How to Bake Spaghetti Squash in the Oven

Spaghetti squash is a vegetable that is readily available year-round. If you haven’t tried baking some in the oven before, you should! It’s a delicious and easy way to add more vegetables to your diet. Pick one up at the grocery store. It will stay good on your countertop for a week or 2 until you are ready to give it a try.

Baking spaghetti squash in the oven is easy. Here’s how you do it.

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds.
3. Place the squash cut side down on the parchment line baking pan.
4. Bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes
5. Remove the pan from the oven, and flip the squash over to the cut side to cool.
6. Take a fork and gently pull the flesh of the squash, starting along the edges, to create spaghetti-like strands.

It’s that easy!

How to Pick Out a Good Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti Squash is available in most grocery stores. So how do you pick out a ripe one?

The spaghetti squash will be pale yellow in color. The skin is smooth and the squash is relatively heavy compared to its size. The skin will have some imperfections, but nothing should be squishy. Squishy anything on the skin would indicate that the squash is bad.

A good spaghetti squash will always smell fresh when you cut into it too. It reminds me of the smell of carving a pumpkin, only milder. If you cut open a spaghetti squash and there are a few sprouted seeds (this has happened to me before), the squash is still okay as long as the smell is good and the squash flesh is firm.

How to Cut Spaghetti Squash

There are 2 ways to cut Spaghetti Squash

1. Cut the spaghetti squash in half across the middle so that the cut ends are circular. This is the best way to cut the squash if you want to have long “spaghetti” like strands. It’s really like spaghetti too! If you are baking several squashes at a time, they won’t take up as much space on a baking pan either.
2. Cut the spaghetti squash lengthwise. The cut end will be an oval shape. The squash will be equally delicious if you cut it like this. Maybe you break your spaghetti in half when you cook it! For shorter strands of squash, this is the way to cut it.

After you cut the spaghetti squash in half, be sure and remove the seeds. Just take a spoon and scoop them out.

How to Know when Spaghetti Squash is Cooked

To bake the spaghetti squash in the oven, just place the cut side of the squash down on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. It only takes 35-45 minutes. You know the squash is cooked when you can easily pierce it with a sharp knife. The baked squash will be browned along the edges.

After the spaghetti squash has baked in the oven, flip the squash over on the pan so that the cut side is facing up. Let it cool. Once the squash has cooled take a fork and gently pull the flesh of the squash, starting along the edges, to create the strands of “spaghetti”.

What to Serve on Spaghetti Squash

The taste of spaghetti squash is very mild and slightly sweet which makes it very versatile. You can serve spaghetti squash as a side dish with a little olive oil or vegan butter and a little salt and pepper.

Since spaghetti squash actually looks like long strands of spaghetti, it’s fun to serve with tomato marinara sauce or pesto. My personal favorite is to serve the spaghetti squash with vegan arugula pesto. It’s delicious.

Baked spaghetti squash is also good in soups, salads, and casseroles.

How to Reheat Spaghetti Squash

Why not bake up an extra spaghetti squash or 2?  You can store it in the refrigerator for 3-5 days and reheat it easily so that you can enjoy it again. 

There are 3 ways to reheat spaghetti squash

1. In the microwave– Just pop the spaghetti squash in the microwave for a minute or so (depending on how much you are reheating) and add your sauce or topping. This is the easiest way to reheat spaghetti squash in my opinion, and how I always reheat it.
2. On the stovetop– In a pan, add a bit of water, and broth and warm up the spaghetti squash on the stovetop. If you are planning on topping the squash with a marinara or other kind of sauce, you can heat the squash up in the sauce. You’ll need to eyeball the amount, depending on how much squash you are reheating. You don’t want to add too much liquid which will make the reheated squash soupy unless you like it this way!
3. In the oven– You can also reheat spaghetti squash in the oven, although this isn’t the most convenient way in my opinion. Just spread out the spaghetti squash on a parchment-lined pan (like you did when you baked the whole squash) and reheat it in a 400-degree oven for 15-20 minutes or so. Just keep an eye on it, and the length of time depends on the amount of squash you want to reheat.

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