These Skinny Spaghetti Squash Boats are amazing. They are so easy to make and are perfect for a healthy weeknight meal. The best part is you can cook off the spaghetti squash and then save the halves in the fridge and compile the dish when you are ready. I roasted 4 halves, used only two and then made the other two for leftovers the next night. These can also be made vegetarian! I would just leave out the ground turkey and add a huge bunch of spinach to the tomato sauce. YUM!
If you have never used spaghetti squash, it is an oval squash that, when cut open, has a light yellow flesh. Once they are cooked, use a fork to scrape the flesh, which turns into spaghetti-like strings and has a wonderful earthy and sweet flavor. Believe me; you won’t miss the carbs on this Spaghetti Squash Boats. Okay, let’s do this…
Seriously Good Skinny Spaghetti Squash Boats
Print RecipeIngredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 1 cup white onion, chopped
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 pound ground turkey or ground chicken
- 1 jar of good quality jarred tomato sauce or 3 cups homemade tomato sauce
- 3-4 small/medium spaghetti squash, sliced in half lengthwise
- 1 15-ounce container of ricotta cheese
- Parmesan cheese for sprinkling
- Kosher salt
- Fresh black pepper
Instructions
1. Set your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Scrape the seeds out from the middle of the squash, creating a cavity inside.
3. Drizzle a little oil over, salt and pepper over the squash and roast, cut side down for 30 minutes.
4. While the squash is cooking, saute the onion in olive oil with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Allow to cook for a few minutes until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and allow to cook for another minute.
5. Add the ground meat, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Use a wooden spoon to break up the meat into small pieces. Allow the meat to cook through.
6. When the meat is completely cooked through, add the tomato sauce. Bring the sauce to a low boil, cover, and allow the sauce to continue to cook until the squash is done cooking.
7. After 30 minutes, remove the squash from the oven, carefully flip over and scrape the flesh with a fork. If the flesh breaks apart easily, the squash is done.
8. Spoon two scoops of ricotta cheese into the cavity of the squash. Spoon the sauce over the top of the ricotta cheese until it fills the cavity, being sure not to overfill the squash. Sprinkle Parmesan over the top.
9. Place back in the oven for 10 minutes. Broil for an additional 2 minutes until the cheese is golden and bubbly.
10. Serve with a green salad, enjoy!
Notes:
To make ahead, cook the squash and the sauce and then refrigerate each component until ready to use. To use as leftovers, make only the amount of squash boats you need and then refrigerate the rest of the squash halves and sauce separately until ready to use.
