My boys will tell you, hands down, any day of the week, that spaghetti and meatballs is their favorite meal. I love seeing their faces red with tomato sauce, totally digging into their plates and then asking for seconds. Making them the dishes they enjoy the most warms my little heart!
But…wheat and certain grains don’t always love me and sometimes I just don’t feel like dirtying an extra pan for pasta and some other kind of vegetable substitute for me. Plus, we all could use some extra vegetables in our lives. Enter the spaghetti squash. You’ve probably heard of it before, it’s nothing new, but it certainly is a winner. It is perfect for spaghetti—the name says it all! Once cooked, the flesh takes on a spaghetti shape and even has a bit of a bite to it like perfectly cooked spaghetti. And take a look at this nutrient profile:
*Rich in Vitamin A for skin and eyes.
*Rich in Vitamin C, an important antioxidant for immunity and collagen production. Collagen is vital for wound healing and skin repair (say bye, bye fine lines!).
*Rich in Calcium which we all know is great for bones.
*Contains Omega-3s for brain/heart health and fighting inflammation.
*Contains Folate which promotes cardiovascular health and supports fetal development in pregnant women.
*Much lower in carbs than traditional spaghetti. A one cup (155g) serving contains 10 grams of carbs and 42 calories.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not hating on wheat, pasta, or grains. Most whole grain pasta boasts more fiber and protein than our spotlight spaghetti squash, but at the expense of excess calories and blood sugar spikes. Roughly the same one cup (140g) serving contains over 220 calories and 43 grams of carbs!
Back to my boys loving spaghetti and me being lazy not wanting to make multiple dishes (maybe that’s a parenting win, though). I whipped up this spaghetti squash with meat sauce in no time—no desire to make and roll meatballs on this particular night, either—and they devoured it.
I hope you guys enjoy this as much as we did!
References: https://foodfacts.mercola.com/spaghetti-squash.html
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/spaghetti-squash
https://www.verywellfit.com/is-pasta-bad-for-your-health-2506879
Tomato Meat Sauce with Spaghetti Squash
Ingredients
- 1 cup onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes or 4 cups fresh
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp basil
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp raw honey
- salt and pepper to taste
- optional: 1 lb all natural breakfast sausage
- optional: 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 spaghetti squash
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees, slice spaghetti squash in half, lengthwise, and scoop seeds out with spoon. Place cut side up in baking dish with a small amount of water in bottom of dish, cover with foil or lid and bake 45 minutes to 1 hour, until squash just begins to shred fairly easily with a fork. Don't overcook or it will become mush!
- While squash is cooking, brown sausage in a large oven-safe skillet. Once cooked, set aside on paper towel-lined plate. To your skillet, add onion and saute until translucent (about 5 minutes). Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, spices and honey. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add sausage to sauce and simmer 10 more minutes.
- Scoop out spaghetti squash with a fork, add to sauce and stir. Top with Parmesan cheese and bake 15 minutes.