This Spaghetti Squash Bake is Deliciously Easy!

You’ll love this recipe! It’s hearty and flavorful and has the comforting aspects of a casserole, but more nutritious! (And it’s great if you’re watching your carbs.)

One of my favorite parts of this recipe (besides the salsa + ranch combo mmm.) is that you roast everything on one pan! And you can roast the squash and chicken ahead of time!

Once you have that step done, it's just a matter of some chopping, stirring, and dumping into a baking pan. Easy Peasy.

Green Spaghetti Squash Ingredients

• Spaghetti squash (between 3-4 pounds)
• Chicken breasts or thighs
• Onion
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Avocado oil
• Eggs
• Salsa verde or other runny salsa (not pico de gallo)
• Paleo ranch
• Smoked paprika
• Hot sauce (optional), plus more for serving
• Chopped cilantro, green onions, avocado, and lime wedges, for serving

How to Make Spaghetti Squash and Chicken Casserole

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
2. Cut the ends off of the spaghetti squash, then cut the whole thing in half. Scoop out the seeds and membranes, then put the squash halves cut-side up on a large rimmed baking sheet.
3. Add the onion quarters and chicken to the same pan. Sprinkle everything with ½ teaspoon of salt, black pepper, and the avocado oil. Turn the chicken over a couple of times with a pair of tongs to coat both sides with the oil.
4. Roast for 20 minutes or until the chicken is mostly cooked through and you can pull the squash apart with a fork.
5. Prepare a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick spray.
6. Use a fork to scrape all of the spaghetti squash strings out and put them in the baking dish. Chop the chicken and onion and sprinkle them evenly over the squash.
7. Whisk together the eggs, salsa, ranch, smoked paprika, hot sauce, and the remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Pour it over the spaghetti squash mixture. Use a fork to nudge the mixture around so the sauce gets into most of the squash.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the sides are bubbly and the center is hot and steamy.
9. Sprinkle the garnishes on top of the pan or add them to individual servings. Serve with additional hot sauce.

How to Serve This Spaghetti Squash Bake

This dish can be enjoyed alone or with a simple side dish. My Cabbage Slaw with Cucumber Yogurt Dressing, or Sauteed Green Beans are a good option!

How to Store Green Spaghetti Squash

Make this casserole in advance - This recipe is PERFECT for meal preppers or those who like to prep components of a meal ahead of time. I recommend assembling the casserole up to step 7, and baking within 2 days.

Fridge - Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days in an airtight container.

Chicken and Spaghetti Squash FAQs

More Spaghetti Squash Bakes

Have you tried the other spaghetti squash recipes on my site?

Buffalo Ranch Chicken & Spaghetti Squash Bake

Chicken Enchilada & Spaghetti Squash Bake

Spaghetti Squash with Roasted Mushroom & Garlic Sauce

Green Chile Spaghetti Squash Casserole Chicken

Yield: Serves 6-8

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

This keto/Whole30 friendly spaghetti squash bake is PERFECT for meal preppers or those who like to prep components of a meal ahead of time. I love the addition of green salsa and a splash of paleo ranch to give it some creaminess. Avocados on top are a must!

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Ingredients

Toggle ingredient group

• 1 medium or large spaghetti squash (between 3-4 pounds)
• 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
• 1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• Pinch of black pepper
• 2 tablespoons avocado oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup salsa verde or other runny salsa (not pico de gallo)
• ½ cup prepared Paleo ranch
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce (optional), plus more for serving
• Chopped cilantro, green onions, avocado, and lime wedges, for serving

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Cut the ends off of the spaghetti squash, then cut the whole thing in half. Scoop out the seeds and membranes, then put the squash halves cut-side up on a large rimmed baking sheet.
3. Add the onion quarters and chicken to the same pan. Sprinkle everything with ½ teaspoon of salt, black pepper, and the avocado oil. Turn the chicken over a couple of times with a pair of tongs to coat both sides with the oil.
4. Roast for 20 minutes or until the chicken is mostly cooked through and you can pull the squash apart with a fork.
5. Prepare a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick spray.
6. Use a fork to scrape all of the spaghetti squash strings out and put them in the baking dish. Chop the chicken and onion and sprinkle them evenly over the squash.
7. Whisk together the eggs, salsa, ranch, smoked paprika, hot sauce, and the remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Pour it over the spaghetti squash mixture. Use a fork to nudge the mixture around so the sauce gets into most of the squash.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the sides are bubbly and the center is hot and steamy.
9. Sprinkle the garnishes on top of the pan or add them to individual servings. Serve with additional hot sauce.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. Purchases made by using these links don’t cost you any extra and helps to keep my content free.

