Spaghetti Squash Cooked Whole ♥

How to Cook a Whole Spaghetti Squash ♥ AVeggieVenture.com.
How to cook a spaghetti squash whole. Drop-Dead Easy + no more semi-dangerous attempts to cut through a whole squash! Weight Watchers friendly. Low Cal. Low Carb. Gluten Free. Paleo. Not just vegan, "Vegan Done Real".

Okay, I finally get it. Every time I cook spaghetti squash, no matter how, I'm unimpressed by the taste. Sure, it is easy to cook. Sure, it has virtually no calories. But why waste one's energy on food with no taste? But my sister likes spaghetti squash, so she's always puzzled by my reaction. Three times now, she's repeated, "I just cook it for the noodles." Oh, right!

Here's the deal: cook spaghetti squash and then put it under something, just like noodles or rice or potatoes. That makes it a virtually calorie-free, carb-free starch. Get flavor from what's on top, not the spaghetti squash itself. Sisters are smart!

When Adanna mentioned she'd cooked a whole spaghetti squash with great success, this time I heard her the first time! I cooked one whole today for lunch, leaving the washed unpricked spaghetti squash in the oven at 350F for an hour. And then I put some peppery-hot lentil soup over top. Perfect.

NEXT TIME How long to cook spaghetti squash? The strands were cooked after an hour but the next time, I left the squash in the oven longer, for a full 90 minutes. That's it! It takes 90 minutes for the spaghetti squash strands to become more noodle-y.

CRUNCHY SPAGHETTI SQUASH? Some cooks complain about "crunchy" spaghetti squash, I've had it happen too. It's my belief that spaghetti squash is best cooked/eaten in the fall within a few weeks of harvest. The sugars convert to starch over time, by spring, they're just not palatable. The same thing is true with some other squashes, delicate and acorn, for example. Butternut squash and the big Hubbard squashes are another story: they continue to mature and sweeten well into late winter, the rough guideline is they're good until an early Easter.

SPAGHETTI SQUASH COOKED WHOLE

Hands-on time: 1 minute to start, 5 minutes to finish
Time to table: 2 hours
About 3 cups of "spaghetti noodles" from a 2 3/4 pound spaghetti squash

1 spaghetti squash

Set oven to 350F/180C. Please note, a higher temperature is NOT recommended. Wash the squash, especially around the stem and blossom ends where bacteria can collect. Place directly on a rack in the center of the oven, setting the timer for 90 minutes plus whatever time is left to preheat.

When the squash is done, remove from the oven. Holding the squash with potholders, slice it pole to pole. Scoop out the seeds and discard. With the tines of a fork, scrape the flesh to separate the strands into noodles.

MAKE IT A MEAL Top with something delicious like Oven-Cooked Lentil Soup!

YIELDS There's considerable variability but you'll get an idea, from here.
A 2-3/4 pound spaghetti squash yielded 3 cups spaghetti squash noodles.
A 2-1/2 pound spaghetti squash (heavy for its weight) yielded 3.5 cups spaghetti squash.





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MORE VEGETABLES COOKED WHOLE

~ How to Roast a Whole Butternut Squash ~
~ How to Roast a Whole Pumpkin ~
~ How to Roast Garlic ~
~ Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Lemon Vinaigrette ~
~ Roasted Whole Red Onions with Sweet Potatoes & Rosemary ~
from A Veggie Venture

~ Fall Stew Baked in a Whole Pumpkin ~
Kitchen Parade

Eat more vegetables! A Veggie Venture is the home of Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg and is the award-winning source of free vegetable recipes, quick, easy, and yes, delicious. Start with the Alphabet of Vegetables or dive into all the Weight Watchers vegetable recipes or all the low carb vegetable recipes. © Copyright Kitchen Parade 2007 & 2015
Alanna Kellogg
Alanna Kellogg

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

Comments

  1. Wow - what a FABULOUS idea! Your sister must be a VERY smart woman!

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  2. After watching you do so many other squashes whole, I've been wondering about spaghetti squash.

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  3. I like to put a thai spin on my spaghetti squash by topping it with shrimp and peanut sauce and whatever veggies I have on hand.

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  4. I like roasting some winter squashes whole, but I didn't like it with spaghetti squash the one time I tried it. It was hard to separate the seeds and membranes from the "noodles" once they're all cooked. Any tricks here?

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  5. Hi Zoe ~ Good question and you're right, I did notice that it was a little bit harder to scoop out the seeds since the flesh itself was cooked. But I used a grapefruit spoon with a serrated edge and it certainly wasn't difficult.

