Veggies 101: How to Roast Spaghetti Squash

With the holidays coming up, I wanted to share a favorite fall-time basic recipe: How to roast spaghetti squash. This is a veggies 101 post that is simple, but really necessary for every household. Growing up, spaghetti squash was a staple in my mothers home. As I got older a lot of people I would talk to absolutely despised spaghetti squash, and then when I ate it at their house I realized why so many people disliked the squash. It’s a squash that definitely has to be done the right way.

Preheat oven to 425.

First you’ll want to find a fairly large squash, and chop the stem off. Carefully cut the squash into two halves, trying to cut it as evenly as possible (yes, much easier said than done).

Scoop out the seeds and stringy innards with a spoon and discard. (The seeds also roast up nicely like pumpkin seeds.)

Drizzle each half with about 1½ teaspoons olive oil, and sprinkle with salt a pepper. I like to use garlic salt, but normal salt is perfectly fine.

Place squash face down on a foil lined baking sheet. Place in oven and bake for 35-45 minutes.

Check on squash at about 35 minutes. It should start to look dark brown and easily pierced with a fork. Let cool for 10 minutes and shred the squash with a fork. It should come out looking like long “spaghetti-like” strings.

Now comes the DIY part. You can really do anything you’d like here, but a few of the essentials need to be 1) garlic, 2) melted butter, 3) one or two herbs and 4) crushed red pepper. I used fresh basil from my garden that had been frozen in butter, and some rosemary. Growing up my mom would use whatever fresh herb she had on hand. My favorites were always fresh rosemary or dill. Mmmm. So customize it, give it some flare!

Once your spaghetti squash is all strung out, put it in a bowl and add the 2 tablespoons of melted butter, ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, 2 teaspoons of minced garlic, 2 teaspoons of dried rosemary and your chopped fresh basil. Mix well and salt and pepper to taste.

Roasted Spaghetti Squash

Recipe by The Everyday Veggies 

1 large spaghetti squash

1 Tablespoon olive oil, divided

Salt and pepper

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2 teaspoons garlic, minced

2 teaspoons dried rosemary

1 teaspoon chopped basil, fresh

1 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 425.

2. Chop the stem off, and carefully cut the squash lengthwise into two halves. Scoop out the innards and discard. Drizzle each half of the squash with 1 1/2 teaspoons of olive oil, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. 

3. Place squash face down on baking sheet and roast for 35-45 minutes, or until its looking brown, and easily pierced with a fork. Let cool for 10 minutes. Once cool enough to handle, shred the squash with a fork. It will come out looking like long spaghetti like strings. 

4. Place in medium sized mixing bowl and add the red pepper flakes, melted butter, garlic, rosemary chopped basil and salt. Serve immediately. Add salt and pepper to taste.