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GET IT NOWMy Stuffed Spaghetti Squash Tastes Like Lasagna
I’ve made stuffed spaghetti squash in many different ways over the years, but so far this is my absolute favorite. It’s saucy, cheesy, and comforting in a way that feels like a cozy fall hug. I first made this recipe when I was craving lighter lasagna, and here’s why I keep coming back to it:
- Cozy lasagna flavors – These spaghetti squash boats have rich meat sauce, creamy cheeses, and melty topping a lot like the eggplant lasagna and zucchini lasagna I make in the summer, but with the cool weather vibes of winter squash.
- Weeknight easy – This recipe uses common grocery store ingredients, and I love that I can make the other components in parallel while the squash roasts. It’s quick enough for a weeknight, but impressive enough to serve guests.
- Light, one-dish meal – I often serve this stuffed spaghetti squash all by itself! It’s hearty enough, yet lighter and lower carb than actual pasta. If you want something extra, I recommend my Italian-inspired artichoke salad or Caprese salad on the side.
If you’re looking for a tasty, family-friendly way to turn spaghetti squash into a full, protein-packed meal, this recipe is perfect. Make it with me!
Reader Review
“Easy, delicious, and very filling! I loved it so much, I have shared it with friends. I layered the filling, too. Turned out wonderful. Thank you.” –Jennifer
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ingredients & Substitutions
Here I explain the best ingredients for my stuffed spaghetti squash recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card.
- Spaghetti Squash – I based my recipe on a medium one, around 4–6 pounds. Larger or smaller ones work too, you just might want to scale the meats and cheeses up or down a bit.
- Ground Beef – I use grass-fed 85/15 for a balance of flavor and juiciness, but any kind works. You can also swap in ground turkey, chicken, or even Italian sausage.
- Marinara Sauce – Feel free to use your favorite jarred sauce (this is mine) or use my homemade marinara sauce recipe. I’ve even made this stuffed spaghetti squash with leftover marinara from a restaurant. You can also just use a can of diced tomatoes.
- Cheeses – I use a blend of ricotta and grated parmesan for that creamy lasagna feel, and shredded mozzarella for a melty topper. Provolone or even Italian cheese blend works nicely on top. I also used blended cottage cheese instead of ricotta once when I wanted extra protein.
- Garlic – I prefer fresh for the best flavor, but jarred minced garlic works to save time.
- Italian Seasoning – My homemade blend has oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, marjoram and sage. Feel free to toss in these dried herbs individually or just grab a store-bought blend.
- Olive Oil, Sea Salt, and Black Pepper
How To Make Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
I have step-by-step photos here to help you visualize the recipe. For full instructions with amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card.
- Cook the squash halves. Cut the squash in half with a sharp knife, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt. I roasted spaghetti squash in the oven this time, but feel free to microwave your spaghetti squash if you’re short on time.
- Make the meat sauce. Heat the oil in a large skillet and sauté the garlic until fragrant. Add the ground beef, salt, and pepper, and cook until browned. Finally, stir in the marinara and Italian seasoning, and simmer until thickened.
- Mix the cheese layer. In a large bowl, stir together the ricotta, parmesan, and a splash of oil. When the squash is done, use a fork to release the strands and mix them right into the cheese mixture. Season with salt to taste.
- Assemble and bake. Spoon the cheesy squash mixture back into the shells, top with the meat sauce, and sprinkle mozzarella on top. Bake until the cheese is melted and golden. I like to garnish my stuffed spaghetti squash with basil or parsley.
My Recipe Tips
- You can cut the squash lengthwise or crosswise, and it makes a difference. Cutting lengthwise (like I did here) will make more stable stuffed spaghetti squash boats, but the strands will be shorter. Cutting crosswise will get you longer spaghetti-like strands.
- To get spaghetti-like strands, scrape the squash with a fork, not a spoon. The tines naturally pull it into noodle-like pieces. If you use a spoon, it just scoops and mashes the flesh.
- If your squash strands seem watery, let them sit in a colander for a few minutes or pat dry with a paper towel. It keeps the final dish from turning soupy.
- When stuffing the shells, don’t pack the squash mixture down too firmly. Keeping it loose gives the lasagna layers better texture.
- You can also make multiple layers of squash, meat, and cheese. This is closer to a lasagna vibe, but I usually keep it simple with just one of each layer.
- Feel free to add other veggies, just cook them first. I’m partial to cooked spinach, broccoli, caramelized onions, or sauteed mushrooms with the flavors in these spaghetti squash boats.
Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
My stuffed spaghetti squash boats are cozy, cheesy, and low carb, with layers of beef marinara, creamy ricotta, and melty mozzarella.
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Ingredients
Tap underlined ingredients to see the ones I use.
Spaghetti Squash
Meat Layer
Cheese Layers
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer.
Spaghetti squash
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Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Cook the spaghetti squash in the oven like this.
Meat Layer
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Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add the ground beef. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Cook until browned (about 10 minutes), breaking apart the meat with a spoon or spatula.
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Stir in marinara sauce and Italian seasoning. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes. If it's done before the squash is ready, cover to keep warm.
Cheese Layer
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Meanwhile, stir together the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and a tablespoon olive oil in a large bowl. (The bowl should be large enough to add the spaghetti squash strands later.) Set aside.
Assembly
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When the spaghetti squash is done cooking, take it out of the oven, but leave it on at 425 degrees F (218 degrees C).
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Cut the squash in half lengthwise (if you cooked it whole and it is not cut yet). Place open side up onto the baking pan and use a fork to release strands.
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Transfer the spaghetti squash strands into the large bowl with the ricotta and parmesan cheeses. Mix together. Season with sea salt to taste.
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Stuff the spaghetti squash mixture back into the empty shells on the baking pan. Top with beef marinara mixture. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella on top. (If desired, you can create several thinner layers of each mixture, but I usually keep it simple with just one of each layer.)
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Return the lasagna spaghetti squash boats to the oven for about 10 minutes, until the cheese melts.
LAST STEP: Leave a rating to help other readers, or tag me @wholesomeyum on Instagram. I’d love to hear from you!
Maya’s Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 1/4 cups
- Tips: Check out my recipe tips above to help you cook your squash perfectly, get the best texture, and a couple different ways to assemble this stuffed spaghetti squash.
- Storage: I keep leftover spaghetti squash boats covered in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
- Meal prep: You can cook the squash, meat sauce, and cheese mixture ahead of time and assemble later. Or sometimes I make the whole recipe and store portions in glass containers for easy lunches.
- Reheat: Warm leftovers in the oven at 350 degrees F, or in the microwave.
- Freeze: This stuffed spaghetti squash recipe freezes well, but I recommend removing it from the shells first. Pack the filling into a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
- Note on timing: I based the cook time on cutting the squash in half before roasting and making the meat sauce while it bakes.
📖 Want more recipes like this? Find this one and many more in my Winter Ebook Bundle!
I provide nutrition facts as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see my nutrition policy.
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Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
128 Comments
Cheryl
0This looks amazing will be trying this in the next day or two.
sarah
0This was delightful! My husband and I both enjoyed it and we will definitely be making it again.
Naty
0Tried it and it came out excellent. The whole family approved and wanted more. Even the toddler.
Madeline
0This recipe was absolutely delicious! My parents who don’t always enjoy healthy alternatives, LOVED this. 🙂
Anjuli Alger
0So delicious Just made it!!!
Stephanie LeBlanc
0Great recipe. When frying up the garlic and ground beef, I also added diced onions and diced fresh mushrooms. I didn’t have any crushed tomatoes so I used 2 cans of diced tomatoes and added marinara seasonings. I was able to halve the recipe because it’s only my hubby and me. So I have a half a spaghetti squash to use the strands in another way. Really enjoyed it and a green salad would be a great addition to this. Enjoy!!
Pamela
0I was disappointed w/this recipe. It was easy to put together. I had all the ingredients on hand. My husband is not a fan of spaghetti squash but was will to try it.
We both agreed something was missing. Glad I tried it though – I’ve had it saved for a while. It was nutritious so that’s good.
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Pamela, I’m sorry your family didn’t love this recipe. I have several other spaghetti squash recipes if perhaps it was the lasagna that wasn’t your taste. The following all use spaghetti squash: Buffalo Chicken Casserole, Pad Thai, Chicken Alfredo, and Carbonara.
Sue
0This was delicious! I didn’t miss the pasta at all. I did a bit less ground beef and added a sausage, crumbled! Good thing it is low carb since I went back for seconds. Thanks
Terra
0This turned out really good! I’ve made spaghetti squash before and did not like it. I added fresh oregano to the sauce but other than that no adjustments to the recipe.
