I had a doctor recommend trying a gluten free diet to see if it would help me many years ago well before I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. I remember contemplating that idea. It sounded terrible, overwhelming, and so hard!!! I grew up absolutely loving spaghetti noodles, pasta and bread. Who doesn’t, right? How could I give up pasta much less everything else with gluten? No more crescent rolls with my spaghetti? Boo! At this point I had recently gone dairy free for several months, which I never thought I could do. That was hard enough. Now, this? Change is definitely not easy for me, and most people struggle with major dietary changes, especially when a huge amount of comfort foods are removed all at once. Well, I did it.
When I tried spaghetti squash for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised. I was amazed at how much I liked it right away! It is very bland, and it easily takes on the flavor of whatever you add to it. So, I wouldn’t necessarily try it by itself the first time you eat it. It makes for a fantastic replacement for noodles with any additions that you’d add to a pasta recipe. Since I learned how to cook this, I honestly haven’t even missed regular noodles.
Did I mention that this is a low carbohydrate option? Bonus, right? Pasta typically has approximately four times more carbs than spaghetti squash and approximately six times more calories than spaghetti squash. Don’t be fooled into thinking gluten free noodles or gluten free pasta is healthier for you. Gluten free noodles are no exception to that. Gluten free noodles such as rice noodles, potato noodles and corn based noodles are highly processed and are also very high in carbs. My advice is to eat real food. You’ll ultimately enjoy it more, and your body and waistline will thank you! Not to mention it is super easy to make. The hardest part is actually cutting it. That took some practice for me. I recommend using a glass cutting board similar to these and a large sharp knife. I no longer own any plastic cutting boards. So, as you’ll learn by reading my blog, I don’t recommend using anything plastic in your kitchen if you can avoid it. I cut each end off and then cut it in half.
Spaghetti squash can be cooked many different ways. I like steam it in a large glass dish like this one. I use a a multi-purpose spoon like this one to scoop out the insides. This tool was a game changer for me and my husband when cooking this, delicatta squash, butternut, pumpkin and more. We don’t have this exact one, but this is very similar to what we have. This one is actually in my Amazon cart to order. My husband got a set as a gift from our wonderful Aunt Dell for Christmas one year. We use one of the spoons several times a week. It is a tremendous help to scoop out the insides of any squash or pumpkin. It would be an amazing help for pumpkin carving at Halloween as well!
You may pair the spaghetti squash with grass fed beef, organic turkey, organic chicken, organic homemade tomato sauce, extra virgin olive oil, fresh organic garlic, organic sauteed spinach and more. Get creative! The sky is the limit! My new favorite oil to drizzle on this is virgin unrefined pumpkin seed oil. It gives this plain dish a little pizzazz, especially if you are avoiding nightshades like tomatoes. It has a nutty, wonderful flavor. I’ve only found it at Whole Foods. Here is one I’ve found online, but I haven’t yet tried this one. It is pricier than the one at Whole Foods. I always look for unrefined, cold pressed or virgin and I don’t cook with it.
This is one of my favorite olive oils. It isn’t organic though. As you may have heard, many olive oils on the market are impostors. This brand and a handful of others are good ones. Buy it in a glass bottle, not a plastic one. I’ll get into more detail on safe olive oil brands and why to always choose glass over plastic in later posts. I still want to do more research on finding the best organic one. My daughter eats the spaghetti squash the same way I do. She prefers it without sauce. My husband is a traditional spaghetti sauce fan, and he loves pairing this with a clean spaghetti sauce. Check out this clean, sugar free, organic spaghetti sauce I just discovered at Sprouts. I’m sure it is carried other places. This is a great option when you aren’t making it fresh. My husband loved it.
I hope you find spaghetti squash to be a marvelous transition from whole wheat pasta, rice pasta, corn pasta, etc. This is not a processed food with lots of additives. It is a choice you can feel good about, and your body will thank you for it!
- Medium to large organic yellow spaghetti squash
- filtered water
- Preheat oven to Bake at 375 degrees.
- Fill a large rectangular glass dish with enough filtered water to cover the bottom plus a little extra water.
- Wash and scrub the outside of the spaghetti squash using filtered water and a vegetable brush.
- Get a large, sharp knife and place the spaghetti squash on a glass cutting board or a large ceramic plate.
- Slice the ends off first then slice it in half. Be careful; this can be tricky for beginners. I don't want you to cut your hand!
- Once you've sliced it in half, scoop the stringy orange insides and seeds out into a bowl or into the trash can.
- Place the spaghetti squash in the glass dish with the skin side up (inside facing down in the water). You don't want it completely submerged in the water, so if that happens dump out some of the water. You just need enough for it to steam. Cover the bottom completely with water and a little extra but that's enough.
- Place it in the preheated 375 degrees oven on the bottom rack. Set a timer on the oven for 60 minutes.
- When it has been cooking for an hour, check it by using a fork. If the outside browns, that also may indicate it is done. Stick a fork in the outside and if it goes through, usually the inside is ready. Be very careful when turning it over in the dish; there will be a big release of hot steam. Use a fork to see if the spaghetti squash is flaking off easily. If not, it may need more time. If more time is needed, turn it back over (skin side up) and place it back in the oven for approximately 10-15 more minutes. If it is ready, it should easily flake off in the stringy pieces that look just like noodles.
- The larger the spaghetti squash, the longer it will take. If it is a very small spaghetti squash, it may take less time than described in this recipe. The time also depends on how soft you like it. The shorter the time cooked, the more firm the spaghetti squash will be. I typically cook it no less than 1 hour or 1 hour and twenty minutes for a very large one. I like the noodles on the softer side. The time also increases if the oven isn't preheated when the spaghetti squash begins to cook.
- Enjoy!
