Spaghetti squash is an acquired taste, but if you like it, you can do so much with it. My husband isn’t a fan so when I make a spaghetti squash dish, I’ll also make noodles for him. This recipe gives you instructions for both because, hey–it’s not uncommon for someone to not like spaghetti squash.

A lot of pasta dishes I make end up using sauces I have in the pantry and aren’t planned or I’ll make them from scratch. I always have marinara and pesto on hand. I try to have alfredo in my pantry, but out of those three, alfredo is one I am usually lacking. Shockingly, I had alfredo in my pantry so that’s what we used in this! I like baking meatballs in the oven over the skillet, but that’s just my preference. I give instructions on cooking them in the oven here, but if you prefer the skillet, do that!

I walk through how to prep the spaghetti squash below too so that adds quite a bit of time to the cooking time listed below. If you have the squash already prepped then that cuts an hour out of your cooking time.

Italian Meatballs with Spaghetti Squash

Prep time (including spaghetti squash): 1 hours and 15 minutes | Cooking time: 45 minutes | Total time: 2 hours

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 1 lb Italian sausage
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 1 tbs minced garlic
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tbs oregano
• salt and pepper

Spaghetti Squash

• 1 spaghetti squash
• olive oil
• salt
• garlic powder
• onion powder

Other

• spaghetti noodles (amount depends on how many servings)
• 1/2 package of mozzarella pearls
• 6 oz + 4 tbs pesto
• 2 cups + 3 tbs alfredo sauce
• broccoli, steamed

Recipe

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Cut the spaghetti squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Coat the inside of the squash with olive oil, salt, garlic powder and onion powder. Place it face down on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil and bake at 400 for 50 minutes.
• Once your timer goes off, fork up the spaghetti squash into noodle-like pieces and put into a glass bowl, set aside.
• In a bowl, combine the sausage, eggs, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, paprika onion powder, oregano and salt and pepper to make the meatball mixture.
• Roll the mixture into 1-inch balls and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
• While those are baking, cook the spaghetti noodles and steam the broccoli if that’s not done yet. Drain once done.
• Grab two saucepans, dump one side of the squash into one pan and noodles into the other pan. I use one side of the squash because it’s just for me. The below instructions for the squash are for 1 to 2 servings. Double the recipe if cooking more.

Squash Recipe

• In the squash pan, add 4 tbs of pesto and 3 tbs alfredo sauce. Stir until combined and let it cook for a little bit on low heat. Add in a couple spoonfuls of broccoli, a handful of meatballs and a handful of mozzarella pearls. Done!

Noodles Recipe

• In the noodle pan, add 6 oz of pesto and stir until all of the noodles are coated. Then add in the 2 cups of alfredo sauce and let it cook for a little bit until it’s bubbly. Add in the remaining broccoli, meatballs and mozzarella pearls. Stir until combined and serve. Yum!

XO, Rach