Everyone has a busy season of life and I feel like right now this is that season for me. I am not super excited about cooking extravagant dinners, I just want to throw things together at the end of the night that will fuel my body. My only stipulations for meals like this is that it is veggie and protein packed and have minimal ingredients. This Spaghetti Squash with Trader Joe's Pesto is only 7 ingredients (not including oil, salt, and pepper) and is the perfect weeknight meal.
For this recipe all you need is ground meat, olive, tomatoes, mushrooms, pesto, and spaghetti squash. How simple is that?! The hardest part of this recipe is cooking the spaghetti squash, which can be time consuming, but there are some ways to cook it a bit faster. One way is in the Instant Pot (15 minutes). The other way I love to cook spaghetti squash quickly is in the microwave (about 10 minutes). Of course you can always cook it in the oven, too. The oven is my favorite for this recipe, but in a pinch, I use the other two methods too!
The great thing about this meal is that it can make lots of leftovers for meals throughout the week. I love having it for lunch the next couple days if it is just me, or it is very easy to double if you are cooking for a larger family and want leftovers.
The Spaghetti Squash with Trader Joe's Pesto is Whole30 compatible, so you know all the ingredients are nourishing! It is gluten-free and dairy-free, too so you can feel confident feeding this to your family!
Tips for Spaghetti Squash with Trader Joe's Pesto:
- If you are cooking for a family that doesn't like spaghetti squash, use their favorite noodles!
- You can use any ground meat you have on hand.
- Trader Joe's vegan pesto is my favorite dairy-free pesto, but you can use your favorite!
- Like I mentioned above, use the Instant Pot or microwave to make cooking the spaghetti squash even faster.
If you like this recipe be sure to check out some more spaghetti squash recipes that I have like this Creamy Bruschetta Chicken Pasta.
Spaghetti Squash with Trader Joe's Pesto
Ingredients
- 1 lbs Ground Chicken can use any ground meat you have on hand
- 1 Spaghetti Squash
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- ¼ Red Onion diced
- 1 cup Cherry Tomatoes halved
- 1 cup Mushrooms sliced
- ¼ cup Kalamata Olives Halved, Black Olives will work too
- 8 oz Trader Joe's Vegan Kale, Cashew, Basil Pesto
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Slice the spaghetti squash in half length wise and scrape the seeds out. Place the squash skin side down and coat the center with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- When the oven is hot, place the sheet pan with the spaghetti squash into the oven and cook for 25 minutes.
- While the squash is cooking, preheat a pan to medium-high heat. Brown the ground chicken, then add tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, and olives. Saute for about 5 minutes.
- When the spaghetti squash is fork tender, remove from the oven. Scrape out the inside of the squash to male "spaghetti". Add this to the pan of the veggie mixture and add the pesto. Mix everything until is is combined and evenly coated with pesto.
- This step is optional: Place the spaghetti mixture into an oven safe pan and bake for 5 minutes.
- Optional toppings: red pepper flakes and your favorite cheese (dairy-free or not).
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- If you are cooking for a family that doesn't like spaghetti squash, use their favorite noodles!
- You can use any ground meat you have on hand.
- Trader Joe's vegan pesto is my favorite dairy-free pesto, but you can use your favorite!
- Like I mentioned above, use the Instant Pot or microwave to make cooking the spaghetti squash even faster.
Leave a Reply