Cheesy and delicious Baked Spaghetti Squash Casserole makes the perfect weeknight dinner that is low carb, super filling with tons of leftovers!
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Happy (almost) Friday y’all!
Ok so I am absolutely loving spaghetti squash right now. It really is one of the most versatile vegetables to cook with and is the perfect substitute for pasta! You may be thinking “yeah right,” but it’s true. Hey I love pasta as much as the next person, but if I can find a healthier swap {with less carbs!} that tastes just as great I’m all for it. Baked spaghetti squash pulls apart so easily resembling angel hair pasta and the best part is it has little to no taste so it goes great with any dish. You may remember my recipe for spaghetti squash boats with spicy sausage that I shared a few weeks ago. Well they have been requested SO many times by my {picky} husband that I desperately needed to change things up!
You all are going to seriously LOVE this baked spaghetti squash casserole with meat sauce! Are you a vegetarian or not a fan of beef? Leave it out because this homemade marinara is absolutely delicious all on its own. Confession: I literally couldn’t stop shoving heaping spoonfuls straight to my face “taste testing” this meat sauce, it was just THAT good and when layered with spaghetti squash, cheese and topped with fresh basil this lightened-up dish makes the perfect dinner for all those hungry men, or kiddos, in your life!
OH and it’s a great way to sneak in those veggies!
This was a huge hit in our house and made a ton of great leftovers for lunches the next day. It was also super easy to throw together too! You just need to give yourself enough time to bake the spaghetti squash before shredding which takes about 45 minutes. What I like to do is prep this a day or two before (I usually do this on Sundays – you know I love my meal prep!) and do all the steps up until topping with cheese. Then just cover, throw the casserole in your fridge and when you’re ready to bake it, top the whole thing with cheese, cover and bake for 30 minutes.
BOOM dinner done in no time!
Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! I’m loving that Fall weather has officially decided to make an appearance as opposed to being 85 degrees in October so I’m looking forward to making the most of this weekend, especially since last week I was sick with the flu. Let me know if there are any dishes you’d like to see lightened-up or any other recipes ideas you might have – just comment below! I love getting inspiration from you all and I, of course, loving hearing from you!
Baked Spaghetti Squash Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 ripe spaghetti squash
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound lean ground beef, 95% lean
- 2 cups crushed tomatoes
- 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 1 packet Stevia
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- 3 Tbsp basil, chopped (divided)
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
- To make the spaghetti squash, preheat oven to 350 degrees F and cut squash right down the middle. Scoop out all the seeds and place cut side down on a baking sheet lightly sprayed with oil so they don’t stick.
- Bake squash in the oven for 45 minutes until tender.
- Meanwhile, drizzle oil into a large pan over medium heat and saute onion and garlic until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add ground beef and cook until meat is no longer pink; drain if necessary.
- Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken broth, Italian seasoning, Stevia, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow sauce to simmer until the spaghetti squash has finished baking.
- When your squash is about ready, stir in grated Parmesan cheese and 2 tablespoons fresh basil in with the sauce; continue to simmer.
- Remove squash from the oven and scrape out all the strands of spaghetti using a fork, placing into a large bowl for convenience.
- In a 9×13 inch baking dish, spoon 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce into bottom and spread out evenly. Layer with 1/2 of the spaghetti squash then 1 1/2 cups more of meat sauce, then the rest of the spaghetti squash, the rest of the meat sauce (1 1/2 cups) and top with mozzarella cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake spaghetti squash casserole in the oven at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes, then remove foil and bake and additional 10 minutes until cheese is melted.
- Top with remaining tablespoon of basil, serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This has been on my menu for several weeks and we finally got around to making it last night and WOW! It was so good! One of my daughters has requested spaghetti for dinner and so we cooked this up. When we asked her what she thought she motioned to her half empty plate and said,” What does it look like?” LOL! It was a hit and we still have a ton of leftovers. Great recipe!!
My husband likened this to a lasagna without noodles, and he went back for seconds! The darn grocery store was out of fresh basil though, and I really missed that flavour profile in the dish…oh well, next time. I turned the broiler on low for a minute right at the very end to get the cheese all golden and bubbly, too.
This was such a great dinner idea! Thank you for sharing!
Can’t wait to try this tomorrow night!! Seems like the perfect recipe to pre-make for if my hubby gets outta work before me too! He can pop it in the oven!
turkey ground beef was on sale (2.88!) so I’m trying the recipe with that instead…do u think it’ll make much difference?
No that should taste great!! 🙂
I made this a couple nights ago and it was SO good. Even my husband loved it, and he was pretty skeptical. I halved the recipe because it was just the two of us, and I wish I had made it as it is written so I could have had leftovers (my husband finished it off). I will definitely be making this again!
Thanks for the great recipe! I love spaghetti squash. I’m prepping this today to have this week. Awesome.
YUM. totally going to have to try this!
love the blog too girl! please feel free to check mine out and let me know what you think. 🙂
love, rach.
<a href=www.so–hi.blogspot.comSo, hi.
I have become such a fan of spaghetti squash as well! Also this recipes looks absolutely delicious, I cannot wait to try it!
xx
Can you believe there’s no such thing as a spaghetti squash here in Australia?! Can’t wait to be in Canada to give this recipe a go. It looks delicious! xx
Oohh I love that it’s spaghetti squash casserole with beef! Sounds like my kind of meal, it looks fantastic!
It is good with Italian turkey sausage also
This looks wonderful. I can hardly wait to try it!