Keto zucchini noodles with ground beef stir fry is a truly delicious meal that can be enjoyed by the whole family and contains only 3 net carbs! It'll be your new favorite way to get zucchini on the dinner table quickly!
❤️ Why you'll love it
Made with zucchini, peppers, onions, and ground beef, this ground beef zucchini pasta recipe is incredibly flavorful and filling. Plus, it's a great way to use up lots of zucchini when your countertops are overflowing during zucchini season!
Since it only requires a handful of common ingredients, it's one of the best easy dinner recipes for busy weeknights.
🥘 Equipment Used
The following are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
To make your own perfect zucchini noodles for this easy recipe, you'll need a large skillet and a spiralizer. There are different types of spiralizers available, and I prefer a countertop spiralizer since we're always cooking zucchini noodles.
If you don't have a spiralizer, you can also use a julienne peeler or a sharp knife to cut zucchini strips, although these methods are more time-consuming.
🧾 Ingredients Used
- Zucchini: I use two fresh zucchini for this recipe. You don't need to peel them at all to make spiralized zucchini noodles.
- Ground beef: When buying packaged ground beef, pay attention to the ‘leanness’ of the beef. You’ll see things like 90% lean/10% fat content or 80% lean/20% fat. For a low carb diet, we don’t need lean ground beef since fats help with satiety. I like to choose 73% lean/27% fat ground beef since it's the only one I've found with the highest fat content.
- Vegetables: I used red bell peppers and onions for this recipe.
- Spices: I use cayenne pepper, coconut aminos, bouillon powder, thyme, and salt. You can omit the cayenne pepper if you don't like spicy food.
How To Spiralize Zucchini
For this ground beef zucchini pasta recipe, I use a spiralizer to cut the zucchini into spirals to mimic noodles.
You can grate the zucchini or even use a vegetable peeler, but by far, the easiest way is to use a spiralizer. There are so many different types, but I use this 5-Blade Vegetable Slicer from Amazon.
It's really very easy to use and requires very little effort. Just remove the ends of a zucchini, then place it between the blades and turn the handle in any direction for this healthy zucchini noodle recipe.
🔪 How To Make Keto Zucchini Noodles
- Slice off the top and bottom of your zucchini and spiralize it by places the zucchini between the blades and turning the handle in any direction.
- Place the ground beef on high heat in a large skillet on the stove. Break down the chunks and stir till the meat is done. Add the red bell pepper, onions, and spices.
- After 5 mins, add zucchini noodles and stir.
- Leave for 5-10 mins till it reaches your desired firmness.
🥫 Storing and Reheating
These zucchini can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also freeze it in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
To reheat, if frozen, let it thaw in the fridge overnight first. Then reheat on the stove with a little water until it is warmed through
💭 Tips and Variations
- Omit the cayenne pepper if you don't like spicy food.
- For best results, start with thawed ground meat instead of frozen.
- You can make the zucchini thicker or thinner by using a different spiralizer blade.
- Add your favorite fresh produce or fresh herbs to make this healthy pasta alternative just the way you like it. You can add some tomatoes or even broccoli.
- Feel free to use your favorite pasta sauce and Italian seasoning to turn this into an Italian-style dish.
- You can use ground chicken, ground turkey, ground pork, or even Italian sausage instead.
- Adapt the seasonings to tweak your preferences. You can always add a sprinkle of garlic powder or onion powder to this great recipe.
- For a Mexican version, use taco seasoning instead of the recommended spices while the zucchini cooks.
🍽️ What can I eat this recipe with?
This zucchini with ground beef recipe is a classic comfort food meal on its own! To make it even more filling, serve it as a main course and offer a side salad, air fryer green beans, or a bowl of this keto cabbage soup.
👩🍳 Frequently asked questions
If you've ever made lots of zucchini recipes in the past, you've probably learned just how important it is to drain your zucchini before you use it. This low carb vegetable has tons of liquid inside so to prevent soggy noodles, you have to prepare it properly.
Start by wrapping your homemade zoodles in paper towels or a kitchen towel. Apply some gentle pressure and let the noodles drain for 10-20 minutes. You also want to make sure you follow the instructions in your spiralized zucchini recipe carefully otherwise, you'll end up with an unappealing and watery sauce
Absolutely! Especially if you're a pasta lover on a keto diet, spiralized zucchini will be your new best friend. This easy zucchini with ground beef recipe is the best way to enjoy a pasta experience without the high carb count. If you're looking for more low carb pasta dishes, try this spaghetti squash recipe, shirataki noodle stir fry, or this delicious palmini pasta shrimp stir fry. For another low-carb option, check out the best noodle replacements on keto!
