Lamb Kofta Stuffed Zucchini with Tahini
Tender zucchini boats stuffed with cumin-spiced ground lamb, onion, garlic, mint, and parsley, baked with crumbled feta and finished with a lemony tahini drizzle.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
This is a hearty, hands-on dinner for anyone who wants a plate that eats like comfort food but leans on vegetables to carry it. The zucchini becomes a tender edible vessel for a warmly spiced lamb filling, so you get the richness of a kofta without needing bread or rice underneath. It suits a weeknight when you want something a little more interesting than a skillet of meat, and it plates beautifully enough to set in front of guests.
The dish works because each component is treated on its own terms. Pre-roasting the hollowed zucchini before it gets stuffed drives out water and softens the shells, so they finish tender rather than watery and raw in the center. Browning the lamb with cumin, onion, and garlic builds deep savory flavor and renders some of the fat, while the mint and parsley stirred in at the end stay bright and fresh. The tahini drizzle is the finishing move: whisking tahini with lemon juice makes it seize, and adding water gradually brings it back into a silky, pourable sauce that ties the nutty, tangy, and herbal notes together.
Rich, fatty lamb, salty feta, and cooling green herbs all set against the creamy tahini, so no one of them takes over. Lamb and feta both bring plenty of protein, so the plate holds you well past dinner, and the zucchini adds bulk and a little fiber without weighing things down. The lemon and mint keep every bite from feeling heavy, so it stays fresh even as it fills you up.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 lb ground lamb
- 4 medium zucchini, halved and hollowed
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp chopped mint
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/3 cup diced onion
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat and prep the boats: Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Halve each zucchini lengthwise and use a spoon or melon baller to scoop out the seedy center of each half, leaving a sturdy shell about a quarter inch thick so the walls hold their shape. Brush the cut sides and hollows with olive oil, arrange them cut-side up on a baking sheet, and roast for 10 minutes to soften them and drive off some moisture. Leave the oven on.
- Chop the aromatics and herbs: While the zucchini roasts, dice the onion, mince the garlic, and finely chop the mint and parsley, since the filling moves quickly once the lamb hits the pan and there is no time to be chopping then.
- Build the kofta filling: Warm olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes, because raw onion in the filling would still be crunching after the boats come out of the oven, then stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the ground lamb and the ground cumin, breaking the meat apart with a spoon, and cook until it is browned and no longer pink, about 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the chopped mint and parsley, add the salt and a few grinds of pepper, and spoon off any excess fat if the pan looks very greasy.
- Stuff and top: Spoon the lamb filling into the roasted zucchini boats, pressing it in gently and mounding it slightly, so that every forkful takes filling and shell together rather than one and then the other. Sprinkle the crumbled feta evenly over the top of each one.
- Bake: Return the stuffed boats to the oven and bake for about 15 minutes, which is long enough to finish the zucchini without cooking the lamb a second time, until the zucchini is fork-tender and the feta has softened and turned lightly golden at the edges.
- Make the tahini drizzle and serve: In a small bowl, whisk together the tahini and lemon juice; it will seize and thicken at first, which is what tahini always does when acid hits it and is not a sign anything went wrong. Add water a little at a time, whisking, until it loosens into a smooth, pourable sauce about the consistency of heavy cream. Drizzle it over the baked boats, which carry plenty of salt already from the lamb and the feta, and serve warm.
Variations
- Beef instead of lamb: Swap the ground lamb for ground beef for a milder, more familiar flavor; use an 80/20 blend so the filling stays juicy.
- Spicier kofta: Add a pinch of red pepper flakes or a little harissa to the lamb as it browns for gentle heat that plays well with the cooling tahini and mint.
- Warm spice blend: Stir in a little ground coriander, cinnamon, and allspice alongside the cumin for a deeper, more aromatic kofta-style filling.
- Herb-forward finish: Fold chopped fresh dill or cilantro into the herbs, or sprinkle extra over the top at serving for a brighter, greener plate.
