I have to admit, I just tried Spaghetti Squash for the first time a year ago. I was in Trader Joe’s and noticed them, but since I had never tried it, I didn’t grab one. Then the cashier noticed something else in my cart and brought them up. I admitted that I had never cooked one before and she kept raving and raving that I had to try it! I explained that we often replace pasta with zucchini, like in this Zucchini Lasagna recipe, but she said I definitely should try the Spaghetti Squash too. I gave in, peer pressure and all.

She explained exactly how to prepare – cut in half, put in the oven, bake… we loved it, but honestly, I didn’t love the prep. I just felt like it took too long and too much work! That’s when I decided that preparing spaghetti squash in the microwave was the way to go. Since I don’t really need my spaghetti squash noodles crispy, I feel like the microwave does just as good of a job, with less prep and mess… and time, which is definitely precious around here!

If you’re ready to get scraping, here’s how easy Spaghetti Squash microwave preparation really is!

How to Cook Spaghetti Squash in the Microwave

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Ingredients

• 1 Spaghetti Squash
• ¼ cup Water
• Plastic Wrap (or foil if you do decide to bake in the oven instead)
• Glass Baking dish - this one is the perfect size for my microwave!

Instructions

1. Wash and pat dry the squash.
2. With a sharp knife, CAREFULLY cut the squash in half, lengthwise. Take your time as these are not easy to cut and will take some effort.
3. Place the water in the bottom of a microwave safe baking dish that will fit both halves of the squash.
4. Place the squash face down on the dish and cover with plastic wrap.
5. Cook in the microwave for approximately 8 – 10 minutes, or the oven (covered in foil instead of plastic wrap) for approximately 15 – 18 minutes at 350.
6. After cooking time is up and the squash is very soft, let it cool completely or until you can comfortably hold each half.
7. With a spoon, spoon out the very center pulp and seeds from the squash. Do this to both sides and discard the pulp and seeds.
8. With a fork, begin to scrape at the inside flesh of the squash. You will see it separate in strands, much like spaghetti.

There’s no need for a vegetable spiralizer with these guys – the strands just come right out! The spaghetti strand portions are what you use for recipes and they’re perfectly sized for pasta alternatives.

You do want to keep in mind that these are very rich in liquid. If you don’t want the vegetable adding too much liquid to your dish, you should pat dry the strands before using them in a recipe. I learned this the hard way!

Now that you’ve mastered Spaghetti Squash microwave prep, I know you’re ready for Spaghetti Squash recipes, be sure to come back next week so you can see what dish this beautiful vegetable ended up in in our house!