Home / Recipes / Dinner / Beef / Million Dollar Spaghetti Squash Casserole
Net Carbs:8
1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes
Cheesy
Karly Campbell
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"I made this Million Dollar Spaghetti Squash casserole for my husband last night and he just about finished the entire 9x13 pan - It was delicious! Most of the ingredients in this recipe were things I had on hand - always a win! Popped the spaghetti squash in the oven to cook while I walked the dogs. Put it all in the casserole dish and popped it in the oven for 20 minutes. Healthy, quick, and delicious!" – Melissa K
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We turned our favorite million dollar spaghetti into a low carb meal! This spaghetti squash casserole is cheesy, hearty, and a major family favorite. Just 8 net carbs serving.
One of the things I love most about this time of year is the whole comfort food situation.
People don’t seem to like casseroles in the dead of summer, but they are 100% totally acceptable the minute it starts to cool off.
Sure, I miss the sunshine and my pool, but did you take a close look at this cheesy spaghetti squash casserole? Doesn’t it look dreamy?
One of my favorite pasta recipes is million dollar spaghetti so I took the idea and swapped out spaghetti squash for traditional pasta.
Total win!
This is probably one of the best spaghetti squash recipes I’ve made yet, but be sure to try out our spaghetti squash carbonara and spaghetti squash alfredo!
Table of Contents
Ingredient Notes:
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Spaghetti Squash – A ripe spaghetti squash should be firm with a golden yellow or dark yellow color. Pick one that feels heavier than it looks for the best taste.
Ground Beef – I’m using lean ground beef in this meaty million dollar spaghetti squash casserole! If you want to mix things up feel free to use a different type of meat like ground sausage, chicken, or turkey.
Sugar-Free Marinara–You can use either a homemade marinara or a store bought. We love Rao’s Marinara! It’s perfect for Italian recipes like this spaghetti squash casserole, and we love it for low carb pizza! You’ll mix it with the ground beef to make a meat sauce.
Cream Cheese Mixture – When you make a million dollar casserole you know it’s going to be rich, creamy, and cheesy! You’ll mix together some cream cheese, sour cream, and parsley to make the center layer of the spaghetti squash casserole.
Mozzarella – You’ve got to top this casserole with something, so why not more cheese? Some grated mozzarella is perfect for topping. Parmesan would work too!
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They have monthly or yearly plans.Check it out here.
Why We Love This Recipe:
- It’s not quite the same as real spaghetti, but it’s a very good dupe and it satisfies my pasta cravings!
- The creamy cheesy center is unreal. So rich and adds the perfect decadence to this keto spaghetti!
- I love when I can make a meal the whole family loves and this one is always a hit! It’s a surefire way to get kids to try spaghetti squash.
How To Make Spaghetti Squash:
- Prepare – To start, you’re going to cut a spaghetti squash in half. This probably sounds like an easy task, but if you’ve ever worked with spaghetti squash before you’ll know that you need to bring your muscles and a sharp knife to this game.
Spaghetti squash are HARD on the outside. Dig that knife in (carefully!) and cut all the way around. You can do it, I believe in you. 😉 Finally, scoop out the seeds!
- Bake – Drizzle some olive oil on the inside of the squash, sprinkle with some salt, and place it flesh side down on a prepared rimmed baking sheet. Roast it for about an hour.
- Spaghetti Squash – When the squash is cool enough to handle, use a fork to scrape long strands of squash out.
If you go lengthwise down the squash you’ll get short strands of spaghetti. If you go across the width of the squash, you’ll get long strands. It’s kind of counter-intuitive, but just play with it. It all tastes the same either way.
How To Make Low Carb Meat Sauce:
- Ground Beef – To begin you’ll brown up your ground beef (or whatever type of ground meat you prefer) and then dump in your favorite low carb marina.
I prefer Rao’s and use it almost exclusively when making keto spaghetti sauce. There are only 4g net carbs per 1/2 cup serving. You can find it at most any grocery store, usually up on the top shelf. It’s a little pricey, but it’s seriously the best!
- Cream Cheese Mixture: Let your meat sauce simmer away while you get to work on the million dollar aspect of this recipe: dairy goodness! Add some cream cheese, sour cream, and fresh parsley to a small bowl and stir until well combined. This mixture is so creamy and amazing.
