zucchini or you feel like having a bun with this, double the filling ingredients here and use my Low Carb Cheddar Bun recipe, or my Hamburger rolls, or my Cloud Bread rolls with high protein and minimal carbs.

This recipe was first published in April 2016. 

More Zucchini Recipes

Crispy Zucchini Fries

Zucchini Fritters

Salt & Vinegar Zucchini Chips

Taco Filled Zucchini Boats

Hasselback Zucchini

Low Carb Keto Zucchini Boat Recipe

Print

Bacon Cheeseburger Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4 stuffed zucchini halves

Calories 623kcal

Author Brenda Bennett | Sugar-Free Mom

Ingredients

• 5 ounces bacon nitrate free, uncured
• 2 zucchini about 1.5 pounds
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp mustard
• 2 tbsp ketchup no sugar added
• 8 ounces cheddar cheese divided, shredded

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a skillet, cook the bacon until crisp and set aside on a plate lined with paper towels. Chop into piece once cooled.
• Slice each zucchini lengthwise and scoop out the inside seeds, leaving about 1/4 inch from the sides. Place this removed insides of zucchini in a bowl and set aside.
• Rub the oil around the inside of each halved zucchini and place on a baking sheet pan.
• Bake for 20 minutes.
• While the zucchini is baking you can make the filling.
• Remove some of the bacon grease from the skillet, leaving about a tablespoon or so in the pan.
• Cook the onion until softened then add the ground beef and insides of zucchini you had scooped out.
• Cook beef until browned then add seasonings, tomato paste, mustard and ketchup.
• Stir to combine the stir in 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese.
• Allow it to melt, turn off the heat and return half the bacon into the mixture.
• Once zucchini is cooked, remove from the oven and fill each half with the filling.
• Top with remaining shredded cheese and bacon.
• Broil for 2 minutes to melt the cheese on top.
• Enjoy!

Notes

Net Carbs: 6g

Nutrition

Serving: 1stuffed zucchini | Calories: 623kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 37g | Fat: 49g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 17g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 137mg | Sodium: 1233mg | Potassium: 696mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 836IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 453mg | Iron: 3mg

The post Keto Low Carb Bacon Cheeseburger Stuffed Zucchini Boats appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.

Cheesy, gooey, meaty, bread-y…is that a word? All the flavors of a bacon cheeseburger wrapped up in a keto dough the whole family will love!

It’s all about that cheese and filling in this cheeseburger calzone! Biting into a sinfully tasty carb-like laden cheeseburger stuffed into a calzone! But it’s not high carbs!

Cheesy and meaty, but it is NOT, I repeat NOT traditional bread dough or pizza dough, not carb-y and certainly not sinful either!

NO.BREAD.AT.ALL.

KETO NUT FREE FAT HEAD DOUGH

The low carb calzone is made from….wait for it…………..MOZZARELLA CHEESE! My own version of the famous fathead dough, but I use coconut flour since I can’t use almond flour since my son has a tree nut allergy.  I first published this recipe in April of 2015, but updated it with a video for you!

Since I made this dough I’ve used it for not only savory but sweet recipes like my Cheese Danish! I’ve made a Chicken Parm Calzone and Pizza Pockets too!

Have you fallen off your chair yet? How is it possible? Well when I made my Grain Free Low Carb Pizza Dough I knew this calzone had to happen.

I have a very old, back at the start of my blog, Whole Wheat Cheeseburger Calzone (you can look and go laugh at the pics)  that I knew could be adapted and remade into a low carb pizza crust.

And we were not disappointed. My family in fact was in awe!

What is Fat Head Dough?

I’m not the first one to create this type of pizza dough. The original recipe was called Fat Head Pizza. 

The orginial fat head dough used almond flour, cream cheese and mozzarella, and it was genius! But when you have a child with a nut allergy, making anything with almond flour is an issue, so I use coconut flour and I think it works fabulously! 

Is Fat Head Dough Keto?

Yes, fathead dough made from cheese and low carb flour is keto friendly and very low in carbs making it ideal for either a ketogenic diet or low carb diet or anyone looking to reduce blood sugar spikes.

Sugar Free Keto Condiments

Placed on the side a little sugar free ketchup and yellow mustard to dip and a few pickle slices and I call that a pretty easy dinner night!