- Pine nut crunch: Toast a handful of pine nuts and sprinkle them over the finished boats for a buttery crunch; note that this adds nuts.
Storage & Leftovers
Store leftover stuffed zucchini in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Keep the tahini drizzle in a separate small container so the boats do not go soggy, and add it fresh when you serve.
Reheat the boats in a 350°F (175°C) oven or toaster oven until warmed through, about 10 to 15 minutes; this keeps the feta topping and the zucchini from turning mushy the way a microwave can. If the tahini has thickened in the fridge, whisk in a little water to loosen it back to a pourable sauce before drizzling.
To get ahead, you can brown the lamb filling and hollow and roast the zucchini boats a day in advance and refrigerate them separately. When dinner comes, stuff, top with feta, and bake, then whisk up the tahini drizzle while they are in the oven.
Notes & Tips
- Pick the right zucchini: Choose zucchini that are straight and medium-sized rather than huge; smaller ones have firmer flesh and fewer seeds, so the shells hold their shape and do not turn watery when baked.
- Do not scoop too deep: Leave a shell about a quarter inch thick when you hollow them out. Scoop too thin and the walls collapse under the filling; leave them too thick and the center stays firm after baking.
- Loosen the tahini gradually: Whisk the lemon juice into the tahini first and expect it to seize into a stiff paste. Add water a little at a time from there, and it will smooth out into a pourable sauce; adding all the liquid at once makes it grainy.
- Season the lamb boldly: Ground lamb and feta both need a confident hand with salt and pepper. Taste a small pinch of the cooked filling before you stuff the boats and adjust so it is well seasoned on its own.
- Blot excess fat: Lamb renders a fair amount of fat as it browns. Spoon or blot off the excess before stuffing so the filling is savory rather than greasy and the feta browns cleanly on top.
- Serve with something fresh: A crisp cucumber-and-tomato salad or a spoonful of plain yogurt alongside rounds out the plate and echoes the mint and lemon in the dish.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- The zucchini and the lamb cook into each other here. The meat drips its fat and spice down into the hollowed shell while the squash releases its water up into the filling, and by the end neither one tastes quite the way it started.
- Zucchini roasted long enough to collapse goes sweet and silky where it was watery and squeaky raw, and it brings fiber and a lot of gentle volume to a dish built around meat.
- Ground lamb and crumbled feta packed into the shells season each other as they cook, the lamb giving fat and depth and the feta giving salt and tang, with complete protein, iron and calcium riding along in the two of them.
- Tahini thinned with lemon and spooned over the hot boats loosens on contact and settles into every crevice, nutty and slightly bitter, which is what keeps all that richness moving.
- Cumin and garlic go into the filling raw and bloom in the oven, and the mint and parsley scattered over at the end come through cold and green against the warmth of everything under them.
- As you eat, cut down through the whole boat so you get shell, meat and tahini in one forkful, and take the time to notice how soft the squash has gone before you decide on a second.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I keep the zucchini from getting watery?
Two things help. Scoop out the seedy centers, which hold the most moisture, and pre-roast the hollowed boats before stuffing so some of their water cooks off. Choosing smaller, firmer zucchini over large ones also makes a big difference.
My tahini turned into a thick paste when I added the lemon juice. Did I ruin it?
Not at all, that is exactly what tahini does. It seizes and stiffens when it first meets acid. Just keep whisking in water a little at a time and it will relax into a smooth, pourable sauce.
Can I use ground beef instead of lamb?
Yes. Ground beef works well and gives a milder flavor; an 80/20 blend keeps the filling juicy. The cumin, garlic, and herbs still carry the dish.
What can I serve alongside to make it a full meal?
A crisp cucumber-and-tomato salad or a dollop of plain yogurt rounds it out nicely and echoes the lemon and mint. The boats are substantial on their own, so you do not need much more.