Spaghetti Squash with Spicy Meat Sauce is a healthy, low carb and gluten free meal that still tastes like delicious comfort food.
It’s a New Year! Time for some healthy recipes after weeks (ok, maybe months) of eating sweets nearly every day.
This Spaghetti Squash with Spicy Meat Sauce is a healthy, low carb and gluten-free meal, but it still tastes like delicious comfort food.
The sauce is super thick and made from lean ground turkey meat to keep the calories and fat low. To make this recipe as low fat as possible be sure to use ground turkey that is made from all or mostly white meat.
Go heavy on the red pepper flakes if you like. Who knows? It may speed up your metabolism.
Substituting spaghetti squash for pasta really works for me because I’m partial to the sauce part of a pasta dish. Whatever is underneath the sauce is just something to eat it with. Because I would feel like a weirdo if I just ate a bowl of sauce.
If you’ve never tried spaghetti squash as a sub for pasta, you really should. It’s very healthy and really quite delicious.
Plus, it is so much fun to run a fork across a cooked spaghetti squash and watch all those hundreds of threads separate. Spaghetti squash gets my vote for coolest vegetable ever. 🙂
Tips For Cooking Spaghetti Squash
- Spaghetti squash are very difficult to cut through. You will need a very sharp kinfe. If you are having difficulty, microwave it for 2 minutes. This will soften it just enough to make it easier to cut through.
- Be careful not to overcook the spaghetti squash. You still want it to have some texture. Spaghetti squash gets mushy when it is overcooked.
For another low carb meal, try these zucchini noodles.
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- Spaghetti Squash Jambalaya
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Spaghetti Squash with Spicy Meat Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 large spaghetti squash or two smaller
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil,, divided
- 1 medium sweet onion,, diced
- 1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 pound ground turkey breast
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 28- ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper
- freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400 degrees. Slice spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Rub 1/2 tablespoon olive oil onto the cut side of squash and season with salt and pepper. Place cut side down on a large, rimmed baking sheet and cook for 45 to 60 minutes, until tender all the way through.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and carrot and cook for 2 minutes. Add turkey and garlic and cook until turkey is cooked through, breaking into pieces with a wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper and add Italian seasoning.
- Add tomato paste and crushed tomatoes and stir well to combine everything. Reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and more salt and pepper if necessary.
- Scrape out insides of spaghetti squash with a fork. Serve topped with meat sauce and Parmesan cheese.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Yessss – I love running the fork across the spaghetti squash! haha It’s so fun!
And this looks delicious – we love lots of red pepper flakes in our sauce! 🙂
Haha! It like magic! Pop a solid squash in the oven and it turns into strands. It always amazes me.
Goodness, that meat sauce looks incredible! I’ll have to eat a few spoonfuls of it to taste beforehand.. you know? 😉 Happy 2015!
Happy New Year Christin!! I love the idea of substituting the spaghetti squash!! It looks so light and appealing!! YUM! 🙂
Your pictures are mouth-watering, Christin! I’ve always wanted to try spaghetti squash and I think I found the perfect recipe! Pinned!
I love spaghetti squash. I don’t even consider it a squash actually. Ha! It’s in a class of it’s own. I love it
with the this sauce.
I’ve wanted to try spaghetti squash for SO long now! This looks super scrummy and delicious! Love the meatball sauce, so good!
I am seriously SO excited to try this squash! I love spaghetti squash, but never thought to top it with a meat sauce! This is going on our dinner menu. 🙂 Gorgeous photos too, Christin!
Now this is how I want to kick off resolutions! I LOVE spaghetti squash, and that meat sauce is perfectly protein-packed goodness! Pinned 🙂
Happy Happy New Year, Christin! This looks amazing! I am ready for healthier eating after all the sugar I had over the holidays too! Love that you used spaghetti squash to replace the pasta and the spicy meat sauce sounds perfect!
If healthy eating in the new year looks like this, I can totally do it! I can’t believe I haven’t tried spaghetti squash as a pasta substitute, but this recipe makes me want to! Love all of that spicy meat sauce! Happy New Year!