    Let's ask my sister, she's the smart one with spaghetti squash! :-)

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  6. I tried cooking spaghetti squash once, and only once, in my WW days when people raved about the low-cal noodle substitute. Mine was crunchy and . . . gross. I threw it out. Someone told me I'd overcooked it, but I haven't tried it again since.

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  7. Oh dear, Sally ~ We'll have to put you in touch with my smart sister too. :-) I've never had 'crunchy' spaghetti squash but I would like to have had this one cook some more.

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  8. I just used a big serving spoon to scoop it all out, and it was quite easy. Maybe it makes a difference if the squash is just out of the oven vs. cooled -- mine sat on the counter until it was cool enough to handle.

    Also -- I got WAY more than 3 cups of squash out of mine (mine more than filled a 2-1/2-quart casserole), although I don't know how much it weighed to begin with. It was long enough, though to fit comfortably in a jelly roll pan in the oven.

    PLUS: The 10-15 minutes it took to clean the seeds out of the scooped out messy part was very well worth it.
    I rinsed them, dried them on a kitchen towel, tossed them with a little olive oil, sprinkled them with a little salt, and roasted them in a 250-degree oven for about 50 minutes. Snacked on them for days!

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  9. Well I confess I've been slow to warm up to spagetti squash as a substitute for noodles, although it would be perfect for my diet. I will give it another try though, the number of good tasting things you could put on top are certainly endless!

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  10. When I was in college, I went through a spaghetti squash phase -- it was new to me, and I was endlessly fascinated by the structure of the squash. But the taste never really grabbed me, and now I rarely cook with it. Maybe it's time to try again.

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  11. Wait a minute - you mean you just *ate* the squash without putting anything with it? Alanna! That's why it's called "spaghetti" squash. The squash itself is tasteless. I haven't done one in years. I should make one when Quinten comes up again. Thanks for reminding me.

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  12. Sally, I'm pretty sure if yours was crunchy you didn't cook it long enough. I've had undercooked, crunchy spaghetti squash and it truly is gross. I'd give it another try. One of my favorite toppings for it is chili.

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  13. Oh, you made me chuckle with this one, Alanna. I simply cannot get excited over spaghetti squash. When my parents were here last week, we got into an entire discussion about it, with my father praising it. "How can you not like spaghetti squash?" he kept repeating, more incredulous each time. Perhaps, I shall I try it again?

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  14. Sisters are smart and brilliant ideas that solve something like this do seem genius.

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  15. Speed up cooking spaghetti squash by cutting it in half lengthwise, put cut side down on a cookie sheet and put into a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour.

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  16. I started eating low-carb a few years back, and discovered spaghetti squash!! My favourite is spaghetti squash, with meatballs and alfredo sauce (or a grocery store jar of 3-cheese white sauce), and sauteed veggies (green peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchinis...whatever's on hand). It's rich and delicious!!

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  17. This is the best way to eat it, I think! Ingredients: Spaghetti squash, blue cheese, olive oil, Penzeys Sandwich Sprinkle (or salt, pepper and garlic powder).
    Preheat oven to 350. Cut the spaghetti squash in half longways. Remove seeds and fill cavity with other ingedients. Dabble some along the edge. Bake 1 hr. My mom is so crazy about this that she buys blue cheese in the 1.5 pound container from Costco's. Tonight I added basalmic vinegar to the mixture, and I really liked it. It was tangier and less rich. I've tried this with parmesan (the Kraft in the jar), and I didn't like it nearly as well. Feta was better than parmesan, but still not as good as blue cheese.

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  18. AnonymousMay 17, 2011

    I think that some spaghetti squash is just crunchy. I have made it a bunch of times - sometimes it turns out perfectly, but other times I will bake it for as long as I should, and it still is crunchy. I have tried to then scoop it all out, add a little water and microwave it trying to "soften" it up. Does not work! When it crunchy - its gross. When it is cooked and turns out properly - add a bit of butter and Parmesan cheese, and it is excellent!

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  19. AnonymousJuly 11, 2011

    I absolutely LOVE spaghetti squash...I pair it with a spicy tangy chunky marinara sauce and a dah of parigano regiano. I love it so much that I am growing it in my garden this summer! I used to roast it in the oven but now I simply pierce the skin all around and pop it in the microwave for about 3 minutes per pound. It is devine!

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  20. Just a warning: I had a whole spaghetti squash in the oven at 425 for an hour and it EXPLODED. Seriously, follow directions and be careful!

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  21. Veggie Lover ~ YIKES! That sounds like a serious mess. It also sounds like the high temperature of 425F that you used creates a much different result than the much lower recommendation of 350F. But still, YIKES!

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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe, whether a current recipe or a long-ago favorite. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. ~ Alanna