Tender stuffed zucchini with seasoned ground meat, rice, and herbs, slowly simmered and finished with a creamy lemon-egg sauce. This is true traditional Greek cuisine at its best.
If you’re looking for an authentic taste of Greek home cooking, these stuffed zucchinis (kolokithakia gemista) with silky avgolemono sauce are one of the most comforting dishes you can make.
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Stuffed Zucchinis with egg-lemon sauce are one of those home-cooked dishes that are so worth the effort. And even though you'll spend some time in the kitchen making them, you'll be greatly rewarded by their comfort and flavor!
This zucchini stew is a proper, spring-summer comfort food when fresh zucchini are in season. This dish is also very similar to Stuffed Cabbage Rolls With Egg & Lemon Sauce, its wintry alternative. I can't pick which one is best; wherever there is egg and lemon sauce, I say count me in!
More Greek Avgolemono (Egg-Lemon) Recipes:
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Unlike heavier stuffed vegetable dishes, stuffed zucchinis have a delicate flavor that pairs beautifully with avgolemono. The zucchini becomes tender while the filling stays juicy and aromatic, and the creamy lemon sauce brings everything together.
A favorite Greek tweak is to use a combination of half lean ground beef and half pork in the filling. While beef alone works perfectly well, adding pork creates a richer, more flavorful filling that stays especially tender during cooking.
Choosing and Preparing the Zucchinis
For this recipe, larger zucchinis are usually the best choice. They provide plenty of room for filling and are easier to hollow out.
The easiest way to prepare them is by using an apple corer. This simple tool creates a clean tunnel through the center of the zucchini while leaving sturdy walls around the filling. Try to keep the zucchini walls at least ½ centimeter thick so they remain intact during cooking.
If your zucchinis are large, simply cut them in half before hollowing them out. Smaller zucchinis can be left whole, although larger ones are generally preferred because they hold more filling.
Making the Filling
The filling starts with onions gently sautéed in olive oil, followed by rice that is briefly cooked before being mixed with ground meat, parsley, dill, and ground fennel.
When stuffing the zucchinis, avoid packing the filling too tightly. Leave a small amount of space at each end because the rice will expand during cooking. This simple step helps prevent the filling from pushing its way out of the zucchini as it cooks.
And here’s a bonus tip: if you happen to have leftover filling, don’t let it go to waste. Shape it into small meatballs and cook them in a lemon sauce to make delicious Greek Youvarlakia, or this Easy Cabbage Meatball Soup.
The Secret to Perfect Cooking
Once stuffed, arrange the zucchinis tightly in the pot. Keeping them close together helps them hold their shape while they simmer and prevents them from moving around too much.
Add enough hot water or stock to almost cover them. Ideally, the section of the zucchini containing the filling should be completely submerged so the filling cooks evenly. If the top flesh of the zucchini remains above the liquid, that’s perfectly fine. It will cook through the steam trapped inside the pot.
The zucchinis should simmer gently until tender, allowing all the flavors to blend beautifully.
The Avgolemono Sauce
No Greek stuffed zucchini recipe would be complete without avgolemono.
For an especially aromatic sauce, we like to add a little lemon zest along with the lemon juice. The zest enhances the citrus flavor and gives the sauce a fresh fragrance that makes a noticeable difference.
Fresh herbs can also be added to the Avgolemono sauce for even more flavor. A little dill or parsley works wonderfully and complements the filling perfectly.
If you prefer a thicker avgolemono sauce, use less cooking liquid when preparing it. Instead of using about 1 liter of stock from the pot, reduce it to approximately 750 ml. The result is a richer, creamier sauce that coats the zucchinis beautifully.
Once the sauce is ready, return it to the pot and simmer for a few extra minutes at the lowest heat. Allow the sauce to coat and meld with the zucchini. Finally, rest before serving so the flavors can settle and the sauce can slightly thicken.
Serving Suggestions
Serve these Greek stuffed zucchinis warm with plenty of freshly ground black pepper and crusty bread to soak up every drop of the avgolemono sauce.
Like many traditional Greek dishes, they are often even better the next day when all the flavors have had time to develop.
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls In Egg Lemon Sauce
These stuffed cabbage rolls are the wintry alternative of the Stuffed Zucchinis. Made in the same fashion, this dish is made to amaze!