Kathy Jarrell
0This was an awesome recipe, quick to make and directions were great, I just love your sight. My husband has been on a low carb lifestyle for about 3 weeks, this recipe was so good, and filled him up! I did have 2 sustitutions, venison and cottage cheese in place of the ricotta. Yum!! This will be a definate go to recipe. Thanks
Meredith
0Have you tried making this a day ahead and then popping it in the oven the evening you want to eat it?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Meredith, That should be fine. I will need to be in the oven a bit longer to heat through and melt the cheese, so keep an eye on it.
CHERYL FAVREAU
0Easy to make, came out delish! I put the squash in the pressure cooker, took 7 minutes. That way its under 30 minutes to make…
Wendy
0I didn’t read it all before I put all the cheese together so the mozzarella is in the mix. I hope it turns out ok?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Wendy, I’m sure it will still turn out fine, just without the layers of cheese throughout.
cecilia mims
0This looks really good, but I think I would find it much easier to serve baked in a casserole dish. Is there any reason not to do that?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Cecilia, You still have to bake the spaghetti squash first, but this dish can absolutely be built in a casserole dish.
P
0Made it and it was great, would be nice to have the recipe without all the other fluff. Seriously had to scroll for days just to get the recipe. I understand folks live to share but seriously clear and concise is super considerate to your reader.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I’m glad you liked the recipe! I try to provide valuable tips and answer questions in my posts, but if you prefer to go directly to the recipe, you are welcome to use the “jump to recipe” button at the top.
Mindy
0What a fabulous recipe.
We loved it!
Rommel Artis
0Yes we made it absolutely outstanding
JD
0I made this for dinner last night – kids got to help with the food prep too! I was skeptical when I reviewed the ingredients, but it was very tasty. In fact, just about every recipe I’ve tried so far has been good.
Angie McIntosh
0This is my favorite low carb meal. I made it as a casserole instead of putting it in the squash bowls. Yummy!
Sherrey
0I made this tonight needed a new idea to help tame my husbands eating habits with Type 1 Diabetes….it’s hard!!….. this is super simple and had a great flavor I would recommend added more seasoning to taste because going by the recipe I lost the flavor of the Italian seasoning so I added more ..but over all an amazingly simple and great tasting meal ♥️
Shirley
0Excellent! The only thing is I did not have an hamburger so I substitute with sausage and added some chopped pepperoni. It was so flavorful!
Jerica
0I started using this recipe last year when I went low carb to lower my blood sugar after an unexpected type 1 diabetes diagnosis. It’s sooooooo good! I am hooked! I more recently learned I have high cholesterol so I made adjustments to meet my lower fat diet. I use ground turkey & low fat cheese. It’s still delicious! Highly recommended!
Anita
0So good!! Thanks for sharing this recipe!!! I used a ground turkey and ground beef blend. Otherwise followed your recipe. Even my picky eater daughter loved it!
Wilhelmina
0This is just what I needed right now – hearty, satisfying and healthy!
Lauree
0This recipe is misleading. If you eat this according to the recipe you must multiply the nutritional info by 3.5, which makes this over 25 g. Carbs. I was disappointed once I read further. Doubtful that I will devote the time to such a high carb dish.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Lauree, I’m not sure why you would multiply nutrition info by 3.5? A serving is 1 cup, and the recipe makes 7 servings.
Anna
0I get it. Lauree was thinking one whole “squash boat” per person. She might not be familiar with how humongous spaghetti squash can be and might have been thinking spaghetti squash are smaller, like the size of a summer squash. Anyway, she can be forgiven for thinking that because the photos and video all show the whole half-squash “boat” as if that was one serving. One photo even has a fork full coming out of the whole boat as if that was a single serving. Would you have photographed someone digging a forkfull out of a full casserole of old style lasagna? Mama would have been so mad if someone stole a forkful out of the family dish.
I had the opposite concern because, knowing how humongous a spaghetti squash can be, I worried it looked like far too big a serving. Indeed, when I did look for servings I was very surprised that out of two halves you got an ODD NUMBER of servings. For ease of serving I just cut each squash boat in quarters, (which ends up with 7/8 of the nutrition info given below the recipe). So, thank goodness I can get carb manager to compute the actual nutrition in 7/8 of a serving.
So, two requests: 1) please put at least one photo of a SINGLE serving with each recipe 2) please repeat the serving size and number of servings per recipe down by the nutrition info (it saves a lot of jumping around and makes things easier and more convenient).
Thanks for another interesting low carb recipe.
Shadi Hasanzadenemati
0We’ve been making this recipe and loving it, thank you!
Karly
0This was such an amazing recipe, I think I finally got my family convinced on spaghetti squash! Thank you for this amazing meal!
