In a surprise to absolutely no one, spaghetti squash—unfairly maligned as bland and watery—tastes amazing when smothered in flavorful tomato sauce and blanketed under a layer of melty cheese. Here the tomato sauce cooks in the oven at the same time the squash roasts; combine the two, return the dish to the oven, and you’ve got a hands-off dinner with minimal cleanup. Serve this with bread and a green salad one night, then mix leftovers into pasta for “noodles” on noodles the next.
Halving the squash crosswise is a tip we learned from cookbook writer and food blogger Alexandra Stafford; it involves easier (and safer!) knife work and results in longer, more noodle-like strands. The bake time of the squash depends on the squash itself—anecdotally and with no scientific backing, I’ve found that smaller, yellower spaghetti squashes tend to cook faster and taste better. —Sarah Jampel
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What you’ll need
Metal Baking Pan
$26 At Amazon
Microplane Grater
$18 At Amazon
Silicone Spatula
$13 At Amazon
Rimmed Baking Sheet
$30 At Amazon
Recipe information
Yield
4–6 servings
Ingredients
1
¼
¼
1
4
¼
1½
6
1
Preparation
Step 1
Heat oven to 425°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Place squash on baking sheet and drizzle with oil; rub to coat. Season with salt and black pepper. Turn cut side down and bake until a paring knife easily pierces skin and squash collapses easily under the pressure of tongs, 40–60 minutes, depending on your squash.
Step 2
Meanwhile, place tomatoes in a 3-qt. baking dish (any shape, such as an oval or a 13x9" rectangle works!) and squish with your hands to break tomatoes apart. Add garlic, sugar, ¼ cup oil, ¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, ¼ tsp. kosher salt, and season with black pepper; stir to combine. Bake, stirring once or twice, until sauce thickens slightly and is bright red and bubbly, 35–40 minutes. Using a rubber spatula or spoon, coarsely mash garlic and any tomato pieces.
Step 3
Let squash cool slightly, then, using a fork, tease out flesh; discard skin. Add to baking dish with tomato sauce along with Parmesan. Stir to combine, breaking up squash further into strands. Season with salt and top with mozzarella.
Step 4
Return baking dish to oven and bake squash until cheese is melted, 5–7 minutes.
Step 5
Heat broiler. Broil, watching closely, until cheese is bubbly and browned, 1–2 minutes. Top with basil, more crushed red pepper flakes, and black pepper.
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Reviews (82)
Back to TopI’m sure this tastes wonderful, but your equipment list clearly shows a glass baking dish, and the recipe tells you to put it under the broiler. Anyone can, without much effort, find the bonappetit.com article which tells you never to put glass, even Pyrex, under the broiler.
Anonymous
Denver, CO
1/4/2022
I loved it. It was quick, lol easy, and so delicious. I didn’t miss the meat or the pasta. I also did not use a glass baking dish.
Anonymous
Los Angeles, CA
1/5/2022
Wow! THIS was one delicious recipe! I have made several different recipes using spagetti squash and they were like,..” Eh”…I think the sauce and the cheese really adds to flavoring the otherwise tasteless squash. With all of that flavor and no bloating like you get with pasta, plus a healthier choice… winner winner!! Also, I never made tomato sauce by baking it. That was easy!
Cheryl Allocco
Wall, NJ
1/6/2022
Good recipe. However, the print formatting provided takes 3 pages to print what is a one-page recipe, commentary and all. Maybe Bon Appetit could work on condensed print formatting for the recipes.
Billy Henley
Seattle WA
1/8/2022
Spaghetti squash is one of our favorite squashes, and we love them all. My favorite prep method is to split open lengthwise, place it cut side down in wide 4 - 5 inch pan salt the water, add oregano and cook al dente. Pulp it then toss in a large pan with EVOO, crushed garlic (careful about burning the garlic) until tender, generously pepper it, then toss with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Digna Irizarry Cassens
California
1/8/2022
I wish Spaghetti Squash were more readily available in stores. I'm going to grow more this year, because of recipes like this. Very tasty! An Arrabbiata style sauce over Spaghetti Squash all baked in the oven. Once the cheese melted... Mmmmm! And so Easy 👍👍👍
David Starnes
Henryville, IN
1/8/2022
looking forward to trying this recipe will keep u posted?
Anonymous
canada
1/8/2022