Baked spaghetti squash with sauce and cheese
- Preparation 5 min
- Cooking 1 h
- Servings 4
- Freezing Absolutely
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🧀 Golden cheese, good sauce, and you eat it right out of the shell
This is baked spaghetti squash the way it should be. Thick tomato sauce over roasted squash strands, three cups of cheddar on top, and the broiler finishing the job until it browns. The best part is that the shell becomes the bowl: you set the half on a plate and dig straight in, and there is no casserole dish to scrub afterward. It is also easy. You halve it, you roast it, you fill it, you broil it. Five minutes of prep and the oven does everything else. My kids eat it, and there are always leftovers for lunch.
🎃 We pick our own squash
We have been going to the Centre d’interprétation de la courge du Québec in Saint-Joseph-du-Lac for a good ten years now. We love that place. You walk the field, everybody picks their own squash, and you drive home with a full box. It has become our fall outing. Then I make my homemade spaghetti sauce, roast the squash, and this recipe pretty much writes itself.
🔥 Cut side up, 425 °F, one hour
I lay the squash on its side, cut it in half lengthwise, and put it on the sheet pan cut side up, with a good drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper right in the cavity. I like it a lot that way. The oil pools in the hollow, the squash roasts instead of steaming, and the flesh comes out moist without going soggy. One hour at 425 °F, and the fork tells you the rest. Any sauce you like works in there, mine or a jar when you are in a rush. Your homemade chili works too, and it is delicious.
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🔪 Cut it lengthwise, and go for wide boats
Lay the squash on its side and cut it in half lengthwise, not crosswise. The reason is simple: I want wide boats, not deep ones. The sauce and the cheese go into that cavity, so the wider the opening, the more filling fits and the easier it is to eat on a plate.
You need a big, solid knife. Drive the tip into the center, lengthwise, all the way down, then work the blade down to one side while holding the squash firmly with your other hand. A few chops to get through. It is not the fun part of the recipe, I will not pretend otherwise. A squash around 3 lb cuts a lot easier than a giant one.
🔥 Roast it cut side up
Cavity facing up, olive oil, salt and pepper inside. The oil stays in the hollow, the squash roasts instead of steaming, and I like it a lot that way.
⏱️ How long to bake spaghetti squash: 425 °F, one hour
One hour at 425 °F (220 °C). Same roast as my creamy sausage pasta with spaghetti squash, and there is no reason for it to change from one recipe to the next. But the clock is not the real test, the fork is. Run it through the flesh: if the strands pull away on their own, it is done. A big squash may want a little more, a small one a little less. If it still resists, give it ten more minutes and check again.
🌀 Spaghetti squash in the air fryer
Yes, it works, and I do make it that way. Same prep: halved lengthwise, olive oil, salt, pepper, cut side up in the basket. If your halves do not fit, cut them down again, it changes nothing. The air fryer runs faster than the oven, so open the basket and test with a fork instead of setting a timer and hoping. When you just want strands for a lunch without heating the whole oven, it is perfect.
📡 What about the microwave?
I have never tried it, so I am not going to invent a cooking time for you. What I can tell you is that the microwave steams. You will get strands, sure, but none of the roasted edge, and that roasted edge is what makes this dish good. For this recipe I stay with the oven.
🍴 Scrape just enough
A properly roasted squash scrapes effortlessly. The fork goes from the edge toward the center and the strands come away on their own. But take it easy: you want to loosen the fibers, not dig down to the shell. That shell has to hold the sauce and the cheese, and it is what you eat out of. Pierce it and your bowl leaks onto the plate.
🧀 Do not hold back on the cheese
Three cups of grated cheddar for one squash, about 300 g, and I do not think that is excessive. Cheddar melts well and browns perfectly. Add mozzarella if you want cheese that stretches, use sharp cheddar for more character, or put raclette on top when you feel like treating yourself. Watch the broiler at the end, it browns fast.
🍅 Thick sauce, not runny sauce
The squash releases a bit of water on its own. Add a thin sauce on top and you are eating soup instead of a baked squash. Use a good thick sauce, and if your squash looks really wet coming out of the oven, blot it once with paper towel before you fill it.
📅 Make it ahead
This one holds up ahead of time. Roast the squash the day before, let it cool and keep the halves in the fridge in their shells. The next day, fill with hot sauce, bury in cheese and reheat in the oven until the center is hot and the top browns. The squash is already cooked, so all you are doing is reheating.