The post Spaghetti Squash and Chicken Casserole appeared first on Perry's Plate.

Hey, it's been a while, hasn't it? Between moving out of state, the holidays, and setting up Steve's new chiro office (We're still not done yet. Ugh.) I'm just about burned to the ground.

I've been in a weird place lately -- a little restless, somewhat in a SAD funk (Boise, why are your skies so gray?!), and, more recently, recovering from pneumonia. While I was sick I got hopelessly addicted to Cooking Craze and Design Home. I'm not usually a phone game kind of girl, but dang.

So, instead of prepping stuff for Perry's Plate, I've been assembling diner food for cartoon people that walk across my tiny counter. (Seriously, Cooking Craze is fun.) And not Instagramming.

And I'm not even sorry. I needed a break, guys, and I love that you still stick around even when my updates become sporadic.

Lately, I've been cooking just for the sake of cooking. And making a lot of things out of my cookbooks and from my blog, which makes sense because all of my favorite recipes are in those place.

It's been really nice not having to worry about testing recipes during the day or using my family as guinea pigs. Or getting photos set up.

By the way, I have an awesome space in our new house with a dedicated prop shelf and space to take photos. You'd think I'd be antsy to get in there and do stuff, but . . . nope. My mojo will return. I just need to give her some space.

Two months is far too long to go without posting a recipe, though. This spaghetti squash bake might look familiar to some of you. It was an exclusive recipe in my newsletter a couple years ago, and I decided that I wanted it to have a home here on my site because it's so dang good.

Have you tried my Whole30 Enchilada Sauce recipe? It's the star of the show here. And this bake is Whole30 compliant!

If you're low-carb/keto and are eating dairy. . . . I highly recommend a few handfuls of shredded pepper jack cheese on this. If not, then cheese-less is still super tasty. And you'll need to use a low-carb sweetener in the enchilada sauce.

If you're paleo . . . you're good to go.

It's also easy to whisk together really quickly. Just let it simmer while you roast the chicken and squash and It'll be ready when it's time to assemble the spaghetti squash bake.

There are a lot of make-ahead options here. You could prep the sauce, chicken, and squash, and then assemble them a day or two later. You could also assemble the whole thing and bake it later.

That tomato-avocado salsa stuff on top? That needs to be there. Truly. Or some kind of salsa or pico de gallo that you like. Mango salsa would be good here, too. It's such a nice, fresh addition to the warm, spicy bake.

By the way, if you'd rather use your Instant Pot to cook the spaghetti squash, see my post on How to Cook Squash in an Instant Pot! (If it's small enough you don't even have to cut the squash in half.)

More Spaghetti Squash Bakes

Have you checked out the other spaghetti squash recipes on my site?

Buffalo Ranch Chicken & Spaghetti Squash Bake

Green Chile Chicken & Spaghetti Squash Bake

Spaghetti Squash with Roasted Mushroom & Garlic Sauce

If you like this, try another one of my enchilada riffs! My Vegetarian Enchiladas have been a fan favorite for over a decade!

Roasted Veggie Enchiladas

Yield: Serves 6-8

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

This roasted vegetable enchilada casserole is one of the oldest and most popular recipes on my site. So many of you have been making it for years, and I love hearing how this recipe has made it into your regular rotations!

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Ingredients

• 1 poblano chile, seeded and diced
• 2 red bell peppers, seeded and diced
• ½ head of cauliflower, cut into ½-inch chunks
• 1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes (about 1 ½ cups)
• 1 medium onion, peeled and diced
• 1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
• 3 Tablespoons heat-safe oil like avocado or coconut
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon granulated garlic
• salt and black pepper
• ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 cups homemade or store bought salsa/pico de gallo
• 2 ounces baby spinach leaves (about 2 big handfuls)
• 9-10 small tortillas, halved (corn or grain-free)
• 2 cups shredded cheese (I used a cheddar-Monterey Jack blend)
• sour cream and thinly sliced green onions for garnish, if desired

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Place poblanos, red bell peppers, cauliflower, sweet potato, onion, and corn kernels onto a large, rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle oil and sprinkle the cumin and granulated garlic over top. Add a generous pinch or two of salt and black pepper, then use your hands to mix everything together. After everything is coated well, spread the vegetables evenly in the pan.
3. Roast for 30-40 minutes on a lower oven rack until vegetables are tender and begin to brown in spots. Stir or shake the pan every 10 minutes for even roasting. Remove pan from oven and reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
4. Prepare an 9x13" baking pan with nonstick spray.
5. In a small bowl, stir the cilantro into the salsa. Spread ½ cup of salsa into the bottom of the baking pan. Add a layer of tortilla pieces, to completely cover the salsa. Top with ⅓ of the vegetables, a handful of spinach, and ⅓ of the cheese. Make a second layer of tortilla, ½ of the remaining salsa, vegetables, spinach, and cheese. Top with with a layer of tortillas, salsa, vegetables, and cheese.
6. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes, until cheese is melted and everything is heated through.
7. Let it sit for 5 minutes and cut into squares. Serve with sour cream and a sprinkle of sliced scallions.

