Stuffed vegetables usually arrive buried under melted cheese and built on fatty mince. This version keeps the comfort and loses the fat. Lean chicken breast, rice, soft courgette and a tomato base, all baked together. It looks like a proper dinner, it reheats well, and it is the kind of thing you can make on Sunday and have again the next day.
This started out as stuffed peppers. Bell pepper is a permanent no on my list, so the boat is courgette now, and the dish is gentler for it.
Makes 4 stuffed courgette halves, 2 servings. Roughly 4.5 g fat and 390 kcal per serving.
Phase & care: Phase 2. Courgette goes soft and easy to digest once baked, peeled and with the seedy centre scooped out. Skinless chicken keeps it low fat.
Prep 15 min · Cook 40 min · Total 55 min
Ingredients
- Courgettes, 2 large, peeled, halved lengthways, seedy centre scooped out
- Cooked chicken breast, 200 g / 7 oz, finely chopped or shredded (poached, no skin)
- Cooked rice, 200 g / 1 cup
- Passata (sieved tomato), 200 ml / scant 1 cup
- Onion, 1 small, finely chopped
- Garlic powder, 1/2 tsp (optional, phase 2, only if you already tolerate it)
- Dried oregano, 1 tsp (or 1 tsp of my all-purpose herb seasoning blend)
- Salt
- Fresh parsley, to finish
Method
- Heat the oven to 190 C / 375 F. Sit the courgette halves in a baking dish, cut side up.
- Soften the onion in a splash of water or broth in a pan, no oil, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the chicken, rice, half the passata, garlic powder, oregano and salt. Stir to combine and warm through.
- Spoon the filling into the courgette halves. Pour the remaining passata around and a little over the tops.
- Cover the dish with foil and bake 25 minutes. Uncover and bake another 10 minutes, until a knife goes through the courgette easily.
- Finish with fresh parsley.
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Gentle-phase swap: in phase 1, bake two large potatoes, halve them, scoop out most of the middle and use those as the boats instead. Same filling, nothing new to test.
Fat note: Low, roughly 3 to 5 grams of fat per serving, since the chicken is skinless and there is no cheese or oil. If you are stable and want a little richness, a light sprinkle of parmesan on top is a small, optional add.
Safety note: Use pre-cooked chicken, and make sure the filling is piping hot all the way through by the end of baking. Cool leftovers within two hours, refrigerate up to 3 days, or freeze. Reheat until steaming, once only.
Stepan’s rule: Skip the cheese lid. The courgette goes sweet and soft as it bakes and the tomato keeps it all moist. You will not miss it, and your budget stays intact.
I trade low-fat recipes like this one with other patients in the PancreasZen community. Come and swap recipes with people who get it.
Not medical advice. This recipe reflects one patient’s low-fat approach grounded in published guidance. Fat tolerance is individual. Check with your own healthcare team before changing your diet.