A variation I like: swap the tomato sauce for homemade chili, then broil. It turns into a completely different dinner.
✅ What to serve with baked spaghetti squash
It stands on its own, but at our place it comes with cheesy garlic bread for mopping and a white balsamic arugula salad to cut through the cheese. If you like cooking with spaghetti squash, try my creamy sausage pasta with spaghetti squash and my spaghetti squash and chicken lasagna too.
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Ingredients
- 1 spaghetti squash, about 3 lb (1.5 kg), halved lengthwise (remove and discard the seeds)
- About 3 cups (750 ml) of your favorite spaghetti sauce, hot
- 3 cups (750 ml) grated cheddar cheese (about 300 g)
- Olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper and salt, to taste
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Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 425 °F (220 °C).
- Place the squash on a baking sheet cut side up, drizzle generously with olive oil, then season the inside with salt and pepper. Bake for 1 hour, or until the flesh shreds easily with a fork.
- Remove from the oven and lightly scrape the inside with a fork, just enough to loosen the strands without piercing the shell. Fill the cavity with sauce, then bury it in cheese.
- Return to the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Then switch to broil and cook until the cheese is golden. Let rest 5 minutes and eat straight out of the squash!
Lay it on its side and cut it in half lengthwise, not crosswise. You want wide boats rather than deep ones, because the sauce and the cheese go into that cavity. Use a big, solid knife: drive the tip into the center all the way down, then work the blade down to one side while holding the squash firmly with your other hand. A few chops as needed. A squash around 3 lb is much easier to get through than a giant one.
I bake it cut side up, with olive oil, salt and pepper in the cavity, and I like it a lot that way. The oil pools in the bottom, the squash roasts instead of steaming, and the flesh stays moist without going soggy. Cut side down releases more moisture, which is what I want when the squash is headed into a cream sauce, like in my creamy sausage pasta with spaghetti squash. For a cheesy bake, I want it roasted.
One hour at 425 °F (220 °C). Time shifts a bit with the size of the squash, so trust the fork test over the clock: when the flesh shreds easily into strands, it is ready. If it resists, give it another ten minutes. Halves always bake faster than a whole squash, and halving is also the only way to season the inside.
Run a fork through the flesh and scrape lightly. If the strands come away on their own and look like spaghetti, it is perfect. If the flesh stays compact and resists, it needs more time. A properly baked squash scrapes effortlessly, from the edge toward the center.
Yes, and I do. Halved lengthwise, olive oil, salt, pepper, cut side up in the basket. If your halves do not fit, cut them down again. The air fryer runs faster than the oven, so open the basket and test with a fork instead of trusting a timer. For the cheesy top though, I go back to the oven: the broiler is what gives you that golden crust.
A little moisture is normal and even welcome. Baking it cut side up with oil keeps the flesh moist without making it soggy. If yours looks really wet, blot it lightly with paper towel before you add the sauce. And above all, use a thick spaghetti sauce: too thin and you are eating soup instead of a baked squash.
Cheddar is my go-to, it melts well and browns perfectly. Count about 3 cups (750 ml) grated, roughly 300 g, for one squash. Add mozzarella if you want cheese that stretches, go sharp for more character, or put raclette on top to treat yourself. Whatever you use, keep an eye on the broiler at the end: it browns in a couple of minutes.
Let us be honest for a second. Spaghetti squash on its own, yes: it is a vegetable, it is light, and that is exactly why so many people use it instead of pasta. But I bury mine under three cups of cheddar and a good tomato sauce. That is not the same dish anymore. I do not do nutrition on this site and I am not counting anybody’s calories: if you want the lighter version, use less cheese and keep the sauce. If you want a comforting fall dinner, make it as written.
Yes, it freezes. Scrape out all the squash strands, put them in a container with the sauce and freeze. The texture shifts a little once thawed, but it is still very good. In the fridge it keeps a few days and makes perfect lunches. The easiest way to reheat is in the microwave.
My favorite is this one: roasted, filled with sauce, topped with cheese and eaten right out of the shell. One squash gives 4 servings, or 2 if it is a small one, though they are rarely that small. You can also scrape all the flesh out, spread it in a baking dish with the sauce, bake it as a casserole and portion it after. That is the easier route when there are several of you at the table.
Beyond that, it stands in for pasta almost anywhere. At my place it ends up in my creamy sausage pasta with spinach, my spaghetti squash and chicken lasagna, my moist bacon meatloaf and my lentil soup with spaghetti squash.
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