Spaghetti squash is a vegetable-alternative to pasta and has a versatile and delicious flavor. How to cook spaghetti squash to perfection!
Fear not, friends. Today I'm going to share the (extremely easy) way to cook spaghetti squash and suggest some quick meals you can throw together.
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Let me first tell you the exciting story of the volunteer spaghetti squash.
At my house, we have a huge garden filled with many veggies. We regularly grow zucchini, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, asparagus, and a variety of herbs. This year we even grew some greens like arugula and lettuce and we tried beets!
This spring, as our garden plants started to grow, my dad noticed a new plant. Something he didn't recognize. And he's an expert -- if it was one of the plants I mentioned earlier, my dad would know.
Pretty soon, the mystery plant, or volunteer, as my dad called it, started to grow tiny little green oblong fruits. We thought they looked like melons. The volunteers kept growing, getting bigger and bigger.
Now, we use our own compost as soil for the garden. So, as you can imagine, our compost consists of vegetable stems and seeds from food we've eaten in the past. These volunteers could be anything.
Finally, one of the volunteers got big enough that we decided to pick it. I did some googling based on what it looked like and found, to my great excitement, that we had spaghetti squash! When I cut into it, I was thrilled. Confirmed spaghetti squash! Plus, the volunteer plant was growing like a weed in the garden.
YUM. I love spaghetti squash. What a gift from God to give our family this lovely plant!
Anyway, now that you've heard the happy story of how I ate spaghetti squash at every meal for the entire summer, let me tell you how you can eat this delicious squash.
How to cook spaghetti squash
A spaghetti squash needs to be cooked to soften the inside and create a spaghetti texture. So you'll need your oven for this.
Step 1. Chop off the two ends of the squash. Stand the squash upright and slice lengthwise down the middle. Warning: this may take some muscle and a large knife. But I promise, if this 5' 2" girl can cut a spaghetti squash, you can too!
Step 2. Take a spoon and scoop out the seeds, leaving a divot in the center of the squash.
Step 3. Place the halves skin-side down on a baking sheet and bake in the oven at 400 for around 40 minutes. Once you can run a fork through the squash easily, it's done.
Step 4. After you take the squash out of the oven, let it cool until you can easily handle it. Using a fork, scrape out the inside from the skin. You'll notice that the squash will easily take on a spaghetti-like shape. Remove all the "spaghetti" and you're done!
What to eat with spaghetti squash
Spaghetti squash has a slightly sweet, but neutral flavor. You can pretty much eat it with everything.
Here are my favorite ways to eat spaghetti squash:
- With sautéed kale, sun-dried tomatoes, walnuts, and garlic.
- With black beans, white beans, or chickpeas mixed in.
- As a stir-fry with tons of veggies and edamame.
- With a vegan pesto.
- Under zucchini or eggplant.
- Plain - with a little seasoning on top.
The possibilities are endless.
Recipe Prayer
Lord, thank you for spaghetti squash. Thank you for this delicious, versatile vegetable, that is so easy to cook. Bless us and the gift of your fruit.
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📖 Recipe
How to Cook Spaghetti Squash
Ingredients
- 1 Medium Spaghetti Squash
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Cut the two ends off of the spaghetti squash, then turn upright and slice in half lengthwise.
- Using a spoon, scoop the seeds out of each half.
- Place the halves skin-side down on a baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes or until the squash is tender and easily prodded with a fork. Remove from the oven.
- When the squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out the inside using a fork. The squash will naturally take on a spaghetti-like shape. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate.
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