How To: Cook Spaghetti Squash

I will never forget the first time I had this unique gourd. I was having spaghetti for dinner at a friends house and I told her mom how much I liked the noodles she used. That is when she revealed that they weren’t noodles at all, but squash. If you have not yet discovered the wonders of spaghetti squash then prepare to be amazed. This cool squash has stringy flesh that looks exactly like spaghetti noodles! You can use it in soups, salads, as a side dish, etc. But, of course, the most popular way to use it is to replace spaghetti noodles and impress your guests.

Spaghetti squash can easily be cooked at any temperature between 350-425ºF/175-220ºC. I like to cook it at 425ºF/220ºC because I’m normally roasting other veggies at the same time and this is a great temperature to roast vegetables at. The temperature and size of the squash will change the cooking time, so all you really need to do is bake it until you can easily piece the skin with a fork, while keeping if from burning. These squashes usually come in 1-4 pound sizes. A 2-pound squash will take about 50 minutes at 375ºF/190ºC or 30 minutes at 425ºF/220ºC. If you are not sure what a spaghetti squash looks like see the photo below.

Makes: 4-8 servings

Preparation time: 5m
Cooking time: 5m
Total time: 35m

Ingredients:

Equipment: roasting dish

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 425ºF/220ºC or desired temp (see note above).
  2. Trim off the ends and cut the squash in half lengthwise.
  3. Spoon out the seeds and discard. You want to get rid of the darker yellow stringy bits that are attached to the seeds but be careful not to scoop out the flesh, this is what you will be eating later.
  4. Place the two halves cut-side down into a roast dish large enough to hold them.
  5. Bake in the center of the oven until you can easily pierce the squash with a fork. Depending on the size of the squash this can take anywhere from 30-60 minutes.
  6. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes, just long enough so you don’t burn yourself trying to get the flesh out.
  7. Use a fork to scrape out the “spaghetti” by dragging it along the cut surface of the squash. You will notice that the flesh starts to form into strings. Continue until you have removed all of it. Discard the shell.
  8. Use in soups, salads, or spaghetti!

INLINE-IMAGE-START style="border: 5px solid black; margin: 5px;" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/anne-website/app/public/images/Recipe/137/other_images/31/large/4a54a4fcf274d9e562720866b5604da7a1d1b2ed.JPG?1384369724" alt="Spaghetti squash" width="500" height="375" /> A 1-pound spaghetti squash.