2013 – Gluten Free Living

I absolutely LOVE this Spaghetti Squash with Salsa recipe! I enjoy eating spaghetti squash anyway. I even have several excellent recipes (not published yet). But after making this delicious recipe this will end up being my go-to spaghetti squash recipe in the future!

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The key to this recipe is the salsa (or Pico de Gallo). I really don’t think restaurant or grocery store-purchased salsas will work. You need more texture than the runny, goopy texture most salsas have. Even if you make homemade salsa it would be better that it’s not pureed all the way. This recipe requires some substance and texture rather than looking like spaghetti sauce. While store bought salsas are great used as dipping for chips, they won’t work with this spaghetti squash recipe. Although a chunky Pico de Gallo will probably work fine. Spaghetti Squash with Salsa needs the texture of chunky vegetables as well as the zest from the jalapeno pepper.

I found this recipe at the delightful website: Charles and Kimberly’s Recipes. I’ve been following this blog for almost a year because I love their pictures and the combinations of different foods they make. They are always creating some delicious recipe. They feature a lot of main dish recipes and Tex-Mex-type stuff which I’m trying to learn how to cook well. As soon as I saw Kimberly’s Spaghetti Squash with Salsa recipe I knew I had to try it. Not only did it look appealing but I’m always trying to find new and creative ways to use spaghetti squash and other veggies. This recipe is fantastic!

Spaghetti Squash with Salsa is so filling it’s a great recipe to use for Meatless Mondays. It’s healthy, low calorie, gluten free and vegan. It’s also a wonderful side dish. I prepared it with Grilled Peppered Steaks and it was heavenly. I went back for seconds on the spaghetti squash and didn’t even eat half of my steak! Granted, the steak was large and delicious, too. I’m more of a fruit and vegetable eater than a meat eater, so I gravitate toward recipes like this.

I would highly recommend if you’re going to make this recipe that you try it at least the first time with my Chunky Homemade Salsa recipe. That way you can have an idea of how spectacular this side dish is with a chunky texture. You’ll also the amount of heat from the red pepper flakes and jalapeno pepper that I used. My salsa is more like pico de gallo since it has mostly chunky vegetables and a low ratio of pureed vegetables.

It was not over-the-top spicy hot so that tears start forming in your eyes! I thought it had the perfect amount of heat. Enough that you taste it, but not so much that you start coughing or feel like your throat’s on fire! By all means if that’s how hot you like your Tex-Mex style food than add another jalapeno pepper. I’ve not quite graduated to that level of heat in my eating and dining experience!

This is a refreshing new way to serve spaghetti squash. If you’re trying to use up produce from your garden, or trying to entice your kids to eat their vegetables, then by all means, consider this spectacular Spaghetti Squash with Salsa recipe. You will be so glad you did. Plus, you will be filling your family’s bodies up with lots of antioxidants and other vitamins and minerals that they need at the same time. I can’t rave loud enough about how much we enjoyed Spaghetti Squash with Salsa. I’m already looking forward to the next time I make up another batch of this great stuff!

Spaghetti Squash with Salsa is savory, spicy, succulent, and sensational! In the background is the Chunky Homemade Salsa I used to make this delicious recipe. I was so disappointed when this ran out!

This recipe is rather to easy to make after you make up Chunky Homemade Salsa. And even making my salsa recipe isn’t all that time consuming. 

Spaghetti Squash with Salsa is healthy, very low calorie, gluten free and vegan.

I will have to keep making this frequently because it’s a great meal for lunches or Meatless Mondays.

Here’s what I did.

Bake spaghetti squash. I usually just throw it in the oven on the rack and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. That’s it. I don’t even bother to prick the squash or anything. Remove from oven. Allow to cool a few minutes. Cut squash in half lengthwise as pictured above. Then scoop out the seeds and discard or toast the seeds for another purpose.

Allow a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to heat in a large cast-iron Dutch oven over a low to medium heat. Add the strands of spaghetti squash to the oil and saute a little. If your spaghetti squash is hot like mine was you don’t have to reheat much. If you bake your spaghetti squash ahead of time and refrigerate it, then you’ll need to saute until the squash heats up a little. This may take about 10 minutes. Keep stirring.  I added kosher salt and pepper. Sprinkle as generously as you desire.

I made up a batch of Chunky Homemade Salsa. This is what the salsa looks like. You can see it’s very chunky and not pureed to the degree that most salsas are.

Add two cups of fresh salsa (or Pico de Gallo) to the heated spaghetti squash in the cast-iron Dutch oven. Stir to combine.

Heat through–5 or 10 minutes. That’s it! 

While Spaghetti Squash with Salsa is a great side dish, it’s satisfying enough to be a main dish meal, too–especially for Meatless Mondays. 

Check the salsa after you make it. If your family prefers more heat then add a little more jalapeno pepper. I really liked the flavor of using just one jalapeno pepper and a few red pepper flakes. 

Words can’t describe just how wonderful this recipe tasted. The salsa lifts the blandness of spaghetti squash and gives it that extra zest it needs to be really appetizing. 

I served Spaghetti Squash with Salsa as a side dish with a couple of delicious steaks. I went back for seconds of the squash and could eat only about a third of my steak!

