Million Dollar Spaghetti Squash that has a creamy and cheesy filling we’re sure you’re going to love. It’s a personal family favorite of ours and even the kids will want seconds!
This recipe will make 6-8 servings.
What you’re going to need for this recipe is.
1 Large 2–3-pound spaghetti squash.
2 TBS of melted Butter to coat the squash.
1 TBS of butter to coat your 9×13 Pan.
24oz Jar of Rao’s Tomato Basil
Marinara sauce.
1 pound of ground Beef, ground Turkey, ground Sausage or a mixture of proteins.
2 Cups of Mozzarella shredded.
8 ounces of softened Cream Cheese.
1/2 Cup of Sour cream.
1 TBS of dried Parsley (Optional).
1 Tsp of Salt.
A small mixing bowl.
Spoon or Spatula to mix wet ingredients.
A Skillet to brown your protein in.
A 9 x 13 Pan.
A baking sheet to cook your Spaghetti squash on.
A cutting board
A good medium to large knife to cut into the spaghetti squash.
A large dinner Spoon to remove the seeds.
A fork to poke holes in the squash.
Let’s get our ingredients mixed together and let’s get cooking!
First, we’re going to prepare our spaghetti squash by cutting it open and scraping out the seeds to roast it. Spaghetti squash is an amazing fruit and a great pasta replacement for a very low-carb meal.
Before we cut into our spaghetti squash, I just wanted to let you know how to tell if a spaghetti squash is ripe. It’s going to have a golden yellow or dark yellow color. You want to pick one that feels heavier than it looks because that will give you the best tasting squash.
There are a lot of different ways that you can cook spaghetti squash, but today I’m going to show you my favorite way and that’s by roasting it.
Spaghetti squashes are really hard and they’re hard to cut, but if you have a great knife and a little bit of strength, I know you can do it! What we’re going to do first is cut off the ends. Stand the squash up on one end then cut it down the middle. Go slow and rock the knife back and forth to cut the squash down the middle without cracking it. Watch the YouTube video on this page where Pam demonstrates how to cut and roast the spaghetti squash. Getting a visual of the task is sometimes easier than trying to figure it out through reading text.
Now we need to get the seeds out.
Take a spoon and scrape out the seeds and strands from inside the squash. Dispose of the seeds and strands.
Melt the 2 TBS of Butter and coat the inside of both halves of the squash well.
Salt the inside of the squash halves.
Preheat your oven to 400° with a 40-minute timer.
Flip the squash over on a baking sheet where the inside of the squash you just coated with butter is facing down against the baking sheet. Take a fork and poke holes down the middle of the top of the squash. About six fork pokes evenly down the middle will work fine. This is going to let the steam out of the top of the squash.
Place the baking sheet in the center of your oven when it has preheated.
With a large squash, usually 40 minutes is good. We used to cook the squash for an hour, but the strands of spaghetti were too mushy for our taste. We prefer them a little firmer, like angel hair pasta.
If your squash is medium size or you’re cooking two small, you may want to set your timer for 30 minutes and check to see if the strands are soft and coming apart. If not leave in for another 10 minutes.
While the squash is baking in the oven, let’s get out a skillet and brown the ground protein of your choice. Chop up the meat well and cook till done. On the Animal-based diet we want to eat as much fat as possible. Fat is our bodies energy source when you’re not eating carbs or sugar, but for this recipe, we do want to drain off the excess grease from the ground meat. The grease tends to float to the top and makes the recipe a little wet., that’s why we drain it off.
After draining put ground protein back in your skillet and add the 24oz jar of Rao’s marinara sauce. Stir and let simmer on low heat for five minutes.
In a small mixing bowl, add your 8 ounces of softened Cream Cheese, 1/2 cup of Sour Cream, and 1 TBS of Parsley (Optional). Mix well with spoon or spatula then set to the side.
Let’s check on our spaghetti squash in the oven. Two ways to tell that it’s done is if a fork will go through the outside skin it is done. You can flip the squash over and if the strings start to separate easily with a fork, it is done. Be very careful it will be hot and letting off steam. If the squash is done, pull from the oven and set on hot pads to cool. Don’t forget to turn your oven off!
Grease your 9 x 13 pan with butter to help it keep from sticking.
Everybody strands their spaghetti squash differently. I’m going to tell you the way that we do it. The squash is not cool to the touch, it’s still warm but you can hold it without burning your fingers. Take your fork and pull it away from the edges. You will see the noodles and that’s what you want. The squash will strand long noodles like pasta noodles. Go around the inside edge of the skin and pull it away from the edges towards you and do that for both of them. Again, the YouTube video on this page will show you how to do this technique.
Take 1/2 of the squash that you have pulled the noodles apart and put it in your 9 x 13 pan with two forks, lifting up and out of the squash and into the pan.
If your noodles are too soft and mushy for your liking, you baked the squash, a little too long. Next time cut the time by five minutes until you get it to the consistency that you like.
Now take half of the meat sauce in your skillet and lay it over the noodles in your 9 x13 pan. Spread it over the noodles evenly.
Go ahead and preheat your oven for 350°.
Now take your cream cheese mixture and scoop the entire bowl on top of your meat sauce and spread out evenly.
Now add the rest of the other half of spaghetti squash on top of the cream cheese layer. Spread out evenly and then sprinkle one cup of shredded mozzarella over the layer of spaghetti squash.
Add the rest of your meat sauce and spread it evenly to the edges. Now sprinkle the final cup of shredded mozzarella on top of the meat sauce. This is where you can add more shredded cheese if you are just a cheese lover like us. Hey we’re just a cheesy kind of family .
Now let’s stick the pan in the middle of the oven at the preheated 350°. It will be heated all the way through in about 20 minutes and then you can turn the oven on broil to brown the cheese to your liking. As always when you use broil don’t walk away or you could end up with a burnt mess very quickly! On a side note, because we’re all human, if you do burn the mozzarella cheese, you can always pick it off with a fork and add more cheese, melt and brown it on broil.
Pull the casserole out of the oven and set it on hot pads to cool. At this point you can serve as is or add a sprinkle parsley to the top for a little color. After about five minutes, it should be cool enough to cut with a knife or thin spatula. You can cut this into six very large squares or eight regular size squares.
It can be kept in the refrigerator for up to five days in an airtight container. We always love to put single servings in smaller airtight containers and take for lunches. This is a great meal prep dish. You can also store single servings in an airtight container in the freezer for up to three months. Just remove let’s set for a few minutes until you can take it out of the container. Place in a skillet with a lid or on a pan in the oven and heat on low till the cheese starts to melt. We like to add a sprinkle of fresh mozzarella to the top to make the cheese gooey and delicious! I hope you have enjoyed this recipe and I know the whole family will love it!
A few options if you tolerate them with this dish is to add a TBS of minced garlic to your ground protein when browning it. Lots of people love garlic and it is not too bad for you in occasional small doses.
You can also replace the parsley with Italian seasoning to give it an expanded flavor.
Also this is amazing with Toasted Carnivore Bread.