Any ground beef will work for your keto diet, but the higher the fat content, the more filling your meal will be. I recommend looking for 80/20 or even 73/27 If you can find it! The extra fat will help you stay full for longer and stay in ketosis.
📚 Related Recipes
Check out these other delicious keto beef recipes!
📖 Recipe
Keto Zucchini Noodles With Ground Beef
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 zucchini medium
- 1 lb ground beef
- ½ red bell pepper chopped
- ½ onion chopped
- 1 tablespoon coconut aminos substitute with soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon bouillon powder
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper optional
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
Instructions
- Slice off the top and bottom of your zucchini and spiralize it by places the zucchini between the blades and turning the handle in any direction.2 zucchini
- Place the ground beef on high heat on the stove, break down the chunks and stir till the meat is done.1 lb ground beef
- Add the red bell pepper, onions, and spices.½ red bell pepper, ½ onion, 1 tablespoon coconut aminos, 1 tablespoon bouillon powder, 1 teaspoon thyme, ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, ½ teaspoon salt
- After 5 mins, add zucchini noodles and stir.
- Leave for 5-10 mins till it reaches your desired firmness.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Omit the cayenne pepper if you don't like spicy food.
- For best results, start with thawed ground meat instead of frozen.
- You can make the zucchini thicker or thinner by using a different spiralizer blade.
- Add your favorite fresh produce or fresh herbs to make this healthy pasta alternative just the way you like it. You can add some tomatoes or even broccoli.
- Feel free to use your favorite pasta sauce and Italian seasoning to turn this into an Italian-style dish.
- You can use ground chicken, ground turkey, ground pork, or even Italian sausage instead.
- Adapt the seasonings to tweak your preferences. You can always add a sprinkle of garlic powder or onion powder to this great recipe.
- For a Mexican version, use taco seasoning instead of the recommended spices while the zucchini cooks.
Nutrition
Tayo Oredola is the founder of Low Carb Africa, where she shares healthy, low carb dishes with global flavors. She is passionate about teaching people how to cook drool-worthy dishes while losing weight and living their best lives. Tayo’s recipes have been featured on MSN, Women’s Health, Parade, Yahoo News, Pure Wow, Essence, and other online publications.
Wow, I found this recipe while searching for "How long to cook zoodles?" I was planning to cook my ground beef in boring tomato/garlic/basil and serve over pan-fried zoodles. But this recipe jumped out as a way to only dirty one pan! And try new flavors. I made it with once-and-a-half of everything except the meat. This just about filled my largest saute pan! I used soy sauce and Better Than Bouillon (1 to 1), a whole onion, and half a jar of roasted red peppers. It was VERY GOOD!!! The cayenne was just right. I will definitely make this again and will increase the meat as well, to feed four people as a one bowl meal.
I'm glad to hear you loved it, Elizabeth. It's one of my favorite zoodle dishes too!
This was a great recipe except that it includes for FAR TOO MUCH CAYENNE PEPPER! The recipe calls for 1 tbsp cayenne pepper. I thought that seemed like a lot so I reduced it to 1 tsp. It was still way too spicy for us. I would recommend adding a note to the recipe stating that 1/4 to 1/2 tsp might be enough for those who don't like a lot of spice. If I had used a tbsp, the food would have been completely inedible.
I will be definitely be making this again. The zucchini noodles were very good and looked beautiful with the red peppers. It was one of the few recipes I've tried that was actually as quick to make as it said. (Some say 15 minutes but it takes more like two hours.)
Thanks for the feedback, Anita. The 1 tbsp of cayenne pepper was a mistake and has been corrected. I'm glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Love this recipe. I think I could eat it almost every day. It is so good, even my husband loved it. Thank you.
Yay, I'm so glad you both enjoyed it, Elizabeth!
Made this and it was amazing! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for the feedback, Linda! I am so happy you enjoyed my recipe 🙂
The recipe was amazing! I like it because it's easy, it's delicious, and it adapts easily (I didn't have all of the ingredients, so I subbed out the things I don't have, and it was still easy and delicious. Thanks!
I'm so glad you liked it, Marsha. It's such a big hit in my house too! Thanks for stopping by and letting me know how it turned out.