Here’s the recipe.

SPAGHETTI SQUASH WITH SALSA

(Recipe inspired from Charles and Kimberly’s Recipes)

Spaghetti Squash with Salsa

Teresa Ambra

Spaghetti Squash with Salsa is a fabulous Tex-Mex side dish and way to serve spaghetti squash. This recipe uses a homemade salsa (more like pico de gallo) and is absolutely mouthwatering. It's also filling enough to use for Meatless Mondays. Adding Tex-Mex heat to spaghetti squash is mouthwatering and irresistible. Healthy, low calorie, gluten free, vegan.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 minute min

Total Time 16 minutes mins

Course Veggie Side Dish

Cuisine Tex-Mex

Servings 6

Calories 124 kcal

Equipment

• 1 roaster pan to bake spaghetti squash
• 1 sharp knife to cut spaghetti squash in half after baking
• 1 large skillet
• 1 wooden spoon
• measuring spoons
• 1 fork

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 spaghetti squash baked
• 2 cups pico de gallo or very chunky salsa
• 1 tsp. Salt and pepper to taste
• 2-3 tbsp. olive oil

Instructions

 

• Bake spaghetti squash in an oven about 45 minutes to an hour at 350.
• Allow to cool on your counter or stove top for about 15 minutes.
• Cut squash in half.
• Remove seeds and discard.
• Using a fork, scrape all the strands of the spaghetti squash out of the shells.
• Place a cast-iron skillet or other large skillet over low to medium heat; heat olive oil.
• Add spaghetti squash and stir to heat through.
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Add pico de gallo and stir well to combine.
• Heat squash until the pico de gallo is heated through.

Notes

NOTE: If you make spaghetti squash ahead of time and refrigerate it, the squash may take 10 minutes or so to heat up thoroughly.

 

NOTE: See my recipe for Homemade Pico de Gallo and follow the directions for it. That recipe provides about 5 cups of salsa/pico de gallo.

 

NOTE: This recipe is better with Pico de Gallo rather than salsa.

 

Recipe inspired from Charles and Kimberly's Recipes.

 

^© Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen

 

Nutrition

Calories: 124kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 1gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gSodium: 880mgPotassium: 174mgFiber: 2gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 548IUVitamin C: 8mgCalcium: 37mgIron: 1mg

Keyword gluten free, salsa, side dish, spaghetti squash, vegan, vegetable

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

This recipe has to rate as one of my favorites that I’ve tried over the past year. I’ve probably tried about 200 recipes in that time frame! 

If you’re not normally a spaghetti squash lover, this recipe may just change your mind!

Doesn’t Spaghetti Squash with Salsa look wonderful? It sure tasted extraordinary! 

Spaghetti Squash with Salsa is such a satisfying main dish or side dish recipe. For those of you trying to lose weight, you need to include this recipe as one of your healthy choices!

You may also enjoy these delicious recipes!

Spaghetti Squash Parmesan

Spaghetti Squash Gratin

Cinnamon Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti Squash with Salsa

Teresa Ambra

Spaghetti Squash with Salsa is a fabulous Tex-Mex side dish and way to serve spaghetti squash. This recipe uses a homemade salsa (more like pico de gallo) and is absolutely mouthwatering. It’s also filling enough to use for Meatless Mondays. Adding Tex-Mex heat to spaghetti squash is mouthwatering and irresistible. Healthy, low calorie, gluten free, vegan.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 minute min

Total Time 16 minutes mins

Course Veggie Side Dish

Cuisine Tex-Mex

Servings 6

Calories 124 kcal

Equipment

• 1 roaster pan to bake spaghetti squash
• 1 sharp knife to cut spaghetti squash in half after baking
• 1 large skillet
• 1 wooden spoon
• measuring spoons
• 1 fork

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 spaghetti squash baked
• 2 cups pico de gallo or very chunky salsa
• 1 tsp. Salt and pepper to taste
• 2-3 tbsp. olive oil

Instructions

 

• Bake spaghetti squash in an oven about 45 minutes to an hour at 350.
• Allow to cool on your counter or stove top for about 15 minutes.
• Cut squash in half.
• Remove seeds and discard.
• Using a fork, scrape all the strands of the spaghetti squash out of the shells.
• Place a cast-iron skillet or other large skillet over low to medium heat; heat olive oil.
• Add spaghetti squash and stir to heat through.
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Add pico de gallo and stir well to combine.
• Heat squash until the pico de gallo is heated through.

Notes

NOTE: If you make spaghetti squash ahead of time and refrigerate it, the squash may take 10 minutes or so to heat up thoroughly.

 

NOTE: See my recipe for Homemade Pico de Gallo and follow the directions for it. That recipe provides about 5 cups of salsa/pico de gallo.

 

NOTE: This recipe is better with Pico de Gallo rather than salsa.

 

Recipe inspired from Charles and Kimberly’s Recipes.

 

^© Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen

 

Nutrition

Calories: 124kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 1gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gSodium: 880mgPotassium: 174mgFiber: 2gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 548IUVitamin C: 8mgCalcium: 37mgIron: 1mg

Keyword gluten free, salsa, side dish, spaghetti squash, vegan, vegetable

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!