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.
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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!
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!
We use Thrive Market for a lot of our specialty ingredients and keto snacks or products. Their prices tend to be cheaper than the local stores and I love that you can so easily sort products by diet.
Like Costco, this is a membership site, but we find that it’s more than worth it based on the amount we save over the regular grocery store.
They have monthly or yearly plans. Check it out here.
- 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:
You can keep any leftovers stored in the fridge for 3-4 days. You can reheat the spaghetti squash casserole in the oven.
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.
When baked up into this rich, creamy million dollar spaghetti squash casserole each serving is only 8 net grams!
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!
Million Dollar Spaghetti Squash Casserole
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.
Lisa says
I made this for dinner tonight and it was fantastic! It will definitely be a regular menu item.
Thomas says
Made this for dinner last night exactly as instructed (although I did add grated parmesan). As my Sicilain grandma would say, mangia mangia! Your million dollar recipe brought me back to the comfort food favorites I loved as a kid. Grazie for this low carb deliciousness!
kaylie says
I was wondering what is a subs to the Mozzarella cheese I do not have enough
Karly Campbell says
Any cheese you like with Italian food should work fine here.
Abby says
It’s says nutrient info per serving, but I don’t see how much is a serving?
Karly Campbell says
The recipe makes 6 servings.
Jennifer says
My family and I loved this!!! So good!! I did end up adding extra spices like garlic, onion, and Italian seasoning. I put all of this in a 13×9 pan and ended up with 12 hearty servings. Does that make each serving only 4 carbs?
Karly Campbell says
The extra spices might have added a bit more carbs depending on how much you added, but otherwise, yes, 4 net carbs if you followed the recipe. 🙂
Cherie says
Made this tonight and it was very good. I used italian sausage instead of ground beef because it’s what I had. My question is I didn’t have enough squash for a 13×9 pan. Did I do something wrong? My squash was3 lbs
Karly Campbell says
Hi Cherie!
As long as you scraped all the squash out, I don’t think you did anything wrong. Perhaps your squash had more seeds/middle part that needed scraped out than mine did. 🙂
Anastasia says
I was looking for ways to spice up my normal spaghetti squash boat and thought about trying to do a casserole bake when I came across this recipe. I realized when I got home that I don’t have cream cheese! Any quick recommendations for a substitute? Thought I would ask before I decide to get creative w it!
Karly Campbell says
Just now seeing this, but I’d do cottage cheese or ricotta next time. 🙂
Anastasia says
Yeah, that would have been my first choice too! Sadly, I had neither and did not want to go back out. But I was determined that I wanted a low carb baked spaghetti last night—so I did created a “desperate wife” alternative. I’ll pass it along in case anyone else finds themselves in my situation: In a small bowl, (I’m sorry for the inaccurate measurements but I eyeballed it) about 2/3 part sour cream, 1/3 part mayo and mixed in parm cheese Italian seasoning parsley and garlic (I flavored to taste). In square dish, I did a squash layer, a thing layer of my creation with then layer of sauce, layer of squash, sauce, provolone cheese slices…it turned out really good—surprisingly. My husband loved it! He ended up having two huge helpings (which defeated the low carb part)! Can’t wait to try this recipe made the correct way!
Mimi M. says
Karly, I love your site! Does it matter how I cook the squash?? I like to cook it in my instant pot, so much quicker than baking it!!
Karly Campbell says
Nope, shouldn’t matter at all! 🙂
Mimi M says
Ended up making this last night. It was amazing! The only change I made was to use hot Italian sausage. Such a great recipe…thanks!
Kareem says
I tried this last night. My hubby and I loved it, my daughter loved it, but my boys not so much! But they just don’t know good food! I ended up
Substituting cottage cheese for cream cheese since the one i had was molding. But it was delicious and my first time! Hubby ate 3 plates and a fourth the next morning!!
Karly Campbell says
Glad it was a hit with half of your crew! 🙂
Gabriella I. says
Trying this recipe for the first time. Finishing in the oven as I type this. Looks and SMELLS so good! First time trying spaghetti squash as well, and I’ve gotta say, it’s even good on its own with the olive oil and salt! Incredible recipe! Thank you!! How long does this last when refrigerated?
Karly Campbell says
It should last for 4-5 days, I would think. 🙂
KevinM says
I made this as a side for Thanksgiving and it was a hit. So good that my sons and family asked me to make this and have them over for dinner again.
Cherielynne phillips says
This is what we had for dinner and omg it was sooooo good. Husband went back for seconds! Thanks for the recipe! It’s a keeper.
Amy says
I made this on Wednesday, followed the recipe exactly, including using the suggested Rao marinara sauce. My husband was skeptical at first (meat & potatoes guy), but we both LOVED it!!! I had my sister over Thursday for leftovers (re-heated in the oven under foil), and she couldn’t stop saying how much she liked it. A definite winner!!!! THANK YOU!
Karly Campbell says
Yay! Glad to hear that!
Tara says
This was AMAZING!!!! I threw half of a diced onion in while the meat was cooking. Whole family loved it…even the 7month old doing baby-led weaning loved it! Thank you!
Steve says
Been Keto for about two months. Made this tonight. Added sausage and pork belly burnt ends to my sauce. Added sharp cheddar and cottage cheese to the cheese mixture. Added pearl mozzarella with the shredded on top. Garnished with parsley and pink Himalayan salt and fresh cracked pepper. Results: Hope I can duplicate it again. Was a great chilly evening supper.
Maret says
Delicious…everyone liked! This is the first recipe I’ve tried on your site. Your directions were easy to follow. A great way to introduce spaghetti squash to a family. I did try Rao’s sauce….wow, it is pricey…$7 on sale, but it was good. Next time, I’ll try my regular marinara brand just to see if it takes away from the resulting flavor. One can always doctor up with more spices or go for the sales! Thank you for a keeper recipe.
Nikki says
Oh WOW this was delicious! My hubby and picky kids gobbled it up. My kids won’t eat spaghetti squash, but they loved it cooked this way. They were surprised to find out it was spaghetti squash. I added my normal seasonings to the sauce (basil, oregano, garlic) and used turkey burger cooked in fresh chopped onion and garlic. We ate it with garlic bread and it was fantastic! I am so happy to find your website. I was recently diagnosed as a diabetic and I need low carb recipes. I can’t wait to try more!!
Lisa says
I assume I could substitute greek yogurt for the sour cream? Looking forward to trying this!
Karly Campbell says
Yes, for sure!
Michelle says
Looks fantastic and I am making tonight!
Lona says
I’m usually pretty critical of recipes and it is rare that I find something I will rave about. I used Tantillo Pomodoro sauce but only 16oz. I accidentally opened this jar instead of a lower carb variety so I used less to reduce the carbs which were 7 per 1/2c serving of sauce instead of the 4 in the recipe. I also simmered the sauce for a short time to thicken it. I made the squash the night before and refrigerated it. Everything else was just as stated in the recipe. No watery casserole here. This recipe is wonderful and I’ll definitely make it again. Almost better than lasagne.
Karly Campbell says
Thanks so much for sharing, Lona! <3