This super easy and satisfying low carb cheesy spaghetti squash skillet will be a huge hit with the entire family! Tender strands of spaghetti squash swimming in a tangy meat sauce and loaded with stringy mozzarella cheese? What’s not to love?!?!
This is the last of my keto spaghetti squash recipe series this week and it’s the hand’s down favorite of the Hungry dudes. I loved them all, but even I can’t deny that the sheer comfort food awesomeness of this cheesy spaghetti squash skillet makes it a real winner!
Like all of this week’s low carb spaghetti squash recipes, this one is super easy – maybe even the easiest, since all you have to do is brown the meat, pour in the sauce and simmer for a bit and then add the cooked spaghetti squash. Top it with a massive amount of mozzarella cheese and even the most die hard pasta fans will have to admit that this cheesy spaghetti squash skillet is a contender.
I prefer to make this cheesy spaghetti squash skillet with my easy keto marinara sauce, but any quality jar sauce will do in a pinch – just make sure that it’s sugar free and you should be OK.
For store bought, my favorite is Rao’s – it costs a little more than mainstream store brands, but is really tasty and free from all the fillers and junk that a lot of cheaper brands contain.
Up to you, those are just my recommendations!
There is a lot of controversy on the best way to cook spaghetti squash, I usually pierce mine all over and microwave them for about 12 – 15 minutes depending on how large they are. It works well for me usually, but every once in awhile I’ll get a mushy one and I’m not sure if it’s overcooked or just a hybrid less stringy squash variety that I might have bought. It’s tasty either way.
You can use whatever your preferred method of cooking is to get tender, stringy strands of spaghetti squash that successfully mimic pasta.
As a final note, this keto cheesy spaghetti squash skillet reheats well all week, making it the perfect low carb lunch option if you have access to a microwave at your work or school!
Cheesy Spaghetti Squash Skillet – Keto & Low Carb
Tender strands of spaghetti squash swimming in a tangy meat sauce and loaded with stringy mozzarella cheese? What’s not to love?!?! Keto, Atkins, Egg Free, Nut Free, Gluten Free
- Yield: 6 servings
- Category: Low Carb Dinner Recipe
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef (85/15)
- 1 1/2 cups easy keto marinara sauce
- 4 cups cooked spaghetti squash
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 cups shredded whole milk mozzarella
- fresh basil or parsley to garnish
Instructions
- Heat a large oven proof skillet and add your ground beef to it.
- Season with salt and pepper and cook 5 minutes, stirring so the beef is in fine pieces rather than large chunks.
- Add the marinara sauce and cook for 3 minutes.
- Add the spaghetti squash and parmesan cheese and stir well to combine.
- Top with the shredded mozzarella.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and turning golden brown.
- Serve garnished with chopped fresh basil or parsley if desired.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6th of skillet
- Calories: 330
- Fat: 23g
- Carbohydrates: 7g net
- Protein: 23g
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We loved it. Great starter dish for those who are skeptical about how good a pasta alternative can be! It was easy to make and the homemade marinara freezes well for next time too.
My squash turned out too firm. Like undercooked pasta. Any tips or is that just the way it is?
I love, love, love spaghetti squash. Unfortunately my family doesn’t share my passion. But this is a great cook go to recipe!
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Hi Mellissa,
I love your site SO much – amazing recipes.
This is one of my all time favorites and I make it for my non-keto family, who love it.
For myself, I was wondering if you have the total carb count available for this recipe – I do total, not net carbs and I see above you have the net carb calc so I assume you arrived at that by calc’ing with the total and fiber. If you could provide total, I would be SO very grateful.
Thanks!
Linda
Am I overcooking the squash if it is too watery. I usually end up straining cooked squash with a cheesecloth, but it destroys the noodle strands. Any suggestions?
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I cut the squash into rings, remove the seeds, and season with salt and pepper (sometimes I drizzle a tbsp of olive oil over the rings as well). Then bake them at 400F for 40 minutes. Comes out great every time – hope this helps!
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@Katie
Possibly, what i do is i cut it in half, gut out the seeds, put about an inch of water in the pan. Before i put the squash in the oven, i rub some olive oil, salt, pepper, and a little bit of garlic. Then i put the spaghetti squash face down (to let the steam cook the inside) then i put it in the oven at 375 for 35 minutes.
I take it out the oven and turn the squash halves over and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes.
