How to Cook Spaghetti Squash: The Easy Way, So There are No Excuses!
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When it comes to eating healthier, most people think of cutting carbs. But there are so many other factors to consider. For example, how you cook your food can significantly impact its nutrition. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut when trying to cook healthy foods because they often require new methods and ingredients. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to prepare nutritious foods without sacrificing taste or losing too much time in the kitchen. One great example is cooking with spaghetti squash instead of regular pasta. Depending on where you live, spaghetti squash may be hard to find in the fall and winter months when it’s most abundant. You can typically find it in the produce section with other squashes or at the end of an aisle marked either “pumpkin” or “winter squash” that also has orange-colored gourds as well as acorn squash, which is larger and green-orange. Once you get home from the store, read these tips for how to cook spaghetti squash quickly and easily:
The easy way to cook spaghetti squash
The best way to cook spaghetti squash is to bake it. To do so, preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Place your whole spaghetti squash on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake it for 40 minutes until you can easily pierce it with a fork, and it is soft. This works best when you’re only cooking one squash or if you have a small squash. For larger squashes, cut it in half lengthwise and then bake it.
Cutting it in half lengthwise allows more of the surface to come into contact with the heat in the oven. This allows the squash to cook more quickly and evenly, so there’s no risk of burning or having one side finish before the other. And since the heat is distributed more evenly, it also helps to avoid undercooking the squash inside.
Cut in half lengthwise and bake.
Another easy way to cook spaghetti squash is to cut it in half lengthwise and bake it. To do this, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the two halves of squash cut-side on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake it for 30-40 minutes until you can easily pierce it with a fork, and it is soft. This works best when you’re only cooking one squash or if you have a small squash. For larger squashes, bake it whole.
This method is similar to baking the squash whole but makes it easier to scoop out the inside once it cooks. Plus, it makes serving easier, especially if you use it as a side dish.
Microwave it for 2 minutes per cup of squash
If you want to cook a small amount of spaghetti squash, you can microwave it for two minutes per cup of squash. Microwave it in a covered bowl with a tablespoon of water. Place the squash in a covered bowl with a tablespoon of water to do this. Microwave it for two minutes per cup of squash. Then, let it sit for 10 minutes. This is a quick and easy way to cook a small amount of spaghetti squash, but it does have some disadvantages. Microwed spaghetti squash can have a slightly different texture than baked squash. It may also have a different flavor.
Try a different preparation method for each recipe.
You don’t have to use the same cooking method every time you use spaghetti squash. Sometimes the taste of one preparation will be better than another. You can also use different practices depending on the recipe you are making. For example, if you make spaghetti squash with a cream sauce, it will taste better if you bake it instead of microwaving it.
If you are cooking spaghetti squash with a light sauce, like a tomato sauce, then it won’t make a difference which method you use. If you are cooking spaghetti squash with a heavy sauce, like a cream sauce, it is better to bake it because microwaving it will make the sauce too thin.