The traditional million dollar spaghetti calls for cottage cheese as well, but it adds a fair amount of carbs so I skipped it. If you have room in your carb allowance, go ahead and add a 1/2 cup of cottage cheese to this mixture. You won’t regret it!
How To Assemble Spaghetti Squash Casserole:
- Assemble – Add half of the spaghetti squash noodles to the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Top that off with half of the meat sauce and then spread on all of the cream cheese mixture. Doesn’t that look amazing??
- Top – Next, add the final layers of spaghetti squash and the keto meat sauce and top that all off with some grated mozzarella and a little parsley.
- Finish – Pop this in a hot oven for 20 minutes to allow the cheese to get all warm and melty. I like to serve this with a big side salad topped with my homemade ranch dressing. This cheesy casserole will go well with anything green, like these roasted green beans!
Quick & Easy Spaghetti Squash:
We like baking the spaghetti squash for this recipe since you’ll be using the oven anyways, but there are a couple other methods that are a bit faster! You can prepare the spaghetti squash any way you like for this recipe, and then continue with adding the meat sauce and cream cheese mixture.
- Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash – This is the fastest method! Perfectly tender spaghetti squash in just a few minutes.
- Air Fryer Spaghetti Squash – It tastes similar to roasting spaghetti squash in the oven, but it takes only half the time!
Now that you are a pro at making spaghetti squash, you’ll want to check out some of my other low carb recipes that use it!
- Chicken Spaghetti Squash Casserole
- Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Bacon
- Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs
- Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash
- Garlic Parmesan Spaghetti Squash
FAQs:
How to store spaghetti squash?
You can keep any leftovers stored in the fridge for 3-4 days. You can reheat the spaghetti squash casserole in the oven.
How to cut spaghetti squash?
Carefully! If you’ve never cut one before you’ll be surprised at how hard the exterior of the squash can be. You will need a sharp knife. Cut all the way around the spaghetti squash length-wise until it splits in half.
How many carbs are in spaghetti squash?
When baked up into this rich, creamy million dollar spaghetti squash casserole each serving is only 8 net grams!
What does spaghetti squash taste like?
Spaghetti squash has an earthy, sweet flavor that pairs well with many different ingredients. It has more texture than a noodle, but it works well as a replacement in many pasta dishes.
MORE LOW CARB FAVORITES!
- Low Carb Chicken Casserole: Made with cauliflower rice, broccoli, and chicken!
- Zucchini Pizza Boats: Pepperoni on mine please, but you can add any of your favorite toppings!
- Buffalo Chicken Meatballs: We eat these for dinner, but they’re fun for game day too!
- Keto Cabbage Rolls Recipe: None of the work, all of the flavor in these unstuffed cabbage rolls!
- Cheesy Cauliflower Bake: This is a simple low carb side dish made extra easy with an air fryer!
- Keto Fried Zucchini: The perfect low carb appetizer or snack!
Recipe
Million Dollar Spaghetti Squash Casserole
Spaghetti squash casserole with a creamy cheesy filling!
4.61 from 118 votes
Print Pin
Prep20 minutes minutes
Cook1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes
Total1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 1 spaghetti squash 2-3 pounds
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 pound ground beef
- 24 ounces marinara store bought or homemade
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella
Instructions
For the squash:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a rimmed baking sheet with non-stick spray.
Cut the spaghetti squash in half length-wise. Scoop out the seeds and discard. Drizzle the inside of the squash with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
Place spaghetti squash flesh side down on the prepared baking sheet at bake for 1 hour or until fork tender.
Use a fork to scrape out long strands of squash, scraping across the width of the squash.
For the meat sauce:
Brown the ground beef over medium heat in a large skillet.
Drain the grease and add the marinara to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes over low heat to heat through.
For the cream cheese mixture:
Add the cream cheese, sour cream, and parsley to a small mixing bowl and stir well to combine.
To assemble:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick spray.
Place half of the spaghetti squash in the prepared baking dish.
Top the squash with half of the meat sauce and all of the cream cheese mixture.
Add the remaining spaghetti squash followed by the remaining meat sauce.
