Zucchini and Ground Beef Skillet

  4.5 – 58 reviews  • Squash

You’ve undoubtedly seen me use harissa in many of these recipes because it’s probably my all-time favorite hot sauce. This enhances almost any savory dish with only a small tablespoon.

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 35 mins
Total Time: 50 mins
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  1. 1 pound lean ground beef
  2. 1 medium sweet onion, finely diced
  3. 1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes
  4. 1 (8 ounce) package sliced white mushrooms
  5. 1 (6.5 ounce) can tomato sauce
  6. 1 (6 ounce) can sliced black olives
  7. 2 cloves garlic, minced
  8. salt and ground white pepper to taste
  9. 4 medium zucchini
  10. 1 (8 ounce) package shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Instructions

  1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir beef and onion in the hot skillet until beef is browned and crumbly and onion is translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain and discard grease.
  2. Crush stewed tomatoes into smaller pieces in a bowl, then pour into the skillet. Stir in mushrooms, tomato sauce, olives, garlic, salt, and pepper. Let simmer, uncovered, until liquid reduces, 20 to 30 minutes.
  3. Slice zucchini lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/2-inch slices. Add zucchini to beef mixture; cover and cook until zucchni is firm yet tender to the bite, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in Cheddar cheese; cover and cook until melted, 3 to 4 minutes.
  4. It seems like a lot of onions; however, as I said previously, my wife loves this and she hates onions. The onions meld well with the other ingredients and are not a prominent taste in the dish. I wouldn’t make it without them!
  5. We like this dish with olives and mushrooms, but sometimes we omit them if we don’t have them on hand.
  6. You can use your favorite cheese instead of Cheddar. We love cheese, so we usually double the amount called for in the recipe.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 589 kcal
Carbohydrate 24 g
Cholesterol 133 mg
Dietary Fiber 6 g
Protein 42 g
Saturated Fat 18 g
Sodium 1308 mg
Sugars 13 g
Fat 38 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Jamie Chang
Made exactly as written and it was delicious.
Cassandra Marshall
Super yummy…husband said we will have to have it again.. I didn’t have enough zucchini so I mixed it with yellow squash..also used fire roasted tomatoes then added italian seasoning and pesto.. topped with colby jack, mozzarella, and parmesan.
Cody Collins
The only tomatoes I had were Italian diced tomatoes and the only extra seasoning I added was Italian seasoning. This dish was very tasty and we loved it but next time I will half it because it makes a lot & there’s only 2 of us:-)
Christopher Davis
Great versatile recipe. So easy to add more spice, extra veggies or change up meat. Also bonus, uses up lots of zucchini. Quick and easyto cook and very tasty.
Lauren Anderson
No meat added black beans and red kidney beans. Yummm.
Lauren Gill
My husband made a point of telling me how much he loved it and would like to have it again. The rest of the family loved it too. I made the recipe with no changes, it was delicious and I will be making it again soon.
Karen Garcia
This was quite good and easy to make!
Jennifer Campos
I really enjoyed this recipe as an idea and took it in a vegetarian direction with 3 cups of cooked barley (in place of ground beef), a little green Anaheim pepper, fresh San Marzano tomatoes (simmered with herbs first), fresh peas, and baby chard leaves at the end when I added the zucchini and yellow squash. I love zucchini-inspired recipes, so thank you!
Karen Horn
I rated 4 stars because I doubt the original recipe would have as much taste as with my substitutes. I used crushed tomatoes, TBSP tomato paste, tsp Italian seasoning, and a TBSP brown sugar. It was very good. My teenagers even liked the zucchini since it was still slightly firm.
Marissa Conway MD
I made as directed except that, as a vegetarian, I substituted Beyond Meat Beef Crumbles. Also, I added some Italian seasoning. I really liked this.
Amy Lee
It is delicious!! I added thin slices of red pepper. My husband loved it! Will definitely make again!
Anthony Crawford
We liked this dish, however it seemed to need some sort of spice as it was a bit bland. It remained a bit “soupy” even though I doubled the time of simmering to reduce the sauce. I put it over rice to absorb some of the liquid. I may make it again, and add some spices to increase flavors. It was a good weeknight meal.
Michael Miller
I thought this was wonderful! I did make some minor changes though. Mostly, I seasoned as I went along and didn’t wait, as the recipe instructed. I didn’t go nuts, but here and there kind of thing. I added a 1 tsp of dried Italian seasoning to the mix. I will make this again!
Austin Watts
Great recipe I added spinach, Italian seasoning and green peppers to mine and it made it even better!
Ashley Munoz
We had a lot of zucchini and some yellow squash, and wanted a different recipe than the usual squash/zucchini casserole. This one appealed to me. But, I decided not to use the ground beef. Other than that, I followed the recipe, including adding mushrooms and whole black olives. I did add a little beef bouillon. We like the dish. But it still needs something. Any suggestions?
Sandra Perry
Only change I made was since I didn’t add olives I used the full 8oz can of tomato sauce to make up for any liquid. Turned out amazing, hubs loved it too! Definitely adding this to the dinner rotation!
Daniel Wallace
I used Jimmy Dean Hot sausage instead of hamburger. I replaced the tomatoes and tomatoe sauce with garden fresh tomatoes I canned. I did not add black olives. Super easy and so good!
Mary Price
Loved it. I know I’d love the recipe as it is here, but the only tomatoes I had on hand was Rotel, so I did that and some some spicy cheese for more of a Tex mex feel. Definitely recommend for a quick, easy, customizable, and budget friendly recipe.
Marcus Castillo
Way too much zucchini for my family. I am not into spicy but a little zip would have helped this dish
Katelyn Burns
Family absolutely loved this. Always looking for new one dish dinners with zucchini. I had no black olives so those were left out. Also, had no tomato sauce, so I used tomato paste and 2/3 cup of water or so. Doubled the garlic because we love garlic, and added 1 1/2 tsp. Oregano since my stewed tomatoes were not Italian style. Plus 1 1/2 times the cheese, can never have too much of that. Will definately be making again.
Andrea Washington
This was great! Subbed with ground turkey. Even my picky kids ate it! Keeper! Thanks!

 

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