Spaghetti Squash "Mac and Cheese"
Try this Spaghetti Squash Mac and Cheese recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Spaghetti Squash Mac and Cheese recipe, or contribute your own.
- 3/4 tsp salt
- red pepper flakes to taste
- 1/2 tsp onion or garlic powder
- 1 large spaghetti squash (4 lbs)
- 3 tbsp butter or coconut oil*
- 3 tbsp whole wheat or spelt flour**
- 2 cups milk of choice (i used unsweetened almond milk)
- pinch ground black pepper
- 1 cup (4 oz) any hard cheese shredded (i used mozzarella)
- Carbohydrate 0.032405 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0.00163 g
- Fiber 0.01325 g
- Protein 0.005475 g
- Saturated Fat 0.00049 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (0g)
- Sodium 0.022 mg
- Sugar 0.019155 g
- Trans Fat 7.00000000000002E-05 g
- Calories 0 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 375 F degrees F.
- Wash squash, cut in half lengthwise and remove seeds with a spoon.
- Punch randomly with a fork, place cut side down on a baking sheet lined with unbleached parchment paper and bake for 40-50 minutes.
- Remove squash from the oven, let cool until it's safe to the touch and separate into strands with a fork.
- Cut into 2– strands using kitchen scissors.
- Set aside.
- In the meanwhile, preheat medium pot or dutch oven on low-medium heat and melt butter or oil.
- Whisk in flour until small lumps form.
- Add milk and keep whisking until smooth.
- Add salt, onion powder and pepper; whisk and let simmer for about 3-4 minutes or until sauce has slightly thickened.
- Add cheese and whisk again until smooth.
- Add squash and mix gently with a spoon to combine.
- Cover and let squash warm through for about 5 minutes.
- Serve hot.
Operating with a single four-pound squash requires managing its exceptionally high water content before it ever meets a dairy-based sauce. Unroasted squash releases moisture continuously, which instantly breaks a delicate cheese emulsion into a greasy puddle if the strands are not properly drained after fork-shredding. Piercing the skin deeply with a fork allows internal steam to escape during the thirty-minute roasting window at 375 degrees Fahrenheit, preventing the flesh from becoming waterlogged while concentrating its natural sweetness. Whisking flour into melted butter over low-medium heat until small lumps form creates a proper blond roux, which acts as the crucial thickening agent for the two cups of milk added subsequently. Simmering that béchamel base for three to four minutes eliminates any raw flour taste before the hard cheese goes into the pot. While dairy provides traditional richness, substitution ratios allow whole-wheat flour to be swapped for spelt flour at a one-to-one measure, and coconut oil replaces butter seamlessly for plant-based adaptations without altering the structural integrity of the sauce. Folding the prepared strands gently into the smooth cheese mixture and covering the pot for five minutes ensures the internal temperature equalizes completely.
