Cheesy Spaghetti Squash Pizza Casserole
This spaghetti squash casserole is a veggie-loaded take on pizza night. Seasoned ground turkey, pizza sauce, and tender strands of spaghetti squash get mixed with melty mozzarella and Parmesan, then topped with pepperoni and a little extra cheese and all baked together. It’s hearty and scratches that pizza flavor itch… just in a veggie-loaded casserole form.
I didn’t exactly set out to make a spaghetti squash casserole. To be honest, I don’t know if I like spaghetti squash. But this casserole…yeah, I don’t know. She works some kind of weird magic and I love it in THIS form.
I was just trying to use up a spaghetti squash that had been sitting on my counter for… longer than I’d like to admit. I had bought it at the farmer’s market with high hopes and good intentions. At the time, I was still trying to convince myself I loved spaghetti squash as a pasta swap (again, I don’t), but I was craving something cozy and comfort-food-y.
So this recipe kind of came out of those two things colliding. And like a lot of my “let’s just see what happens” dinners… the first version wasn’t quite it. It was a little watery. A little bland. Not bad….but not something I was excited to make again.
But I am also stubborn (my husband can confirm that) and I saw potential in this darn spaghetti squash casserole and I was going to make her shine! So, I went back in and tweaked it. And tweaked again. After making this a bunch of time (and eating more spaghetti squash than I ever thought I willingly would), I realized roasting the squash makes a huge difference and is *key*. It cooks off a lot of the water before it ever hits the casserole (I walk you through this below in the recipe). Also, I leaned into the cheese and seaosnings hard on this one. Spaghetti squash is pretty boring and bland on its own, so as the base for this casserole, I need to add some serious pizza-flavor-boosts to make this something I was excited to eat. But…so worth it. Everything comes together….cheesy, saucy, scoopable…..pizza-y.
Has it made me love spaghetti squash on its own? No, but it helps me to actually eat it in a way I love. So yeah, just me “veggie-load” myself over here.
Because apparently… if it tastes like pizza, I’m in. Every time. 😏
Cheesy Spaghetti Squash Pizza Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 medium spaghetti squash, about 3 pounds before removing seeds
- 2 teaspoons avocado oil , or neutral oil + extra for greasing
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 pound lean ground turkey, I used 93%
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
- 3 cloves garlic, minced, or to taste
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1 ½ cups pizza sauce
- 15-20 pepperonis
- fresh basil for garnish, optional
Instructions
- To cook the spaghetti squash, preheat your oven to 400°F. Carefully cut the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out and discard the seeds. Place the halves cut-side down on a baking sheet coated with oil or lined with parchment paper to prevent it from sticking. Roast for 35–40 minutes, or until the squash is fork-tender and the strands easily pull away with a fork. You can do this step ahead of time and store the cooked squash in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.Once the squash is cooked, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and let the squash cool slightly until it’s safe to handle. Then use a fork to scrape out the strands and transfer to a large bowl.
- While the squash cooks, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for about 3 minutes, or until it starts to soften.
- Add the ground turkey to the skillet along with the Italian seasoning, salt and red pepper flakes. Cook, breaking up the meat as it browns, for about 7 minutes or until fully cooked.
- Stir in the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Add the cooked meat to the bowl with the spaghetti squash, along with the pizza sauce, 1 cups mozzarella, and grated Parmesan. Give it all a good mix until everything is nicely combined.
- Spoon the meat and squash mixture into a lightly greased 9 x13 casserole dish and spread it out in an even layer.
- Bake for uncovered 20 minutes. Remove from oven, stir, and top with remaining 1 mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. Return to oven and cook for 5-7 minutes or until the cheese is melted and starting to turn a golden brown. You can also place it under the broiler for a minute if you want a little golden brown crust top.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes. Garnish with chopped basil, if desired. Enjoy warm!
Yay! I am so glad. Yeah, I am right there with you. I try to love it like pasta…but I don’t. But I do like it in other ways!
This was SO tasty! I even enjoyed the leftovers cold for lunch. 😬
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed!
Was delicious! Will double this recipe next time.
SO glad you enjoyed! And doubling is a great idea. Leftovers are magical