Notes

Recipe Adapted from The Roasted Vegetable by Andrea Chessman

Disclosure: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. Purchases made by using these links don't cost you any extra and helps to keep my content free.

The post Chicken Enchilada & Spaghetti Squash Bake appeared first on Perry's Plate.

Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash

After discovering my love for spicy flavor during pregnancy (shoutout to kid #3 for that), I finally embraced the buffalo-ranch combo and brought it to spaghetti squash.

This recipe is kitchen magic: roast your squash and chicken while you handle the chaos of life. Then blend them with paleo ranch, a fiery kick of wing sauce, shredded carrots, and celery. Add eggs and cheese for that velvety texture, bake until bubbly, and you’ve got dinner that tastes like something you spent most of the day making.

Bonus? It’s make-ahead friendly, freezer friendly

This is one of those recipes with components that can be made ahead of time. Go ahead and roast the squash and chicken in the morning. And make the topping and sauce, too.

Heck, you could even assemble it to be oven-ready, and just pop it in when the hungry hounds start pawing your legs. And begging for snacks, TV, for you to hold them and the expect you to make dinner one-handed. You know, like those hounds do.

I'm not entirely clueless when it comes to wings, though. I know there are usually celery and sometimes carrot sticks in that little basket the server brings out. For good reason too -- you'll need something cool and crisp to balance out all that heat.

This recipe was, like, so much better than I expected. I mean, I expected it to be pretty good, but I couldn't stop eating this.  And while my kids were whining about how spicy it was (see recipe notes to adapt for pansy sensitive palates) I was in heaven. And I ate it for two more days after that, and didn't save any leftovers for Steve. It has the perfect amount of heat and that creamy, comforting taste that you crave during the winter. And when you're not eating dairy. #imissyoucheese

Extra paleo ranch is always a nice touch, though. I'm heading toward day 30 of my Whole30 round (which is actually a Whole60 round -- did I tell you I've lost my mind?) and big mason jar of paleo ranch is so nice to have around. Also bottles of Chalula and Franks. And lots of avocados.

If you need a paleo ranch recipe, I linked to one in the recipe. It's my Paleo Dry Ranch Seasoning mix. And instructions on making the dressing are in that post.

By the way, if you'd rather use your Instant Pot to cook the spaghetti squash, see my post on How to Cook Squash in an Instant Pot! (If it's small enough you don't even have to cut the squash in half.)

Why You'll Love This Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash Casserole

• You can prepare it in advance!
• It has the perfect amount of heat and that creamy, comforting taste that you crave during the winter.
• This bake only requires 20 minutes of hands-on time.

Chicken Spaghetti Squash Casserole Ingredients

• Spaghetti squash
• Chicken breasts or thighs (boneless/skinless or bone-in/skin-on)
• Avocado oil
• Sea salt
• Black pepper
• No-salt all-purpose seasoning
• Celery, diced
• Carrots, shredded
• Ggreen onions, thinly sliced
• Eggs
• Paleo-friendly ranch dressing, plus more for serving
• Cayenne pepper sauce (or wing sauce, like Frank's Original), plus more for serving
• Garlic cloves, minced
• Nutritional yeast
• Onion powder

How to Make Chicken Spaghetti Squash Casserole

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
2. Half the squash lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Lay cut-side up on one side of the baking sheet.
3. Lay the chicken breasts on the other side of the baking sheet. Drizzle 1 Tablespoon of the avocado oil inside the squash halves and the other Tablespoon over the chicken. Sprinkle the salt, pepper, and no-salt seasoning in the squash halves and on both sides of the chicken.
4. Roast for 30-40 minutes until the chicken is just barely cooked through and the spaghetti squash is fork tender and pulls away easily from the skin.
5. Meanwhile, combine the celery, carrots, and green onion in a small bowl. Cover and chill until ready to use.
6. Whisk together the eggs, paleo ranch, cayenne pepper sauce, garlic, nutritional yeast, and onion powder.
7. When the squash and chicken have cooled enough to handle, scrape out the squash strands into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Chop the chicken and scatter it evenly over the squash. Pour the egg-ranch mixture over the whole thing, and push the squash and chicken around gently with a fork to coat everything evenly.
8. Place the baking dish in the oven (still heated to 425°F) and bake for about 20 minutes until the edges have turned golden brown and everything is bubbly and hot.
9. Remove the dish from the oven. Sprinkle half of the celery salad over the casserole and serve the casserole with additional celery salad and a drizzle of paleo ranch and cayenne pepper sauce.