Recipe
Greek Stuffed Zucchini With Ground Beef
Equipment
Ingredients
For The Stuffed Zucchinis:
- 2½ kilograms (5.5 pounds) medium-large zucchini about 12
- 500 grams (1.1 pounds) lean ground beef or half pork half beef
- 80 grams (4-5 small) spring onions minced
- 100 grams (1 small) red onion minced
- 100 ml extra virgin olive oil + extra for sauteing
- 6 tablespoons short/ round-grain rice such as Arborio or Greek Karolina
- 3 tablespoons parsley finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons dill finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon ground fennel
For The Egg & Lemon Sauce:
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 2 large eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 lemons juiced (about ½ cup)
- zest of ½ lemon
- freshly ground pepper to serve with
- Optional: 1 liter vegetables or chicken stock
Instructions
- Prepare the zucchini. Slice the tops and bottoms and cut the zucchini in half. Hole the zucchinis using an apple corer.
Prepare The Filling:
- Heat olive oil in a frying pan, enough to coat the bottom of the pan.
- Saute both types of onion until soft.
- Add the rice, cook and stir for a minute. Turn the heat to the lowest.
- Pour in ½ cup hot water and cook until the rice absorbs it all. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
- Combine ground meat, cooked rice, parsley, dill, and ground fennel in a mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper and mix well.
- Stuff each zucchini with the ground meat filling, pressing it lightly (not too much) to help it stick.
- Layer the zucchini in a cooking pot as close together as possible.
- Pour enough hot water (or hot water + 1 liter of stock) to almost cover the zucchini. Note: The part of the zucchini containing the filling should be submerged. It's okay if the tops aren't, they will steam cook.
- Pour 100 ml of olive oil and bring to a simmer over moderate heat. Then cover and turn the heat to medium-low.
- Simmer for about 50 minutes. You can leave a very thin opening on the lid for excess steam to escape, so the zucchini won't move too much inside the pot. Take the pot off the heat.
Prepare The Avgolemono:
- Beat eggs with lemon juice and zest.
- Combine flour and 6 tablespoons olive oil in a saucepan. Cook, whisking constantly, until the flour is toasted and turns whitish. Remove from the heat.
- Gradually ladle the hot stock from the pot with the zucchini into the saucepan containing the flour. Tilt the pot carefully to transfer as much stock as possible.Note: the stock should be about 1 liter, it's okay if it's slightly less. If it's more, you can cook and reduce it on the stovetop for a few minutes.
- Return the saucepan to the heat and cook over moderate heat, until it bubbles. Whisk often until it thickens slightly. Make sure to scrape the sides of the pot well where flour tends to stick.
- Incorporate the hot flour sauce very slowly into the beaten eggs, whisking the eggs constantly to avoid curdling. Begin pouring threadlike and increase speed as you go.
- Transfer the Avgolemono sauce into the pot with the zucchini. Shake and tilt the pot to spread.
- Cook for a few extra minutes over the lowest heat to thicken slightly more if you want.
- Let the food stand in the pot for at least 30 minutes before serving (ideally).
- Serve with freshly ground pepper and enjoy!
I'm so excited about this recipe. I tried it after returning from a trip to Greece, where stuffed zucchini with egg-lemon sauce was one of the best things I ate, and this recipe is going to definitely be a "keeper." My husband even said he liked the sauce better than the ones we tried in Athens. I was nervous that I'd scramble the eggs when I added the hot liquid, but following the instructions carefully resulted in a perfectly smooth sauce.
Our family loved this recipe! It was so light and refreshing, especially the egg lemon sauce! We just made it for the second time! The only thing that I would suggest is adding a smidge more salt or seasonings of choice to give the meat filling a little more flavor, but this meal is definitely one for the meal rotation.
Glad you enjoyed it Claire!
Well, my pethera mou never "cored" anything she just chopped the veg in half and filled the pocket, and baked. BUT you don't have to even do that. Just chop it all up and cook it all together like a stew. Its the same as when you take a BITE! Deconstructed stuffed vegs!
What are you even TALKING ABOUT? Just couldn't resist with a criticism. NOWHERE in the entire recipe did she give amounts for salt. So what "smidge" more are you adding to. She CLEARLY said add salt to taste more than once FFS. It's ok we know many of you destroyed your palate with high sodium and junk food.