I’m super into stuffed vegetables these days.
It’s just so convenient- you have your entire meal in one dish! Which makes it easy for serving and a cool presentation. Last week I made stuffed red peppers with chorizo, and this week I went with an Asian flavor flare and made honey soy shrimp stuffed zucchini! There are so many different flavor profiles that stand out from the honey to the soy to the garlic to the red pepper to the sweetness of the zucchini. Bri was having a hard time deciding if he liked this or the red pepper better and placed both of them in his top five favorite meals! #winning
So let’s get to how to make them….
Also, side note, I got some feedback from my sister that pictures of the cooking process would help the less experienced chef make the recipe. Thus, hopefully these pictures along with the instructions help to properly execute the recipe! Start by preheating your oven to 350. The rice takes the longest to cook, so you are going to want to start with that. One part rice, two parts water. AKA one cup rice, two cups water. Let that cook while you move onto the next step, dicing your aromatics.
Dice up your onion and garlic into as small of dices as you can get. This is going into your rice so you don’t want big chunks, you just want the flavor.
I love keeping a bowl next to me while I’m cooking to put all of my scraps and trash. It keeps your workspace so clean and so much more organized!
Heat up a frying pan and olive oil on medium heat and then throw your garlic and onion in there. While that is cooking, you’ve got some more chopping to do.
Dice your snap peas into small pieces (picture for reference). Again, this is going in your rice so you don’t want too big of chunks. I love the subtle sweet flavor that these add to the dish!
When you are done dicing, add the snap peas to the onion and garlic and cook for about 3 minutes.
By this point, your rice should be done cooking.
Remove from the heat and add the garlic, onion and snap peas to your rice and stir together. Place it to the side.
Now we are moving onto the zucchini’s. Cut the zucchini’s in half like so (see picture).
Using a spoon, scoop out the insides of the zucchini. You want to get most of the inside out so that 1) you can fit more rice inside and 2) to get a more mild taste. You can freeze the insides and add them to your next smoothie! #reducefoodwaste
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Once it is boiling, add in the zucchini for only 30 seconds!!! Since they are so thin they will cook very quickly and if you leave them in for too long they will get mushy and flimsy. No bueno. Remove with thongs and place on a tin foil covered baking sheet.
And finally the last step, the shrimp. In a small bowl, whisk together the honey soy marinade and place to the side. In the same frying pan that you used for the onion and garlic, place on medium heat and then add your shrimp. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side and then flip.
When the shrimp are mostly done cooking, pour the honey soy marinade on top and let cook for 2 more minutes to soak up the flavor. Remove the shrimp from the pan and pour the remaining honey soy mixture overtop the rice and stir together to add flavor to the rice.
Stuff the zucchinis with rice mixture, and then top with 4 shrimp. Place in the oven for 20 minutes and serve right away!
Voila, this is what it should look like!
Enjoy!! Let me know if you try it and what you think! I LOVE hearing from you when you make these recipes, it makes my day!!
Emily xx
Honey Soy Shrimp Zucchini Boats
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
Description
These stuffed zucchini boats are the perfect, easy weeknight meal.
Ingredients
Zucchini boats
- 1 c brown rice
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 c sugar snap peas, diced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 16 shrimp
- 2 zuchini
Honey Soy Marinade
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tbsp honey
- 1 garlic clove
Instructions
Start with the cooking of the rice (1 part rice, 2 parts water). Let cook while you prepare the rest of the dish.
Dice onion and garlic. Heat up frying pan and olive oil on medium heat. When hot, add the onion and garlic, stirring occasionally. While onion and garlic are cooking, dice sugar snap peas. Add to the frying pan and cook for ~3 minutes.
The rice should be done cooking at this point, so add the garlic, onion and snap peas to the rice and stir together.
Cut zucchini down the middle and scoop out the insides with a spoon (similar to how you would carving a pumpkin).
In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil. Once it is boiling, place the zucchini inside the pot for only 30 seconds. Promptly remove and place on a tin foil covered baking sheet.
To make the marinade: In a small bowl, combine the marinade ingredients and whisk together.
In the same frying pan you previously used, heat up over medium heat and add the shrimp. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side and flip. When the shrimp are done cooking, pour the marinade over top and cook for 2 more minutes. Remove shrimp from the pan.
Pour remaining marinade over the rice and stir together, adding flavor to the rice.
Evenly distribute the rice inside the zucchini boats, and top each with 4 shrimp. Place in the preheated oven for 20 minutes and serve promptly. Enjoy!
Notes
You could very easily double or triple this recipe for more people to enjoy.
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Asian
Keywords: asian, zucchini, shrimp, honey, soy, stuffed vegetable
This meal is on par with what one would find at a fine restaurant!! Since I didn’t have brown rice I used black. Loved the flavor. The glaze topping was delicious. I will consider doubling or tripling it the next time around!!