I love pasta. Who doesn’t? But if you’re trying to lose weight and looking for places to cut some calories, this can be a huge barrier. Have you seen the actual serving size of a serving of spaghetti for crying out loud? It’s about the size of your fist (the average person’s fist, not someone with hands like the Incredible Hulk)!

I knew I needed a way to get my pasta fix and not break the bank so I started looking for alternatives. Hungry Girl to the rescue, I was introduced to spaghetti squash! After cooking it, you scrape out the strands, which do resemble spaghetti hence the name (imagine that), and dress it any way you like. I love eating it with marinara sauce and some diced chicken or meatballs, mmmmm!

There are several ways to cook spaghetti squash. The method I most often use is to bake in the oven. The most difficult part is cutting the squash in half, but placing the squash whole in the microwave for about 6 minutes makes it much easier to cut (lengthwise). Then after scraping out the seeds, place the halves cut side down on a baking sheet with about a ½ inch of water and bake at 400 for 40 minutes. Once cool enough you can scrape out the strands very easily with a fork!

Another great pasta swap is to sprialize veggies such as zucchini or summer squash. I love my Vegetti! There are two versions, a smaller one that resembles a pencil sharpener (for those of us born before 1985 lol), and then a table top version. Both work well, but I prefer the table top version as it uses more of the squash. I’ve spiralized zucchini, summer squash, apples…and I hear you can also use potatoes and butternut squash, though I’ve not done those myself.

Below are a couple more of my favorite recipes using these pasta swaps, enjoy!

Spaghetti Squash with Grilled Chicken, Broccoli & Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 1 Spaghetti squash
• 2 cup broccoli (can use I bag, steam in microwave)
• Few cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tsp oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 chicken breasts, grilled
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• Pinch salt & pepper

Instructions

1. Cook squash and scrape from rind
2. Sauté garlic in oil 1 minute, add squash, heat few minutes
3. Add 1/4 cup broth, tomato, broccoli, sauté 5 minutes
4. Add chicken, rest of broth, Parmesan cheese
5. Cover & simmer 3 minutes

 

Garlic Parmesan Zoodles

Ingredients

• 2 summer squash
• 2 zucchini
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 pint grape tomatoes
• salt and pepper to taste (I used 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper)
• 7 fresh basil leaves, torn
• 1 Tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
• 1 Tablespoon pine nuts

Instructions

1. Use a spiralizer to slice the zucchini and squash. (I used the large spiral blade.)
2. Mince the garlic, and halve the tomatoes.
3. Heat the olive oil over medium low heat for about a minute.
4. Add the garlic, and reduce heat to low, cooking for one minute (until fragrant).
5. Add the spiralized veggies, and toss to coat with the garlic and oil.
6. Put the lid on, and cook for one minute.
7. Remove the lid, and toss one more time.
8. Replace lid, and cook one more minute.
9. Remove from heat.
10. Add salt, pepper, tomatoes and basil, and toss to combine.
11. Transfer to serving dish, and top with pine nuts and parmesan cheese.
12. Serve at room temperature.