Sprinkle on the grated mozzarella.
Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and casserole is hot.
Serve immediately.
Tips & Notes:
Scrape the spaghetti squash length-wise for short strands of squash or width-wise for long strands of squash.
You can use any type of ground meat you prefer for the meat sauce. A mix of sausage and beef is delicious, too!
Nutrition Information:
Calories: 413kcal (21%)| Carbohydrates: 10g (3%)| Protein: 21g (42%)| Fat: 35g (54%)| Fiber: 2g (8%)| Net Carbs: 8g (16%)
Author: Karly Campbell
Course:Main Course
Cuisine:American
Keyword:casserole, keto, low carb
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Reader Interactions
4.61 from 118 votes (27 ratings without comment)
Leave a Review
Mercedes says
I love this recipe so much(: Besides being delicious this recipe is easy to make and a great low carb dish!Reply
Karly Campbell says
I’m so glad you like it! 🙂
Reply
Cathryn Shipley says
One of my favorite go-tosReply
Terese says
A friend of mine sent me this recipe, and OMG this was the best I’d had in a long time. Love spaghetti squash, and this was so close to the lasagna I make. the added sweetness of the cream cheese was a big hit. DH loved it too. This will be a staple in my household.Reply
Karly Campbell says
I’m so glad you all enjoyed it! Thanks for the review!
Reply
Lynn M says
With the temps being below zero this weekend I was browsing this site for a comfort type meal that would give me a reason to turn on the oven. So grateful to have stumbled upon this one. Its cheesy, meaty, saucy & the squash gives it a nice little crunch. This delight has it all. So many variations can be created with it, like adding Italian seasoning, or changing it to chicken or turkey or even Italian sausage. Maybe add green peppers or other seasonings to your liking. Yumalicious!Reply
TJ says
So awesome! We love this. My daughter isn’t a big meat eater so we also make batches without the meat and freeze portions. Then if we have something with meat for dinner she’s not a fan of, she just heats up one to eat. (She’s in her 20s) She loves this and we make a lot so she can eat for lunches too. The only change we made was add some shredded Parm to the layers for extra cohesion to make it easier to cut into squares for freezing when it’s cooled. Thanks for the great recipe!Reply
Kaz says
Cooking this now. Recommend to cut the squash into rings and roast that way. Longer “noodles”
Reply
Sherry Cicchini says
Easy and excellent. Full of flavour. My husband is Italian and he doesn’t eat a lot of vegetables and he loved it. I will be making this recipe again.Reply
Christine Degraw says
This is a great recipe. So easy and so tasty. Highly recommendReply
Karly Campbell says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Reply
Michelle says
Made this for supper last night. I’m eating it for breakfast this morning. So good! I didn’t have fresh parsley so used Italian seasoning. I also grated one large clove of garlic into the cheese sauce because I have a garlic addiction. My non low carb husband loved it.It’s definitely going into the rotation.
Reply
Karly Campbell says
So glad it was such a hit for you guys! Thanks for the review! 🙂
Reply
Catherine B says
Made this recipe tonight, my husband was skeptical, but absolutely enjoyed it. Nice twist on spaghetti squash. ( I used my own homemade spaguetti sauce.)
Reply
Karly Campbell says
So glad you both enjoyed it!
Reply
RM says
I love this recipe and have made it many times. I made one change because I’m a lazy cook and am always looking to cut corners and time. I found trying to get the cheese mixture layer even ended up in big blobs, so when the spaghetti squash comes out of the oven and is nice and hot, I mix the cheese mixture into it. It gets nice and gooey and is easily spreadable. I put sauce on the bottom, then the cheesy squash, more sauce, and lastly cheese. I think it tastes just the same!Reply
Karly Campbell says
Sounds delicious!!
Reply
Renee says
This was an amazing dish! We definitely will be having more often!Reply
Karly Campbell says
Thanks for the review, Renee!
Reply
Nancy Tyrrell says
I made this recipe tonight and it was really a great new addition to my “make again” recipes. Great flavor and even allowed on my Nutrisystem diet! My husband loved it
Reply
Karly Campbell says
I’m so glad you both enjoyed it! Thanks, Nancy!
Reply
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