How To Make Spaghetti Squash Pasta - The Typical Mom

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Spaghetti Squash Pasta

By Justine

5 from 1 vote

Updated Dec 10, 2025

Published Mar 02, 2024

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This is how to make spaghetti squash pasta in the oven or pressure cooker. Then you can add meat sauce to make a low carb spaghetti recipe! Whether you use your oven or make a quick batch of air fryer spaghetti squash, you’ll love it.

Is spaghetti squash a good substitute for pasta?
How do you soften spaghetti squash to cut it?
How to Make Pasta with Spaghetti Squash
How can you cook spaghetti squash so it doesn’t taste like al dente noodles?
Ingredient Notes
How to Make Spaghetti with Squash Pasta
Spaghetti Squash Pasta Recipe
How do you pick squash for spaghetti?
Other easy squash recipes you’ll love

We talked about how to cook spaghetti squash fast the other week in our pressure cooker. Now we’re sharing how we made spaghetti squash pasta in the oven. You’d never know these “noodles” weren’t the ones you buy in the store! In just 40 minutes you can serve this low carb gluten free dinner everyone will love.

I was curious what all the hype was about. Vegetable noodles used as an alternative to the boxed type I always buy at the store were questionable to me. Honestly, it didn’t sound tasty. I was WRONG! Imagined that cook time for spaghetti this way would be faster but didn’t realize how much I’d love it too.

Here we cut it in half and cook under high pressure, the best method of all. You can roast spaghetti squash whole in the oven too if you would prefer. We will share all the ways below. If you are on the keto low carb diet craze you may have already made these time and time again. I am not but am trying to eat healthier and always looking for great alternatives when it comes to meals.

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Is spaghetti squash a good substitute for pasta?

One night I wanted to try this with my family. I didn’t even tell them what I was experimenting with, surprisingly it passed for spaghetti and all of us were floored at how much we actually loved it. Yes, a great substitution for noodles for sure.

Ok so if I am being honest they did realize about halfway thru the meal that it was a bit different than they remembered and asked what was up. I relayed my experiment and they were as surprised as I was, and said we should do this one again and again.

We were all REALLY surprised that the spaghetti squash noodles were remarkably similar to boxed. It was remarkable that it took a while to really tell the difference once the sauce and cheese were added.

Now it is my go to half of the time I make this popular dish. Only reason I don’t do it always is really my laziness, it is a bit more time consuming than my normal every week Instant Pot spaghetti recipe.

How do you soften spaghetti squash to cut it?

Sometimes it is quite hard and not easily sliced. In this case you can put it into the microwave for 3 minutes which will do the trick. Use a sharp utensil as well with a cutting board underneath it which will help with the leverage. Follow these steps:

Use a knife or fork and poke all the way around lengthwise where you want to slice it open.
Put it into your microwave for 5 minutes.
Allow to cool slightly.
Or follow our Slow Cooker Spaghetti Squash for just 1 hour.

Put on a cutting board and it will be easier to slice the squash in half like you see below. I haven’t had an issue with myself but my husband is kinda’ a knife sharpening nut and I use the largest one in my block, comes right open for me.

How to Make Pasta with Spaghetti Squash

You will want to slice it lengthwise so they are as long as possible. You can see here what I am talking about. In this case they can be about half the length of a typical pasta strand or so. Then you use a fork with long tines and scrape from top to bottom. It will come out looking like pasta noodles!

How can you cook spaghetti squash so it doesn’t taste like al dente noodles?

Many times the complaint is the texture, it isn’t like noodles. You can get it closer to that though if you quickly blanch those strands right away in some salted boiling water for 1 minute, no longer. Then set on paper towels to dry before saucing.

While the yellow squash is roasting you can combine your sauce and cheeses so they will be ready. Warm this before adding it to noodles that have been scraped out into a bowl and drained to remove excess water.

