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Spaghetti Squash Casserole – A Vegan Thanksgiving Dish

I am so pumped my Mom is hosting Thanksgiving this year. Last night we came up with the menu and I absolutely can’t wait to share the yummy organic Thanksgiving recipes we are going to make. This is a perfect recipe for a side dish and it might just make the menu – It was something I made on Saturday night because I had a huge organic spaghetti squash on my counter for the last two weeks. Winter squash like this have a ton of nutrition, packed with vitamins and minerals because they have much more time to produce nutrients compared to summer squash. You can also store it longer – sometimes up to 6 months!

Spaghetti Squash is not something everyone knows about – After discovering it – I told everyone about it and they were like “eh!What? When you cook it, it comes out like real spaghetti?” I responded “Like duh, that’s why they call it spaghetti squash”! This is one of the most versatile pasta substitutes available. It has 1/4 of the calories of traditional pasta per cup…meaning you can eat and eat and eat some more. One of my favorite ways to eat this squash – is straight up with homemade spicy tomato sauce and raw goat’s milk hard cheese. Heavenly. See Below –

Back to the recipe – This is my take on traditional yellow squash casserole that is usually made with lots of cream, bread crumbs, eggs and cheese. I used ZERO of these ingredients making it a nutritional powerhouse dish. Hope you love it as much as my husband and I do!

Eat Well Folks!

Food Babe’s Spaghetti Squash Casserole
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Serves: 6 - 8
Ingredients
  • 1 large spaghetti squash
  • 1 cup dry quinoa
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • olive oil for spraying
  • 1 and ½ cups water
  • 5 leaves fresh sage minced finely or ½ tsp dried
  • ⅛ cup spelt or whole wheat flour
  • ½ tsp olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
  • ¼ tsp tumeric
  • ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
  • fresh ground pepper
  • ⅓ cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tsp yellow mustard
Instructions
  1. Topping:
  2. Make quinoa according to package instructions with vegetable broth instead of water
  3. Spaghetti Squash:
  4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  5. Slice spaghetti squash in half and remove all seeds with spoon
  6. Place spaghetti squash face down on large baking sheet, add ½ cup water and cover with foil
  7. Cook spaghetti squash for 45 mins
  8. Once cooked, take a fork and scrap out inside of squash into a large baking dish
  9. Cheese Sauce:
  10. Combine water, flour, ground pepper, red pepper flakes, turmeric, nutritional yeast and mix together to combine and set aside
  11. Heat a pan on medium heat, add olive oil to heat
  12. Sautee garlic for 2-3 mins, making sure not to burn
  13. Add sage and cook lightly until fragrant
  14. Next add the liquid flour & spice mixture to the pan. The mixture should begin to bubble and start to thicken, if not – increase heat
  15. Allow sauce to bubble for about 2-3 mins, and then add lemon juice and mustard and cook another 2 mins
  16. Assembly of Casserole:
  17. Pour cheese sauce evenly over squash in baking dish
  18. Top with quinoa and lightly spray with olive oil
  19. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 mins and broil on high for last 5-10 mins to brown the top
Notes
Makes approximately 6-8 servings. Great as a main dish or side dish for Thanksgiving! Also – this recipe can be made ahead and baked later (for 30-40 mins instead) – A huge time saver! *Cheese Sauce adapted from “Veganomican – The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook” ***Please buy all organic ingredients if possible***

 

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This recipe is also great re-heated in the oven – Thanksgiving leftovers are the best, no?

Would love to hear from you! Like my Facebook Fan Page and say Hello or send me a question!

Sending you lots of good energy!

XOXO,
Food Babe

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23 responses to “Spaghetti Squash Casserole – A Vegan Thanksgiving Dish

  1. I have a spaghetti squash from my latest CSA delivery and I’ve been wondering what to do with it. Great timing!

    1. Sure – It’s super easy …

      Here’s the ingredients:
      8 ripe tomatoes diced (or one large 16 ounce can of whole tomatoes)
      3 cloves garlic minced
      1 large onion chopped
      1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
      1/2 tsp salt
      2 tbsp minced fresh basil
      1tbsp olive oil

      Start by sauteeing onions in olive oil for 5 mins on medium heat
      Once onions are cooked tender, add garlic and sautee 2 more minutes
      Add tomatoes, red pepper, half of basil, and salt and bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer
      Allow tomatoes to cook for at least 10 mins and then smash them with a potato smasher or big fork to make the sauce
      Enjoy!

  2. i’m making this for dinner…can’t wait! are you having a turkey for thanksgiving ? at first, i thought i would not cook one this year….then i rethought…i have roasted a turkey every year (43 years of marriage) how could i break that!!!! i ordered a natural 1 from carlea farms. i had 1 from them last year. i’m gonna make lots of vegan and veggie sides! thanks for all your great tips and recipes!

    1. Yes! I just ordered an organic turkey for my family. I totally agree with keeping the tradition. Wow! 43 years! That’s AMAZING! Congratulations 🙂
      I will be posting my Thanksgiving Plans later this week and recipes I plan to use…. Enjoy the casserole! Let me know what you think!

  3. We made this tonight… it was soo good and definitely a comfort food! Going to play around with it and add sauteed onions and mushrooms… maybe some wilted spinach!

  4. My roommate and I made this tonight! It was my first spaghetti squash experience – I must say I had the same reaction as you “it’s just like spaghetti!!!!”.

    Anyway, even though I forgot to use the veggie broth instead of water for the quinoa, this was delicious! And squash is so filling and delicious. 🙂 we actually added some tomato sauce on top of our individual servings, which was delicious as well! Next time I won’t forget the vegetable broth. 🙂

    Has anyone tried any variations that they have liked? Would definitely be fun to experiment with!

    1. So happy you liked it Ana… I have one sitting on my counter right now… might need to think of a new recipe 🙂

      1. Just one clarification question before I make this again this week! =)

        My roommate made the cheese sauce part last time, but it seemed like it either boiled down too much or we didn’t use enough water. Is the 1.5 cups water ALL used for the cheese sauce, or do you subtract the 0.5 cup that you use in the squash pan (leaving just 1 cup in the cheese sauce)?

        Thanks!

  5. Hi,
    Does anyone know where I can purchase organic nutritional yeast?
    I’ve looked all over for it, but have had no luck as of yet.

    I would really appreciate it!

    1. You should be able to find Nutritinal Yeast at any Co-Op or places like Whole Foods – generally in the bulk section.

  6. My wife & I love spaghetti squash lately but, she’s not crazy about quinoa do you think we could use buckwheat instead?

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