This Million Dollar Spaghetti Squash is a dinner recipe the whole family will love! This baked spaghetti squash casserole is pure comfort food full of flavor and cheesy goodness. No one will even miss the pasta!
I have a recipe from 2016 for million dollar spaghetti on my blog, and it continues to be a favorite! Now that I love spaghetti squash, I had to make a spaghetti squash version, and it is just as delicious as the pasta recipe with added veggies.
Tonia’s Notes
I first learned about spaghetti squash at an in-home tasting party that a friend hosted. It’s fascinating to see the spaghetti-like strands inside the squash the first time someone cuts into it!
We use it to make chicken alfredo spaghetti squash, and my whole family loves it! It’s a great way to enjoy some of our favorite dishes and also eat more vegetables.
How To Make
Meat Sauce
Brown the ground beef with the minced onions, seasoned salt, and black pepper. Drain the excess grease. Stir in the pasta sauce and set aside.
Alfredo Sauce
Bring the heavy cream, minced garlic, and black pepper to a simmer over medium heat. Add the cream cheese and butter. Stir in the shredded parmesan, one bit at a time, until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside.
Assemble Casserole
Spread half of the spaghetti squash in a greased 9×9 pan. Pour the alfredo sauce over the spaghetti squash. Top with the remaining spaghetti squash and spread the meat sauce over it.
Bake
Top with the shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350°F degrees for 35-45 minutes until the mozzarella on top is golden and the sauce is bubbling.
Make Ahead and Storage
- Make Ahead: You can assemble the casserole ahead of time and store it in the fridge overnight. Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking it the next day.
- Refrigerator: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Freezer: You can freeze leftovers in an airtight container for 1-2 months.
Recipe Tips and FAQs
- Want to go meatless? Skip the ground beef and just use pasta sauce.
- Don’t want to use ground beef? Substitute with ground chicken.
- Can I use store-bought alfredo sauce? Yes, you can substitute store-bought for homemade alfredo sauce.
- How do you make spaghetti squash? You can find my microwave spaghetti squash recipe here and my recipe for making spaghetti squash in an instant pot here.
- How much spaghetti squash do you get from one cooked spaghetti squash? It depends on the size of the spaghetti squash. I’ve found that I typically get about 2 1/2 cups from the ones I buy.
- Don’t like spaghetti squash? Use spaghetti noodles instead.
Million Dollar Spaghetti Squash
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups cooked spaghetti squash
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Meat Sauce
- 1/2 lb ground beef
- 2 teaspoon minced onion
- 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 12 oz pasta sauce
Alfredo Sauce
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 oz cream cheese
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef with the minced onions, seasoned salt, and black pepper. Drain the excess grease. Stir in the pasta sauce and set aside.
- Bring the heavy cream, minced garlic, and black pepper to a simmer over medium heat. Add the cream cheese and butter. Stir in the shredded parmesan, one bit at a time, until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Spread half of the spaghetti squash in a greased 9×9 pan. Pour the alfredo sauce over the spaghetti squash. Top with the remaining spaghetti squash. Spread the meat sauce over the spaghetti squash. Top with the shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350°F degrees for 35-45 minutes.
CEM says
This is soooo good .I’ve made it several times exactly as written except I double it because it’s even better as leftovers.
Carri L says
Most keto main dishes do NOT impress me. But this is a keeper! Even my husband loved it and thought it tasted like lasagna. I doubled the meat to 1 pound, used a ground beef pork combination, increased the spaghetti squash to about 3 1/2 cups and was generous with the mozzarella on top. NICE!
Karen M Micheletti says
Don’t know what I did wrong. Very watery. It actually gagged me.
Chaz says
This is phenomenal! The second time I made it I used spicy sausage and that added a fun kick. Also, I broil for 5 minutes after the cooking time to crisp the cheese top. Thank you so much for sharing!
Janet says
I’m just here to say I LOVE how you give so many options to change up the recipe!! So many bloggers seem offended if you want/need substitutes. You warn people it won’t be the same but you give so many great tips.
Blog on!
Janet
karen says
HOLY MOLY! THIS IS AMAZING. I made it for xmas to keep on track with my low carb lifestyle. wow this is out of this world. I doubled everything except for the alfredo. I kept it at the regular amounts to save on calofies and to not make it too creamy. and it was amazing. It reminds me of a butternut squash lasagna from Giada delaurentis. Im going to blend basil into the sauce the next time and I bet it’ll taste just like it. so delish!
Yummy says
We had no leftovers! Maybe next time I will double the recipe.
Erin says
This is a great recipe. I used the vegetarian version and had this while my picky family ate regular lasagna. I did not feel left out! Loved the Alfredo sauce. This is a great recipe!
Tonia says
That is fabulous! I’m happy to hear that you enjoyed it!
Kelsie says
This might be a stupid question, but does the spaghetti squash need to be cooked before putting it into the 9×9 dish?
Tonia says
Hi Kelsie!
Yes, it does have to be cooked first. Spaghetti squash is hard and softens as it is cooked allowing you to get the “spaghetti” strands. You can find my instructions for how to cook spaghetti squash in the microwave here: https://www.thegunnysack.com/cook-spaghetti-squash-microwave/
Happy cooking!
~Tonia
Deb says
We loved this recipe!!! It’s going to be one of my go-to recipes from now on! The squash was so easy cooking in microwave.
Deb says
We loved this recipe!!! It’s going to be one of my go-to recipes from now on! The squash was so easy cooking in microwave.
Kayleigh Duggan says
Oh. My Gosh.
This is one of the top 3 favorite low carb recipes I have ever made. I added 1/2 lb. hot sausage and mushrooms to the meat sauce and used one diced onion in place of the minced onion and holy WOW this was just heavenly. Even my non-low carb family members scarfed it down!
I already can’t wait to eat the leftovers for lunch today. THANK YOU Tonia for this now staple in my weekly dinner rotation!!
Hannah says
How big is a serving size?
T says
This is the best EVERR!! Even my husband who typically won’t eat spaghetti squash absolutely loved it.
Thanks Tonia!