Chicken Spaghetti Squash Casserole Variations

• Spice level - You can replace some of the cayenne pepper sauce with more paleo ranch if you want to make this dish a bit less spicy. Replace all of the cayenne pepper sauce with ranch if you don’t want any spice.

• Chicken pieces - If you use bone-in chicken, you may want to add an additional 10-15 minutes of baking time to ensure the chicken is cooked thoroughly. Keep a close eye on the squash, and remove it when it's done or else it'll get mushy if it bakes too long.

Tips For Making Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash

• Make sure the squash doesn’t get overcook otherwise it will become mushy and not pull apart in beautiful “Spaghetti” strands.
• Roast the squash and chicken in the morning to make this an “assemble ’n bake” kind of meal.

How to Serve Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Just cut it into sections and serve it like you would any other type of casserole or lasagna.

If you’re looking for sides to go with this, here are a few ideas:

Sweet Kale Salad

Cabbage Cucumber Salad

Cucumbers in Vinegar

Sautéed String Beans

Spaghetti Squash Buffalo Chicken Storage

Store any leftovers in a lidded container, chilled, for up to a week. Reheat in the microwave for best results.

More like this Chicken Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Have you tried the other spaghetti squash recipes on my site?

Enchilada Chicken & Spaghetti Squash Bake

Green Chile Chicken & Spaghetti Squash Bake

Spaghetti Squash with Roasted Mushroom & Garlic Sauce

If you make one of my recipes, I'd love to see! Post it on social media and tag me at @perrysplate or #perrysplate so I can send you some love!

Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash FAQs

Buffalo Spaghetti Squash

Yield: Serves 8

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Additional Time: 55 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

If you're on the buffalo ranch train, you'll love this Buffalo Ranch Chicken & Spaghetti Squash Bake. It's paleo and Whole30 compliant, too! I love roasting the squash and the chicken at the same time -- it makes me feel like a multi-tasking ninja.

Print

Ingredients

Toggle ingredient group

• 1 large spaghetti squash
• 1 ½-2 pounds of chicken breasts or thighs (boneless/skinless or bone-in/skin-on)
• 2 Tablespoons avocado oil
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon no-salt all-purpose seasoning
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 large carrots, shredded
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup paleo-friendly ranch dressing, plus more for serving
• ½ cup cayenne pepper sauce (or wing sauce, like Frank's Original), plus more for serving
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon onion powder

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
2. Half the squash lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Lay cut-side up on one side of the baking sheet.
3. Lay the chicken breasts on the other side of the baking sheet. Drizzle 1 Tablespoon of the avocado oil inside the squash halves and the other Tablespoon over the chicken. Sprinkle the salt, pepper, and no-salt seasoning in the squash halves and on both sides of the chicken.
4. Roast for 30-40 minutes until the chicken is just barely cooked through and the spaghetti squash is fork tender and pulls away easily from the skin.
5. Meanwhile, combine the celery, carrots, and green onion in a small bowl. Cover and chill until ready to use.
6. Whisk together the eggs, paleo ranch, cayenne pepper sauce, garlic, nutritional yeast, and onion powder.
7. When the squash and chicken have cooled enough to handle, scrape out the squash strands into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Chop the chicken and scatter it evenly over the squash. Pour the egg-ranch mixture over the whole thing, and push the squash and chicken around gently with a fork to coat everything evenly.
8. Place the baking dish in the oven (still heated to 425 degrees F) and bake for about 20 minutes until the edges have turned golden brown and everything is bubbly and hot.
9. Remove the dish from the oven. Sprinkle half of the celery salad over the casserole and serve the casserole with additional celery salad and a drizzle of paleo ranch and cayenne pepper sauce.

Notes

Nat's Notes:

1. For the no-salt seasoning I use the Kirkland 21 seasoning blend found at Costco.
2. If you use bone-in chicken, you may want to add an additional 10-15 minutes of baking time to ensure the chicken is cooked thoroughly. Keep a close eye on the squash, and remove it when it's done or else it'll get mushy if it bakes too long.
3. My kids found this to be spicy for their liking. It does have a kick to it, but I thought it was fantastic. You can replace some of the cayenne pepper sauce with more paleo ranch. To avoid the "it's too spicy" drama altogether, replace all of the cayenne pepper sauce with ranch and just drizzle some of it on individual servings.

