Unlike other squashes that get mushy when baked, spaghetti squash gets stringy, like spaghetti. Its mild taste makes it a good pasta substitute. When cooked, it’s easy to scrape the flesh out with a fork. Serve spaghetti squash hot, topped with your favourite sauce or topping.
Spaghetti squash is free from gluten, and low in carbohydrates and calories. But it’s not just for special diets. Whether for a main dish or side dish, spaghetti squash is a healthy vegetable to include in your meals.
Bake spaghetti squash according to the recipe below, then choose one of the toppings below.
Basic Baked Low-Carb Spaghetti Squash Recipe
Makes 2- 3 servings
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 60 minutes
Ingredients:
- One medium spaghetti squash, washed
Directions:
- Using a sharp knife, cut the top (stem) and bottom ends off the squash. Stand the squash up on its flat bottom edge and carefully slice it lengthwise. If the squash is very hard, save your knife blade (sharp blades can be damanged by hard squashes) by poking several sets of holes in the squash with a fork. Microwave for 2-5 minutes. Let cool, then cut.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Using a spoon, scrape out the seeds and stringy bits from each squash half.
- Fill a shallow baking pan with water to about ½-inch (1 cm) depth.
- Place the squash halves cut-side down in the pan. Bake for about an hour.
- The squash is done when you can easily scrape the strands out with a fork. They should be tender and just a little bit firm. If they aren’t, put the squash back into the oven and test every 10 minutes for doneness.
- Top with your favourite sauce or topping.
Spaghetti Squash Topping Ideas
You can top spaghetti squash with just about anything you’d put on pasta. Here are some lower-carb ideas:
- Butter or margarine, salt, and pepper (less than 1 gram carbohydrate)
- Cream or Alfredo sauce laced with parsley and parmesan cheese (3 grams carbohydrate)
- Basil or sun-dried tomato pesto (6 grams carbohydrate)
- Low-sugar tomato sauce - add soy protein crumbles to bump up the protein (about 10 grams carbohydrate)
- Vegetarian sausage (about 12 grams carbohydrate, depending on brand)
- Bell peppers sautéed in olive oil (less than 1 gram carbohydrate)
- Hot sauce (less than 1 gram carbohydrate)
- Cheese and nuts - try sharp cheese or blue cheese with walnuts (about 5 grams carbohydrates)
Spaghetti Squash Nutrition and Carb Counts
Spaghetti squash is low in carbohydrates, low in fat, and low in total calories.
One cup of cooked spaghetti squash strands has:
- 40 calories
- 9.4 grams of carbohydrates
- Less than 1 gram of fat
- 1 gram of protein
- 2 grams of fibre
Nutrition facts source: CalorieKing calorie counter database
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