Spaghetti Squash with Tomatoes and Spinach
Discover how you can create this healthy and satisfying spaghetti squash recipe with a slow cooker, a few simple ingredients, and minimal effort.
Spaghetti squash is a nice alternative to pasta—especially for gluten-sensitive folks looking to add some variety to their diet. This recipe pairs the squash with the simple, clean flavors of tomatoes, spinach, and garbanzo beans. The sauce is low in sodium and has no added fat. It’s perfect for a light dinner.
If you want to add a little extra kick to the dish, try sprinkling some of what my family calls “shaker cheese” (aka vegan “parmesan”) on top. Here are a couple of ways to make it.
Vegan “Parmesan Cheese”
I often use a recipe I found on Minimalist Baker. It’s super easy. You just blend the following ingredients together until they become fine crumbs:
- ¾ cup raw cashews
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¾ tsp Himalayan cooking salt
Vegan “Parmesan Cheese” – without Nutritional Yeast
Some people need to avoid nutritional yeast. If you are one of them, try blending these ingredients together instead:
- ½ cup Brazil nuts or cashews
- ½ teaspoon Himalayan cooking salt
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- 2 cloves of garlic
The fresh raw garlic in the second option provides an extra-extra kick! Feel free to adjust the measurements to find the ratio you like best.
Spaghetti Squash Cooking Options
If you are anything like I used to be, the sight of a whole squash might intimidate you. You might be wondering, what the heck do I do with that? Have no fear. Cooking a spaghetti squash couldn’t be easier—especially if you use a slow cooker.
While you can bake it in the oven or use a microwave, those methods require you to cut the squash when it’s hard. However, a slow cooker lets you cook the squash whole and cut it when soft—which is much easier! You just need to be sure the squash will fit in your cooker. My 7-Quart Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker holds an average-size squash nicely. If I get one too large, I can have trouble closing the lid—and a sealed lid is essential to successful slow-cooking.
Spaghetti Squash with Tomatoes and Spinach
Ingredients
- 1 large spaghetti squash
- 28 oz canned whole tomatoes
- 1 tsp. blackstrap molasses
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. dried basil
- 1/2 tsp. dried marjoram
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 cup onion chopped
- 1 cup bell pepper chopped (yellow or orange)
- 8 oz frozen cut leaf spinach
- 15 oz canned low sodium garbanzo beans rinsed and drained
- sea salt and ground black pepper (to taste)
Instructions
Spaghetti Squash
- Scrub spaghetti squash with a vegetable brush under warm water.
- Pierce the top side of the squash with a sharp knife several times and place in slow cooker.
- Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours or until squash feels slightly soft when squeezed with an oven mitt.
- Carefully remove squash from slow cooker and set aside to cool.
Sauce
- While squash is cooling add all remaining ingredients – except garbanzo beans and salt and pepper – to a 5-quart sauté pan.
- Break the tomatoes apart with the end of a stiff spatula and cook on medium high until sauce begins to boil.
- Reduce heat to medium/med-low and continue to cook partly covered for 15 minutes – stirring occasionally.
- Add garbanzo beans and cook partly covered for an additional 15 minutes – stirring occasionally.
Serving
- Cut off the top of squash just below the stem and then slice squash in half lengthwise.
- Scoop out and discard seeds with a spoon, then use a fork to scrape out the spaghetti-like strands of flesh into 4 pasta bowls.
- Top squash with sauce and season with sea salt and ground black pepper to taste.
