Speckled with green peas and roasted broccoli, this Cheesy Vegan Spaghetti Squash Casserole is a delicious way to enjoy loads of veggies!
I'm a sucker for a good casserole.
Any time a handful of yummy ingredients are mixed with a sauce and baked in the oven, something good is bound to come out.
Today I'm sharing with you this Cheesy Spaghetti Squash Casserole!
If you're looking for a fun way to eat more veggies, spaghetti squash is the way to go.
In today's casserole recipe, we're coating roasted and shredded spaghetti squash in a creamy, vegan cheese sauce and baking it in the oven until warm and golden.
You're going to be making this casserole all year round!
What is Spaghetti Squash?
Spaghetti squash is a vegetable in the squash family that comes in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors and is in season during the early fall.
When spaghetti squash is raw, it's flesh is hard like butternut squash.
However, when you cook the squash, the flesh can easily be shredded with a fork. Once shredded it quickly transforms into thin ribbons that mimic spaghetti.
How To Bake Spaghetti Squash
There are a variety of ways that you can cook spaghetti squash, but my favorite way is to bake it in the oven!
To bake spaghetti squash, follow these step-by-step instructions.
- Preheat your oven to 400F and, if desired for easy clean-up, line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.
- Carefully cut the squash in half length-wise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon.
- Place the halves skin-side down on a baking dish and spray the insides with cooking spray. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
- Place the squash in the oven and roast it for about 50 minutes, or until its tender enough to poke with a fork.
- Once the squash has cooled enough to touch, take a fork and shred the squash horizontally until all the squash has pulled away from the skin and spaghetti-like ribbons have formed.
- Use the spaghetti squash how you would normal spaghetti!
How to Make Vegan Cheesy Spaghetti Squash Casserole
In order to make a vegan (aka dairy-free), cheesy casserole, we need to make a vegan cheese sauce!
So while your spaghetti squash is cooking, whip up this super simple vegan cheese sauce.
Ingredients You'll Need for Vegan Cheese Sauce
To make this easy, vegan cheese sauce you'll need the following ingredients:
- Almond milk
- Nutritional yeast
- Cornstarch
- Lemon juice
- Tahini
- Salt
- Garlic
- Ground paprika
- Turmeric
- Ground pepper, to taste
- Red chili flakes, to taste
Once you have all of your vegan cheese sauce ingredients on hand, the rest is a breeze!
Simply place all of the sauce ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
Alternatively, you can place the ingredients into a liquid measuring cup and use an immersion blender to blend until smooth.
Once smooth, pour the sauce into a saucepan and heat it over medium heat, stirring often, until it thickens.
This is a great sauce to use for vegan mac and cheese or as a sauce for Buddha bowls.
For today's casserole recipe, you'll be combining the roasted spaghetti squash, roasted broccoli, frozen peas and this simple cheese sauce.
Then to finish everything off, pour the mixture into an oven-safe dish and bake it in the oven until warmed through and starting to char in places.
Since this casserole is made with squash, I love to pair it with some crusty bread to round out the meal!
How to Store Leftover Spaghetti Squash Casserole
This is a great recipe to meal prep at the start of the week.
The leftovers store beautifully in the fridge and make for a flavorful, veg-heavy meal or side dish!
Simply place any leftovers in an airtight container and store them in the fridge for 3-4 days.
To reheat the casserole, transfer the squash mixture to an oven-safe dish and heat through in the oven at 350F.
Alternatively, you can microwave the casserole for about 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until heated through.
Cheesy Spaghetti Squash And Broccoli Casserole
Ingredients
Spaghetti Squash
- 1 large spaghetti squash cut in half lengthwise and seeds removed
- 1 large head broccoli cut into florets
- Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper
- 1 cup frozen green peas optional
Cheesy Sauce
- 2 ¼ cups almond milk
- ¾ cup nutritional yeast
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- Ground pepper and red chili flakes to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 °F and grease a baking sheet or line it with a silicone baking mat. Place the cut spaghetti squash cut-side up onto the baking sheet. Spray the inside with cooking spray and season it with salt and pepper. Place it in the oven to roast for about 50 minutes, or until the flesh can easily be pierced with a fork. Once cooked, remove it from the oven and shred it with a fork to form spaghetti-like ribbons.
- While the squash is roasting, prepare the broccoli and cheese sauce.
- For the cheese sauce, place all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the sauce into a sauce pan and heat over medium-low heat. Allow the sauce to thicken while stirring occasionally. This should take about 5 minutes.
- While the sauce is thickening, cut the broccoli into florets, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. After the squash has been roasting for 30 minutes, add the broccoli florets to the baking sheet (or a separate baking sheet if needed) and allow them to roast for about 20 minutes, stirring half-way.
- Grease a 9x9-inch baking dish. Combine the shredded squash, thickened cheese sauce, roasted broccoli, and frozen peas in a large mixing bowl and pour the mixture into your prepared baking dish. Season with ground pepper and red chili flakes and bake it in the already preheated oven for about 20 minutes. Then switch the oven to broil and broil for 5 more minutes.
CookingFan34 says
This was yummy - I subbed GF flour for cornstarch. That made it come out kind of thin when I blended it. I wonder about heating on the stove top to help it come together.
I sautéed onions and mushrooms and included those in place of the brocccoli.
Faith VanderMolen says
Thanks so much for sharing! I'm glad you still enjoyed it even though it was kind of thin. YUM!
Rose Martine says
YUMMY!!!!! Thanks for sharing your recipe! I’ve heard about your blog a couple of times and will now spend my afternoon reading 🙂
Regards
Rose Martine
Faith VanderMolen says
I hope you find some tasty looking recipes to try! Thanks Rose!
Carrie says
This was delicious! I put it in the oven like the commenter above. Thank you for the recipe!
Faith says
I'm so glad you commented on this recipe Carrie, because I had forgotten about it! I'm so glad you liked it. Thanks for sharing!
karin wiles says
I was looking for a recipe to use spaghetti squash in a casserole cause I don't like it with marinara sauce and decided to try this one. I just happen to have everything on hand plus roasted mushrooms and leftover rice. I made the "cheese" sauce, mixed it all together and then baked it at 400 degrees for 20 minutes and then broiled it for a few minutes. It turned out great!!!! It's a keeper!! I think even my husband, who will eat vegan with me on occasion, will like it! Thanks!
Faith says
So glad you found this recipe and that it worked for you! It's such an old recipe that I completely forgot about it, but now I want to make it again. I hope your husband liked it as well!
Marilyn Knapp Litt says
This looks great, but it is not vegan if it uses milk. Thank you.
Faith says
Hey Marilyn! Sorry if the recipe was confusing, but it calls for Almond Milk with is a dairy-free milk. I hope that helps!