This is a tasty, delicious and flavorful recipe for Beef & Ricotta Filled Zucchini Rolls in Tomato Sauce. These beef and ricotta filled zucchini rolls are easy to make using easy good quality ingredients. Serve these zucchini rolls for a delicious weekday meal, cozy weekend dinner or make them for meal prep purpose. These rolls are both gluten, grain free and low carb.
It’s no news that Im not a fan of pasta. It’s also no new I’m a huge fan of zucchini. So naturally I love swapping pasta for zucchini when making pasta based recipes. Even if you’re a pasta lover these zucchini rolls filled with a wonderful and tasty beef and ricotta filling are to die for. I would actually say they are even better with zucchini since it allows the filling along with the marinara sauce to be the main star of the dish, not letting any pasta take away the spotlight. These beef and ricotta filled zucchini rolls with marinara are so tasty, flavorful, including a lovely combination of spices. The filling is both meaty, creamy and cheesy at the same time. The meat gives it a lovely texture, the ricotta adds a fresh and creamy tasty and texture and the grated parmesan makes it feel more rich. I used a good quality store bought marinara sauce that is sweet, rich and flavorful for this dish. You can of course make your own, or just by your favorite marinara/tomato sauce. Make these zucchini rolls for a delicious weekend meal, cozy weekend dinner or for meal prep purpose. They are both gluten, grain free and low carb.
A few tips:
- Use equally sized zucchinis that are fresh and juicy. Don’t use zucchinis that are turning old and a bit dry.
- Slice the zucchini using a mandolin.
- Use a good quality marinara sauce.
- The amount of parmesan cheese can be adapted according to taste.
- Bake the rolls until the zucchini starts to get golden brown. You can also turn on the broiler for 1-2 minutes at the end to get some extra color.
Ingredients for Beef & Ricotta Filled Zucchini Rolls in Tomato Sauce:
- Zucchini
- Ground beef
- Ricotta
- Parmesan
- Galic
- Yellow onion
- Paprika powder
- Cumin
- Garlic powder
- Chili powder
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Marinara/tomato sauce
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Beef & Ricotta Filled Zucchini Rolls in Tomato Sauce (Gluten, Grain Free & Low Carb)
Ingredients
- 2-3 Zucchinis thinly sliced on a mandolin
- 500 g Ground beef
- 250 g Ricotta
- 1/2-1 dl Parmesan + more to top grated
- 3 Garlic cloves minced
- 1 Yellow onion finely chopped
- 1 tbsp Paprika powder
- 1/2 tbsp Cumin
- 1/2 tbsp Garlic powder
- 1/2 tbsp Chili powder
- Salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
- 1 can Marinara/tomato sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
- Preheat a nonstick pan over medium heat with a little bit of olive oil.
- Add the chopped onion and fry for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic and fry for about 1 minute.
- Next add paprika powder, cumin, garlic powder, chili powder and stir to combine with the onions.
- Add in the ground beef and fry for 5-7 minutes, until golden brown, breaking the beef using a spatula or wooden spoon.
- Remove from the stove, drain excess water/fat from the frying pan.
- Pour the fried beef into a bowl together with ricotta and grated parmesan cheese. Stir to combine, season with salt and pepper as needed, taste to check the seasoning.
- Pour marinara/tomato sauce to an oven safe baking dish.
- Take one slice of zucchini, place about one tablespoon of the beef/ricotta filling and roll up. Place in the marinara/tomato sauce filled baking dish. Repeat with remaining beef/ricotta mixture.
- Grate additional parmesan cheese over the rolls.
- Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Turn on the broiler to get a nice golden brown color if needed at the end. But make sure to keep a close eye on the rolls so they don't burn.