This post may contain affiliate links. Any purchases made by using these links won't cost you any extra and helps keep my content free. These links may be Amazon links as I am part of the Amazon Associate Program.

The post Spaghetti Squash Buffalo Chicken appeared first on Perry's Plate.

Mushrooms are weird.

I don't consider myself a super picky eater, but mushrooms were on my no-no list for a long time, somewhere between peaches and raw tomatoes. Over the years I've been on a mission to convince myself that some of the things on my list weren't as gross as I thought they were. I thought it would be a nice way to "adult" myself.

Raw tomatoes eventually made their way on to my burgers, and I could probably eat my weight in fresh pico de gallo. I still can't toss a cherry tomato into my mouth, but hey.... progress!

(Don't even ask me about peaches. I. Just. Can't. Not even perfectly ripe farmer's market ones. I've tried! *gag*)

Mushrooms were next on my list. I learned to love them blended up in Creamy Paleo Mushroom Soup with Bacon and sauteed in Chipotle Caramelized Onions in Mushroom. And, no surprise, I also love them roasted. Raw? Um... not so much.

Did I mention I'm also a reformed squash hater? OK, maybe I was picky. I've come a long way though! Ten years ago I never would have eaten this dish, much less created it and encouraged other people to eat it.

So, this recipe. It's inspired by a to-die-for pizza I had at a local restaurant recently -- in-house made Napoletana-style crust, wood-burning oven baked, roasted garlic and mushrooms and a creamy porcini-pecorino cream sauce.

TOTALLY worth looking like I was 4 months pregnant an hour or so later.

*sigh*

Gluten, you fiend.

I was so in love with these flavors and wanted to create something that was a little easier on my gut, so I used spaghetti squash as the base and a little coconut cream for some creaminess. It's paleo and Whole30 compliant as is, but if you wanted to add some grated fresh pecorino or Parmesan over the top, it would not be a bad idea.

And did I mention this is a one-pan dish? Super easy to prep and clean up. You don't even have to transfer the squash and mushrooms to a serving dish. I just did so I'd have a pretty photo to show you. :)

I love easy meals like this, especially around the holidays! It's nice that it's meatless, too. It's rather hard to find hearty, protein-rich meals that are also paleo/keto/Whole30 friendly.

More Healthy Spaghetti Squash Recipes

Have you tried the other spaghetti squash recipes on my site?

Chicken Enchilada & Spaghetti Squash Bake

Green Chile Chicken & Spaghetti Squash Bake

Buffalo Ranch Chicken & Spaghetti Squash Bake

If you make one of my recipes, I'd love to see! Post it on social media and tag me at @perrysplate or #perrysplate so I can send you some love!

Spaghetti Squash with Roasted Mushroom and Garlic Sauce

Yield: Serves 4-5

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Print

Ingredients

Toggle ingredient group

• 8 ounces sliced baby bella mushrooms
• ⅓ cup chopped dried porcini mushrooms (about 1 ½ ounces)
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled
• ½ cup beef broth
• ½ cup coconut aminos
• 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 ½ pound spaghetti squash
• 1 Tablespoon avocado oil
• Sea salt and black pepper
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 2 Tablespoon coconut cream

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Place all of the mushrooms and garlic in a 9x13 baking dish. Whisk together the beef broth, aminos, and vinegar and pour it into the pan.
3. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and membranes from the center. Lay the squash halves cut-side up on top of the mushroom mixture. Drizzle the insides of the squash with avocado oil and sprinkle with a few pinches of salt and pepper. Place the rosemary springs in the pan on top of the squash on either side.
4. Bake for 45-60 minutes, until mushrooms are tender and the squash strands tear away easily with a fork.
5. Remove the squash from the pan and return the pan to the oven for 10 more minutes if the mushrooms need further roasting.
6. Scrape the squash strands out with a fork and transfer to a serving dish.
7. Remove the rosemary stems from the pan. Add the coconut cream and stir it around until it forms a creamy, brown sauce. Pour the mushrooms and sauce over the spaghetti squash and  serve.

This post may contain affiliate links. Any purchases made by using these links won't cost you any extra and helps keep my content free. These links may be Amazon links as I am part of the Amazon Associate Program.

The post Spaghetti Squash with Roasted Mushroom and Garlic Sauce appeared first on Perry's Plate.