OR here are directions for making spaghetti squash pizza, so tender in no time! For this one we jazzed it up and made a version of spaghetti squash pizza pasta which was fun for the kids. Used the same sauce and cheese but added diced pepperoni and mushrooms into the mix too. There are so many ways to dress these up.

There are a few things you’re going to want to take out if you are going to roast squash in the oven to get it nice and tender.

Ingredient Notes

You are going to start with a whole spaghetti squash, or more but only 1 fit in my Instant Pot, so if you’re using that method but feeding a crowd it will take several batches to get it all done so oven may be better for more than 1 whole piece.

Olive oil or avocado oil works to keep the outer edges moist when you pack it all back in with the sauce to make your “pasta”.

To bake you just pop them into the oven to warm it all back up and melt your cheese a bit and you’re ready to dig in! Start to finish this will take about 45 minutes if you use your oven, shorter with other 2 methods linked.

There is a printable free recipe card at the very bottom but here is a quick rundown. Once you scrape the strands out you can make all sorts of things like fried squash in oil to make them crispy and beyond.

How to Make Spaghetti with Squash Pasta

Put all your spaghetti squash noodles in a bowl, drain all of the liquid out of that bowl. Add spaghetti sauce and parmesan cheese. Gently mix together so “noodles” are coated. Spoon back into your squash “bowls”. Put these on your baking sheet. Top with mozzarella. Bake in the oven again for about 10 minutes or until cheese on top begins to melt.

5 from 1 vote

Spaghetti Squash Pasta Recipe

By Justine How to cook spaghetti squash pasta in the oven at 400, then toss "noodles" with sauce for a great healthy meal done in 20 minutes! Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 30 minutes Total: 40 minutes Servings: 4 Save RecipeSaved Recipe Pin Recipe Comment Print Recipe

Equipment

1 baking sheet
1 knife

Ingredients 1x2x3x

▢ 1 large spaghetti squash, cut in half, seeds removed
▢ 2 tbsp olive oil

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut squash in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Rub flesh side and edges with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt. Put on baking sheet with flesh side down.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until flesh is very fork tender. Allow to cool until you can hold it with a dish towel in your hand (will be hot) and gently scrape the "noodles" out. (the deeper you go the less tender the noodles will be)
Put all your spaghetti squash noodles in a bowl, drain liquid out of that bowl.
Add 1.5 cups of spaghetti sauce and 1/4 c. parmesan cheese. Add cooked ground beef or sausage now if you're adding that.
Gently mix together so “noodles” are coated.
Split this mixture in half and spoon back into your squash “bowls”. Put these on a baking sheet.
Top with mozzarella and green onions if desired.
Bake in oven for about 10 minutes or until cheese on top begins to melt.
Serve….you’ll never know they weren’t traditional noodles.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 4oz, Calories: 413kcal, Carbohydrates: 31g, Protein: 19g, Fat: 26g, Saturated Fat: 9g, Cholesterol: 57mg, Sodium: 1911mg, Potassium: 1289mg, Fiber: 7g, Sugar: 18g, Vitamin A: 1555IU, Vitamin C: 22.9mg, Calcium: 214mg, Iron: 4.5mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Entree, Main CourseCuisine: American Tried this recipe?Mention @thetypical_mom or tag #thetypicalmom!

How do you pick squash for spaghetti?

Choose one that feels heavy for its size. This indicates that it is dense and filled with moisture, which will result in better flavor and texture. You want a consistent, yellow color. Avoid squash with green spots or patches, as this may indicate that it’s underripe. However, a few small green patches are generally okay.

Other easy squash recipes you’ll love

Other squash recipes you should try after you fall in love with this one are; air fryer butternut squash cubes are my kids’ favorite because they’re bite size chunks of YUM. Our air fryer butternut squash cubes or air fryer pumpkin slices pair with anything.

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About Justine

Justine is the creative mind behind The Typical Mom and The Typical Family on YouTube. She began blogging about easy recipes, budget friendly activities for kids, and fun family travel destinations in September 2012.

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