How to Make Spaghetti Squash Pasta

How to make spaghetti squash pasta is quite easy in your oven or pressure cooker. Add meat sauce and it’s our favorite cheesy low carb spaghetti recipe! Whether you use your oven or make a quick batch of air fryer spaghetti squash, you’ll love it.

How to Make Pasta with Spaghetti Squash

I was curious what all the hype was about. Vegetable noodles used as an alternative to the boxed type I always buy at the store were questionable to me. Honestly, it didn’t sound tasty. I was WRONG! Imagined that cook time for spaghetti this way would be faster but didn’t realize how much I’d love it too.

Here we cut it in half and cook under high pressure, the best method of all. You can roast spaghetti squash whole in the oven too if you would prefer. We will share all the ways below. If you are on the keto low carb diet craze you may have already made these time and time again. I am not but am trying to eat healthier and always looking for great alternatives when it comes to meals.

Is spaghetti squash a good substitute for pasta?

One night I wanted to try this with my family. I didn’t even tell them what I was experimenting with, surprisingly it passed for spaghetti and all of us were floored at how much we actually loved it. Yes, a great substitution for noodles for sure.

Ok so if I am being honest they did realize about halfway thru the meal that it was a bit different than they remembered and asked what was up. I relayed my experiment and they were as surprised as I was, and said we should do this one again and again.

We were all REALLY surprised that the spaghetti squash noodles were remarkably similar to boxed. It was remarkable that it took a while to really tell the difference once the sauce and cheese were added.

Now it is my go to half of the time I make this popular dish. Only reason I don’t do it always is really my laziness, it is a bit more time consuming than my normal every week Instant Pot spaghetti recipe.

How do you soften spaghetti squash to cut it?

Sometimes it is quite hard and not easily sliced. In this case you can put it into the microwave for 3 minutes which will do the trick. Use a sharp utensil as well with a cutting board underneath it which will help with the leverage. Follow these steps:

1. Use a knife or fork and poke all the way around lengthwise where you want to slice it open.
2. Put it into your microwave for 5 minutes.
3. Allow to cool slightly.
4. Or follow our Slow Cooker Spaghetti Squash for just 1 hour.

Put on a cutting board and it will be easier to slice the squash in half like you see below. I haven’t had an issue with myself but my husband is kinda’ a knife sharpening nut and I use the largest one in my block, comes right open for me.

How do you cut spaghetti squash for noodles?

You will want to slice it lengthwise so they are as long as possible. You can see here what I am talking about. In this case they can be about half the length of a typical pasta strand or so.

How to Cook Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti

• You’re going to want to place both halves on a baking sheet and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• First rub some olive oil and salt sprinkles on the outside, especially along the outer exposed edges.
• Bake with the flesh side down for 25 to 30 minutes or until it is very fork tender.
• Allow it to cool enough for you to hold each half with a folded dish towel underneath.
• Gently scrape the “noodles” out.
  • Keep in mind the deeper you go the firmer the noodles will be
  • If you want them very tender stay with the top strands that come off very easily

How can you cook spaghetti squash so it doesn’t taste like al dente noodles?

Many times the complaint is the texture, it isn’t like noodles. You can get it closer to that though if you quickly blanch those strands right away in some salted boiling water for 1 minute, no longer. Then set on paper towels to dry before saucing.

While the yellow squash is roasting you can combine your sauce and cheeses so they will be ready. Warm this before adding it to noodles that have been scraped out into a bowl and drained to remove excess water.

OR here are directions for making Ninja Foodi spaghetti squash pasta, so tender in no time! For this one we jazzed it up and made a version of spaghetti squash pizza pasta which was fun for the kids. Used the same sauce and cheese but added diced pepperoni and mushrooms into the mix too. There are so many ways to dress these up.

There are a few things you’re going to want to take out if you are going to roast squash in the oven to get it nice and tender.

Ingredients

1. 1 spaghetti squash – or more but only 1 fit in my Instant Pot, so if you’re using that method but feeding a crowd it will take several batches to get it all done so oven may be better for more than 1 whole piece.
2. Olive oil or avocado oil works too
3. Spaghetti pasta sauce of your choice, or some just like butter and some garlic salt for a lighter side dish
   1. marinara sauce or meat or make homemade
4. Parmesan cheese or mozzarella works
5. Pre-cooked ground beef – or spicy sausage is amazing
6. Fresh basil is a nice touch
7. Salt and pepper to taste

Equipment Needed

You are going to want a cutting board with a sharp knife to slice it in half. A baking sheet is needed to set it on as well with a fork to shred them out once it is tender.

Then just gently mix all your other spaghetti items, put it back into your spaghetti squash shells, pop them into the oven to warm it all back up and melt your cheese a bit and you’re ready to dig in! Start to finish this will take about 45 minutes if you use your oven, shorter with other 2 methods linked.

There is a printable free recipe card at the very bottom but here is a quick rundown. Once you scrape the strands out you can make all sorts of things like fried squash in oil to make them crispy and beyond.

How to Make Spaghetti with Squash Pasta

• Put all your spaghetti squash noodles in a bowl, drain all of the liquid out of that bowl.
• Add your 1.5 cups of spaghetti sauce and 1/4 c. parmesan cheese.
  • Add cooked ground beef, taco meat or sausage now if you’re adding that.
• Gently mix together so “noodles” are coated.
• Split this mixture in half and spoon back into your squash “bowls”. Put these on your baking sheet.
• Top with mozzarella and green onions if desired.
• Bake in the oven again for about 10 minutes or until cheese on top begins to melt.
• Serve….you’ll never know they weren’t traditional noodles.

How do you pick squash for spaghetti?

Choose one that feels heavy for its size. This indicates that it is dense and filled with moisture, which will result in better flavor and texture. You want a consistent, yellow color. Avoid squash with green spots or patches, as this may indicate that it’s underripe. However, a few small green patches are generally okay.

Other easy squash recipes you’ll love

Other squash recipes you should try after you fall in love with this one are; Butternut squash cubes in air fryer are my kids’ favorite because they’re bite size chunks of YUM. Our air fryer butternut squash cubes or air fryer pumpkin slices pair with anything.