Creamed Spinach with Roasted Spaghetti Squash

It can be hard sometimes for families to come up with new and exciting recipes.  This recipe for Creamed Spinach with Roasted Spaghetti Squash will be a hit with your family.  The great thing about this recipe is that it’s so heart-warming and delicious, it can be eaten as a side dish or as a delicious vegan option for a main dish.

As a mom to a 13 year old, I’m always trying to find ways to slide some veggies onto my daughter’s dinner plate.  The combination of creaminess and contrast with the crunchy topping definitely appeals to my family.  It’s definitely a healthier option in the way of comfort foods.

So the way I came up with this recipe was interesting.  I absolutely love spaghetti squash and had a whole one in the fridge.  I usually just roast it in the oven, use a fork to rake the squash to a spaghetti consistency and have it as a meal.  I also realized I had a bag of spinach in the fridge that really needed to get used up.  Otherwise I was going to have to toss out the spinach and I hate doing that.  So I decided to use up both the spaghetti squash and the spinach in the same dish…afterall, what did I have to lose?

As a little background on spaghetti squash, it’s very low in fat with only .06g per 1 cup and although it has 7g of carbohydrates, it has 1.5 grams of fiber.  So if you are following a carb restrictive diet, your actual intake of carbs from the spaghetti squash is only 5.5 per cup.  That’s awesome!

Spaghetti squash is easy to make!

All you really have to do to roast spaghetti squash is slice it in half, sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper.  I turn the squash cut side down on a baking pan and just roast it until it’s tender.  That’s exactly what I did in this recipe, except I combined it with a creamed spinach recipe.

When roasting spaghetti squash I always line my sheet pan with a silicone pan liner.  It prevents anything from sticking to the pan and makes for an easy cleanup.

Cooking Fresh Spinach

Fresh spinach usually comes in large bags.  You may look at the bag of spinach and think it’s way more than you need.  In actuality, when spinach cooks down, it shrinks down a lot.  In fact it shrinks so much, you could have a 1-2 lb. bag and only end up with a couple of cups of cooked spinach.

Some spinach comes pre-washed and ready to use.  If your spinach isn’t pre-washed, rinse it under cool water and dry it as much as possible on a kitchen towel or between some paper towels.  Spinach gives off some liquid, so you don’t want to add any more liquid than may be necessary depending on your recipe.

Creamed Spinach with Roasted Spaghetti Squash

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Ingredients

  

• 1 16oz Bag Fresh Spinach
• 1 whole Spaghetti Squash
• 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
• 2/3 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1/2 large Onion
• 1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
• 2 tbsp. Olive Oil
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
• 1/4 tsp. Granulated garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. Cracked Black Pepper
• 1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
• 1/4 tsp. Melted Unsalted Butter

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Slice spaghetti squash with a heavy duty knife lengthwise
• Scoop out seeds from spaghetti squash
• Brush spaghetti squash with olive oil on the inside only.
• Sprinkle squash with salt and pepper to taste.
• Turn spaghetti squash cut side down on lined baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees until tender.
• To check if the squash is cooked, turn one slice face up and pierce with a fork. If the squash is fork tender, it is cooked.
• Remove squash from oven and allow to cool completely. Once the spaghetti squash cools off completely, use a fork to rake up the flesh. You'll note it looks just like spaghetti, thus it's name.
  
• Dice onions. I like mine cut chunky but you can cut your slices smaller if you choose.
• In large saute pan on medium heat, sprinkle pan with a little olive oil. Add onion and saute until almost tender and translucent.
  
• When the onion is almost cooked, add fresh spinach to the same pan the onion is cooking in. You may need to add spinach slowly because it takes up so much space in the pan. Once the spinach cooks down a bit, you can add remaining spinach.
• Sprinkle the spinach with salt, garlic powder and fresh cracked black pepper. Mix the spinach until it cooks down completely.
  
• Lower heat slightly and add heavy cream to cooked spinach.
• Sprinkle nutmeg into spinach mixture.
• Place heat at it's lowest setting and sprinkle in grated parmesan cheese. Note if your heat is too high, the parm will get stringy.
• Add the spaghetti squash to the spinach mixture and gently toss to combine.
  
• Pour the spinach and spaghetti squash mixture into a oven safe baking dish.
• Melt butter in microwave and mix in panko breadcrumbs. You can also add in a little parmesan cheese to the panko mix if you'd like.
  
• Sprinkle panko mix over the entire creamed spinach and spaghetti squash dish.
  
• Place baking dish in 350 degree oven and bake until golden brown.
  

Notes

Cooking with parmesan cheese is easy but you always need to be mindful of your cooking temperature.  If the cheese get hot too quickly, it will turn into a stringy mess.  So once you begin to add in your parm, make sure you have the temperature down to a low cooking temperature for best results.

Keyword Spaghetti Squash, Spinach

Whether you’re enjoying this as a side dish or scooped into a bowl as a delicious main entree, you really can’t go wrong.  This is comfort food at it’s best and I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does.