I have NEVER had water squash or soggy squash following this method. If its a little too hard, maybe cook for 40-45 minutes but 35 works for me and my hubby and my hubby used to hate squash lol
This looks like a great recipe! Came across this while searching for keto-friendly food. Do you make your own spaghetti squash? How do yo do it?
This was my first time cooking spaghetti squash. I am a fan! It doesn’t get all soggy after a couple days, which is great.
I added a half bunch of lacinato kale because I am a weirdo who actually likes kale. :P Very tasty recipe and so easy. This is definitely going into the rotation.
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Cooked this for dinner tonight. It was a hit! NOM!NOM!NOM! Very easy and filling. Substituted pork sausage for the ground beef. I like spicy food, so I will jazz it up next time, but it is tasty as listed in the recipe
Also made the easy marinara sauce. Another winner.
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This is so easy to make…. I used what I had on hand, very versatile recipe. I had some shortly after I pulled it out of the oven , and it was yummy! But I warned it up hours later, WAY BETTER! So it’s a great left over! Thank you Melissa!
This was SO delicious!! I absolutely love this way of eating. Buying full fat meat, milk, everything, and still losing weight (8 pounds in 7 days!). I made this recipe exactly as written, but as is my usual practice, I did add a couple of things. About 1/4 cup of sliced olives and about 1/8 of a cup of cream cheese.
Question: I was not sure whether to drain off the fat from the meat, but assumed that since this is a high fat meal plan, that draining it was not necessary. It did seem like a lot of grease though, so I did drain about 1/2 of the fat. Can you clarify for me whether it should have been drained at all?
This is a definitely keeper. I am so heartened by the fact that I do not crave any of the crap foods that I was eating – sugar, bread, cereal, etc. And I fee really GREAT, too!
Thank you for your site. It is so great to have these resources when you are wondering what the heck to make to eat.
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Have ground beef thawing to make something similar. Instead of sauce, we use salsa and cheddar cheese. Delicious!
Will one squash be enough for this recipe? Thanks!!
If it’s a large one, then yes it should be plenty!
Yes and you will probably have some left over.
Melissa, you have made me a total lover of spaghetti squash! I love your keto recipes. Found your things on Pinterest and have been a faithful follower ever since. I just wanted to let people know that Aldi’s organic marinara sauce doesn’t have any sugar or weird fillers! I am a single mom and while I would love to make homemade sauce (and occasionally do) the price of that stuff, and the fact that it is organic and has no weird ingredients means that I always have a couple jars on hand. Just thought some people might be interested in knowing that. Keep up the awesome work, Melissa!
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Aww man this looks good! I can’t eat tomato, any suggestions for a different type of sauce to go with this lovely recipe? :)
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Absolutely correct wanted to eat the sauce right out of the blender!!
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Haven’t tried it but I bet alfredo would work.
My family ate baked penne, I ate this cheesy spaghetti squash skillet. AMAZING! I didn’t feel cheated and I took leftovers to work the next day. Still just as good if not better, having marinaded overnight.
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Yum….Just finished the last of the leftovers, which may be a TINY bit better than the first go around! Hubby has declared this his new favorite Keto dish. His other fave is your Cheesy Chili Spaghetti Squash! Honestly, the man just loves cheese. LOL. Anywho, this is delicious and will be made often on our LCHF journey. I used Rao’s Marinara Sauce…because I had some on hand.
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Can you freeze this dish. I only need for 1 person
Anne, I tried freezing a different recipe that had a lot of spaghetti squash in it and it came out all soggy and unpleasant. We couldn’t eat it the texture was so bad.
I’ve cut it up and from zen pieces. Came out fine!
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This looks really good! I’ve been wanting to try spaghetti squash and I’ve tagged a couple of your recipes with it to try. I think this is going to be my first one.
Thank you for sharing with us!
This is a great one to start with Shadow!
Hi. The recipe says five servings; however, the nuttier break down says 1/6 of the recipe. Which is it? Otherwise, this looks tasty!! I have a spaghetti squash and know what I’m going to do with it now!!!
Nutrient…not nuttier! Haha
Thanks for catching that! It’s 6!
This looks amazing. Can I ask what are those cute square pans you used? I love that you made this in individual servings.
I bought these here in Belize, but I’ve seen them in the states too! If you want to do individual servings like this you can also do them in the mini cast iron pans which can be bought in sets in the states! Here’s a 4 pack of lodge cast iron on Amazon!