Karen
0Thanks so much for posting this delicious recipe! I made it once and enjoyed it, and have been tweaking it to make it just right for my family. I posted my own version on my new website today. Thanks for the inspiration!
Josie
0I made it vegetarian using vegetarian meat crumbles – so yummy it’s been barely a week and we’re having it again because it was sooo good the first time! Our squashes were pretty small so it didn’t make as many servings, but no biggie. 🙂 can’t recommend it enough!!
Jenni
0Made this last night…sooooo good! I think it is even better the next day!!!
Nellie Tracy
0I love delicious low carb meals! This is a great one and a definite favorite!
Shadi Hasanzadenemati
0Thank you for the delicious recipe! My family loved it and we’re planning to make it again!
Irene Torres
0Made this for dinner and it was amazing. But I instead of ground beef I used spicy Italian sausage and still added the same amount of ingredients in the recipe. Very tasty with extra spicy kick to it. I will definitely make this again.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I love to hear that, Irene! Thanks for stopping by!
Lorraine
0I just got done making above recipe.. can’t wait to taste it.. looks just like pic.. thanks
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Glad to hear that, Lorraine! Hope you liked it!
Eunice
0Beautiful recipe. Loved how easy it was, and absolutely delicious. Made a few changes only because it was what I had in the fridge and pantry. My squash was small, so with extra spaghetti strands did some in individual crocks. Awesome results. Thank you ❤️
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am so happy you liked them, Eunice! Please come back again soon!
Jess
0First, I have to say that this was my first time cooking spaghetti squash, but your directions were spot on, so thank you! I had no idea how much one would make, lol! I made two, thinking that one wouldn’t be enough for my family of four… Boy was I wrong! One squash produces SO. MUCH. FOOD.
Now, onto the recipe… This lasagna is AMAZING!! My entire family devoured it, especially my 16 year old. He had 3 bowls for dinner and ate the rest for lunch the next day. Thank you for taking the time to perfect these recipes and share them with us. I look forward to trying many more of them!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am so happy your whole family liked it, Jess! Thanks for stopping by!
Nik
0Made these last night and it was AMAZING!!!! My husband even loved it 🙂
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Yay! So happy you and your husband liked them, Nik!
Nicole Soltis
0How much is the nutritional value for just the meat part? I did 1lb but still 1/2 cup of Rao’s. Can you help?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Nicole, Unfortunately I don’t have the nutrition breakdown for just parts of the recipe. Any online calculator should work by just entering the ingredients there.
Judy
0We try not to eat so much ground beef. Can ground turkey breast be substituted and if so does it change the carbs?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Judy! Yes, you can easily use ground turkey. It shouldn’t change the carb count but it might have less fat. Thank you!
Chris Brackston
0How do you measure 4/21 of a cup? How ridiculous!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Chris, You must have changed the number of servings on the recipe card. Of course not very recipe can easily scale to any number of servings. The original recipe makes 7 1-cup servings and none of them are weird amounts that can’t be measured. I usually recommend just making the entire recipe and storing leftovers. Sometimes selecting a smaller or larger number of servings works out, but sometimes you end up with weird amounts like you discovered.
Chris Brackston
0I did as we are only 2 ! Going to try a smaller squash and just run with it ! Keep up the great work, much appreciated !
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Chris!
Jim H L
0Another winner, we loved it!
we used a small spaghetti squash & it was a lot for the two of us.
Thank you, Maya.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Jim!
Carol
0So one squash, 2 halves, serves 8?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Carol, I usually get about seven servings from this recipe.
Julie Johnson
0Sorry, I cannot eat cheese or sugars so it’s had to find good recipes to suit but you do have some good recipes that I can alter a bit. I’m gluten-free.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Julie, sorry to hear you’re having a hard time finding recipes to suit your needs. I have a keto & low carb support group on Facebook if you’re interested in some extra help. There are lots of supportive people there that like to share their recipes, tips, and tricks. It’s completely free and I hope you’ll join us!
Kim
0Is that serving size correct? seven servings out of one squash and 1/2 lb of ground beef. Sorry, just can’t see how you would serve seven.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Kim, yes, this recipe makes seven 1-cup servings. It is quite filling! If you don’t find it to be enough for you I would recommend adding some extra veggies to your meal.
Casie
0I only got 4 1cup.servings and when I added it to a recipe calculator if showed 12g a carbs per serving! I love this recipe but I’m going to have to change it to be lower carb.