How to Make Spaghetti Squash

Fall is here!! Which means it is time for my favorite fall vegetables, including winter squash! I have only made spaghetti squash one other time, and thought it was time to revisit this delicious veggie.

Spaghetti squash always amazes me. When the squash is fully cooked, it looks like it will be cut into chunks, but the second you swipe your fork, thin strands easily come off. It’s like magic!

How to cook spaghetti squash:

Use your macho muscles and slice the squash in half, length-wise
Poke the squash with a fork so that the squash can release some pressure and not blow up
Roast the squash on a lightly oiled pan at 375 degrees for about 60 minutes, until fully cooked
Let it cool for a little, take a fork, and carve it out!

freshly roasted

start carving!

the amount you get from just ONE half

The entire squash!

It’s that simple! And it makes so.much.squash. I kept putting it in every meal for a WEEK so that I didn’t waste it. I tried to pawn some off to my co-workers and friends too. I learned that spaghetti squash has a few names and my favorite is squaghetti! So I’m going to call it that from now on :) Being a vegetable, squaghetti is very healthy:

Nutritional Info (one cup cooked): 40 calories, 10g of carbs, and 4g of sugar ,1g of protein, 2g of fiber and no cholesterol.
It contains omega 3 fatty acids which help prevent inflammation, heart disease and cancer
It contains omega 6 fatty acids which help in brain functioning
It has 214% of your %DV for Vitamin A and 35% of you DV for Vitamin C
There is a high amount of alpha-carotene and beta-carotene, making it a great antioxidant.

There are a variety of squaghetti recipes from basic spaghetti to lasagna-like recipes and other baked squash recipes. I went for the quick, but delicious, typical spaghetti by adding tomato sauce, broccoli and my favorite Meatless Meatballs from Trader Joe’s. Although I’m not a vegetarian, I would eat these any day over regular meatballs. They are delicious!

Make sure you add some sort of protein to this meal. The first time I made it, I had this idea that I was eating actual noodles. For someone on a diet, this would be a great alternative, but I woke up at 3am and was starving and not to mention, extremely unhappy. (And this is why I don’t diet) Anyways, I was so hungry I couldn’t go back to sleep and had to get up and eat some more food in the middle of the night, haha. So add protein or have a side dish with it!