No kneading dough, no yeast, no rising and waiting. Easy peasy and perfectly pick-up-able!

Keto Pizza Dough ( Nut Free)

Obviously you must start with the keto pizza recipe in order to make the low carb cheeseburger calzone, but that is a pretty quick low carb dough recipe in itself. In less than an hour, or dare I say even 30 minutes if you have kids who can help,  you can have this keto cheeseburger calzone on the table.

I think you’ve probably noticed I forgot the crispy bacon in the recipe. But I want it in there! And it should be in there!  Because …..you know it……everything is better with bacon!

How to Make Keto Cheeseburger Calzone

Ingredients

Prepared Low Carb Pizza Dough Recipe, unbaked

Ground Beef or Ground Turkey or even Italian ground sausage can be used.

Onion powder

Minced garlic

Italian seasoning

Black pepper

Cream cheese

Sugar-Free Ketchup– I used my own recipe here but there are some good brands like Primal Kitchen that don’t include crap ingredients.

Mozzarella cheese– shredded

Directions

Prepare the pizza dough on a parchment lined 9 by 12 inch baking sheet pan, but DO NOT precook it as you would for the pizza recipe. Spread the dough as far along the edges of the pizza pan as you can.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the bacon on a baking sheet pan and cook for 20 minutes or until crisp. Once cooled, break into pieces.

Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees F. Place the ground beef in the large skillet on medium-high heat and cook until browned and no longer pink. You can remove excess grease if you prefer.

Add all the rest of the ingredients to the meat mixture and cook until cheese is melted and combined well. Add the bacon and stir to combine.

Spread the filling down the center of the pizza dough.

Hold the edge of the parchment to lift one side of the dough and fold dough over on top of the filling as far as you can bring it.

Fold the other half over and seal closed simply press edges of dough with wet fingers to close together.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until deep golden brown.

Let cool out of the oven 10-15 minutes before slicing.

Enjoy with condiments and pickles!

More Keto Cheeseburger Recipes;

Bacon Cheeseburger casserole

Bacon Cheeseburger Stuffed Zucchini

Cheeseburger Chili

Mini Cheeseburger Bites

RECIPE UPDATE

I’ve updated this recipe in June 2021 to make it a bit quicker and easier. The orginial recipe cooked the bacon in a skillet and then cooked the ground meat in the same pan.

I’ve changed the recipe to bake the bacon instead and while that is cooking you can brown ground beef.

I’ve also changed the fat head dough to be made quicker in the food processor and then  heat to melt it all together making it much easier to form the dough. Nutrition Facts below do not include optional dips or sauces.

KETO BACON CHEESEBURGER CALZONE

Print

Low Carb Keto Bacon Cheeseburger Calzone

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 16 @ 1 piece

Calories 349kcal

Author Brenda Bennett | Sugar Free Mom

Ingredients

• Prepared Recipe for Low Carb Pizza Dough

Filling

• 6 slices no sugar added bacon
• 1 1/2 pound ground beef or ground turkey or venison
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 6 ounces cream cheese
• 1/4 cup sugar free ketchup
• 2 cup shredded mozzarella

Instructions

• Prepare the pizza dough on a parchment lined 9 by 12 inch baking sheet but DO NOT precook it as you would for the pizza recipe. Spread the dough as far along the edges of the pan as you can.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Place the bacon on a baking sheet and cook for 20 minutes or until crisp. Once cooled, break into pieces.
• Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees F. Place the ground beef in the large skillet on medium high heat and cook until browned and no longer pink.
• Add all the rest of the ingredients and cook until cheese is melted and combined well. Add the bacon and stir to combine.
• Spread the filling down the center of the pizza dough.
• Hold the edge of the parchment to lift one side of the dough over on top of the filling as far as you can bring it.
• Fold the other half over and seal closed simply by pressing the dough with wet fingers.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
• Let cool out of the oven 10-15 minutes before slicing.
• Enjoy with condiments and pickles!

Notes

Net Carbs:  2 g

This recipe was first published on April 2015.

Nutrition

Serving: 1piece | Calories: 349kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 123mg | Sodium: 625mg | Potassium: 142mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 239IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 90mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Low Carb Keto Bacon Cheeseburger Calzone appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.