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This roasted spaghetti squash is topped with bacon, garlic, and Parmesan for a simple family friendly dinner. Let me show you how to cook spaghetti squash that your whole family will devour!
Alright, look…I know that I’m here to share family-friendly, kid-friendly, easy peasy recipes for busy moms.
Then I go and throw up a roasted spaghetti squash recipe. If you’re side-eyeing me like, yeah right, my kids aren’t going to eat this…well I feel ya.
But have you TRIED? Because y’all, my kids LOVE roasted spaghetti squash.
Sure, it took a bit of selling when they first saw the dish, but after that first bite they were all in…probably thanks, in part, to the bacon and Parmesan. 😉
Cooking spaghetti squash is easy and so tasty!
It’s beyond simple to roast a spaghetti squash.
The hardest part is cutting it in half…use a sharp knife and lots of muscles. Many people will even poke holes with a fork in a circle around the squash and then microwave it for 5 minutes. Makes it much easier to cut this way!
Scrape out the seeds from the center of the squash and place it cut side down on a greased baking sheet.
Roast for about 45 minutes and then use a fork to scrape out long strands of ‘noodles.’
Spaghetti squash with bacon:
Once your noodles are all scraped out, fry up a little bacon, add some garlic, and toss with your squash.
Season with salt and pepper and top it all of with some shaved Parmesan.
The squash has this slightly sweet, earthy flavor that pairs so well with the bacon and Parmesan!
This is so filling and would easily feed my family of four as a main dish. Add in a salad with homemade Italian dressing and some garlic bread, and you have a healthy, scrumptious dinner.
You should try this spaghetti squash casserole too!
I can’t wait to experiment with more spaghetti squash recipes. It has such a great earthy flavor and it’s really quite easy to prepare. Love it!!
For more of my favorite fall recipes, check out this pumpkin bread, turkey chili, and baked spaghetti!
Spaghetti Squash with Bacon, Garlic, and Parmesan
Ingredients
- 1 spaghetti squash around 4 pounds
- 4 slices bacon diced
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- Parmesan cheese shaved or grated, as much as you like
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray or olive oil.
- Wash the spaghetti squash and slice off the end with the stem. Stand it up with the flat cut side down. Slice the squash in half lengthwise. (Use your muscles, squash can be difficult to cut!)
- Scrape the seeds from the center of the squash and discard (or save for roasting and eating as a snack). Sprinkle the inside of the squash with salt and pepper.
- Place on the prepared pan cut side down and bake for 30-45 minutes or until a sharp knife can be easily inserted with only a little resistance.
- Set aside.
- Fry the bacon over medium heat until crisp. Add the garlic to the bacon and continue cooking one minute or until fragrant.
- Use a fork to scrape the flesh from the squash in long strings. Place in a bowl.
- Add the bacon and garlic to the bowl of squash. You can drain the bacon first or add the grease right to the squash if you're feeling naughty.
- Salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese.
Debbie K says
This was a simple and Delicious dish. Light and filling.
Karly says
Thanks, Debbie!
Colton says
The Bacon ruins an otherwise amazing recipe. Just make it without the Bacon and it is amazing!!!
Smarter Ideas says
I use my Instant Pot to cook Spaghetti Squash. It’s much easier than the oven and even the microwave. No cutting, No removal of stickers, No cleaning it off (unless it muddy from the Farmer’s Market or your garden).
A 4 lb squash or so should fit.
1) Put the steamer rack in
2) Fork outsides of squash all over
3) Put the squash in the Instant Pot
4) Pour in 1 cup of water
5) Turn valve to ‘Steam’
6) Secure lid
7) Plug in
8) Press ‘Manual’ for 9 min on Low’
9) When pressured time is up, do a ‘Quick Release’ on the valve.
10) Use potholders or forks to lift the squash out.
11) Cut squash in 1/2 length-wise or width-wise (Very Easy to do)’
12) Scrape out seeds; then the ‘spaghetti strands
Use as you wish. Less time to cook and a breeze to clean up. 🙂
Erin says
I added peas to this as well. It is so delicious!
dataguide.blog.co.uk says
Fantastic post however I was wanting to know if you could write a litte more on this topic?
I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit further.
Thank you!
Suzanne says
This was outstanding. I had baked two squashes for ANOTHER dish and only used one. Just shredded the squash and tossed it in the still hot bacon drippings. Tossed it all together and it was so good. I added more bacon than the recipe calls for but hey — it’s BACON.
Karly says
@Suzanne,
You can never have too much bacon! 😉
Liz says
Thank you for the nice recipe.
Jessie says
Your blog is amazing. You make everything I always dream of in my mind but haven’t quite perfected. This particular recipe just melted me. I haven’t made anything yet but I will (once my bf and my cats and I move I to a home instead of this motel…driving me crazy that I can’t cook cause there’s not even a fridge never mind a stove!) definitely make these gorgeous recipes when I get into a kitchen! This one is the first on my list along with the pumpkin cream cheese muffins and that casserole! Do you have any good hearty soup or stew recipes?
I have shared your blog on my Facebook. Keep posting! 😀
Jess
Danae Bruning says
My first time making and trying spaghetti squash. Your directions were excellent. Followed the recipe completely and LOVED the results. Thank you! The picture sold me.
Karly says
So glad you were brave enough to try it! 🙂
Thanks for letting me know how it turned out!
Stephanie says
I made this tonight and removed the bacon, drained the grease, added tomatoes and garlic into the pan with the greased left on the bottom. Good and simple!!
Krysten says
So I made this last night and sauteed some onions in the bacon grease (those are healthy vegetables, right?) and added some leftover Thanksgiving turkey. I went back for seconds. And thirds.