BBQ Chicken Pizza Zucchini Boats

BBQ chicken pizza zucchini boats bring barbecue chicken, melted cheese and red onion together in hollowed zucchini halves. They suit a pizza-style dinner when you want to use cooked chicken and a zucchini haul, with thick barbecue sauce helping keep the filling from turning watery.

Save this recipe for later:

Ingredients for BBQ chicken pizza zucchini boats

The recipe makes 6 boats from 3 large zucchini. Keep the barbecue sauce divided: some coats the shredded chicken, while the rest goes directly inside the zucchini before you add the filling.

• 3 large zucchini, halved lengthwise
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 3/4 cup thick barbecue sauce, divided
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 cup shredded smoked gouda or cheddar
• 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
• Salt and pepper

Choose sauce that coats the chicken

The sauce’s thickness matters here. The recipe specifically calls for thick barbecue sauce because a thin sauce makes the boats watery. Look at how it sits on the shredded chicken as you toss: the chicken should carry the sauce into the hollowed zucchini.

Use 1/2 cup of the sauce for the chicken and reserve the remaining sauce for brushing inside the boats. Keeping those jobs separate gives you sauce against the zucchini as well as throughout the filling. Avoid pouring all the sauce into the chicken bowl at the start.

Give the zucchini its first bake

Hollowing the zucchini creates space for the filling. Keep the halves shaped like boats so they can hold the sauced chicken, sliced onion and cheese. Season the hollowed zucchini with salt and pepper before it goes into the oven.

The first 8-minute bake happens before you fill the boats. Follow that sequence even though the chicken is already cooked: the zucchini needs its own time in the oven before the toppings are added. After filling, the boats return to the oven until the zucchini is tender and the cheese is bubbly.

Fill and bake the boats

• Heat the oven to 400°F. Hollow the zucchini halves, season them with salt and pepper, and place them on a sheet pan. Bake for 8 minutes.
• Toss the 2 cups shredded cooked chicken with 1/2 cup of the thick barbecue sauce. Mix so the sauce coats the chicken throughout.
• Brush the remaining barbecue sauce inside the zucchini boats. Fill the hollowed centers with the sauced chicken, distributing it among the halves.
• Top the chicken with the thinly sliced red onion. Add the shredded mozzarella and the smoked gouda or cheddar over the filling.
• Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until the zucchini is tender and the cheese is bubbly. Sprinkle with the chopped cilantro after baking.

The Foodie Yummy Cookbook

12 reader-favorite recipes in one printable PDF. Enter your email and download it instantly.

Watch the zucchini and cheese together

The final bake has a range of 15 to 18 minutes, with tenderness and bubbling as the recipe’s finish cues. Check the zucchini as well as the topping. Melted cheese alone does not tell you whether the zucchini underneath has reached the tender texture described in the recipe.

The red onion goes on before the cheeses and bakes with the filling. Cilantro comes later, after the sheet pan leaves the oven. Keeping that order lets the chopped cilantro remain a finishing topping instead of disappearing beneath the melted cheese.

Serve with the filling tucked inside

Serve the zucchini halves with their chicken and cheese filling intact. Keeping the boat shape makes it easier to bring the zucchini, barbecue chicken and toppings together in each portion. Spoon any filling that slips out back alongside its boat.

The recipe lists 35 minutes overall, so have the cooked chicken shredded and the toppings ready as you work through the steps. It provides no storage or reheating directions; those details are not included in the recipe card.

For more chicken dinner ideas, try our jalapeño popper chicken bake , Buffalo chicken bowls , or skillet chicken fajitas with peppers and lime .

Questions about the filling and toppings

Can I use raw chicken?

This recipe calls for shredded cooked chicken. Its baking instructions are written for that ingredient, so start with cooked chicken before tossing it with the barbecue sauce.

Which cheese goes with the mozzarella?

Use 1/2 cup shredded smoked gouda or cheddar alongside the 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella. Both options are included in the recipe; choose the listed cheese you want to use.

Why did my boats turn watery?

Check the barbecue sauce first. The recipe identifies thin sauce as a cause of watery boats and specifically recommends a thick sauce. Keep the total sauce amount at 3/4 cup, divided between coating the chicken and brushing the zucchini.

Made it or loved it? Share this recipe

Written and edited by The Foodie Yummy Kitchen Team

The Foodie Yummy Kitchen Team writes and edits the recipes on Foodie Yummy: classic American potluck salads, holiday sides and easy comfort food, with a few low-carb options. Every recipe lists exact quantities, numbered steps and a printable recipe card, plus notes on swaps, storage and make-ahead timing. Spot a problem with a recipe? Tell us through the contact page and we will correct it. About us