Not Many Nutrients In Spaghetti Squash
Posted by terrepruitt on October 26, 2016
I was talking to a friend of mine about spaghetti squash because I recently cooked it again, after I Finally Cooked Spaghetti Squash . I had to cook it for 15 minutes before I could cut it. I had started to cut it. I got one end off, but, it is just easier for me to cook it then cut it. She is superwoman because she says she muscles through and cuts it. When my friend and I were talking about it we were definitely agreeing that the squash has more nutrients than pasta, but we didn’t know what. So I thought I would look up the nutrients and make note.
When my hubby and I enjoyed it again I served it once with red sauce and meat. It was ground turkey meat and jarred sauce. It was good. I hadn’t really thought that it would hold up to red sauce, but it was fine. That was only one way. The other times . . . for the left overs, I had it once with mushrooms and once with just butter and cheese. My hubby had it with the persimmon chicken juice. He loves to put the juice from the cooked meat on his pasta or rice. Obviously the nutritional value of the meal is affected by what you put on the squash.
But the squash itself seems pretty low in everything according to the National Agricultural Library.
In a cup of cubed squash . . . . which I don’t know that anyone would eat spaghetti squash cubed.
Calories —- 31
Protein —- .64 gram
Fat —- .57 gram
Carbohydrates —- 6.91 grams
Dietary fiber —- 1.5 grams
Calcium —- 23 mg
Iron —- .31 mg
Magnesium —- 12 mg
Potassium —- 108 mg
Sodium —- 17 mg
Vitamin C —- 2.1 mg
Versus the a cup of the average spaghetti
Calories —- 221
Protein —- 8 grams
Fat —- 1.3 grams
Carbohydrates —- 43 grams
Dietary fiber —- 2.5 grams
Calcium —- 1% of the DV
Iron —- 9% of the DV
Magnesium —- 6% of the DV
Sodium —- 1 mg
Vitamin C —- 0% of the DV
So there are quite a bit more calories and carbohydrates in the pasta and there is also a lot more protein. With a meat sauce on spaghetti squash the protein could be supplied from that. Even though it is a vegetable, it doesn’t really seem all that nutrient dense. It is more on the empty side which makes it perfect to add sauces and toppings to because it is not as if there are calories being added onto calories. And I really like the taste of it.
This last time I made it I roasted it. I cooked it in the oven at 450° F for 15 minutes, then I took it out and sliced it in half lengthwise. I rubbed olive oil on it (inside and out) and salted it. I cooked it for 10 minutes at 450° F for 15 minutes. Then I cooked it for another 35 minutes at 400° F. I roasted it cut side up. The last 35 minutes it was cooking while I was not home so I had it at 400° F. I might cook it a bit longer the next time I do it. I make these notes so I will remember. I hope to be cooking it a lot. My husband and I like it.
Do you? Do you like spaghetti squash?
Terre Pruitt's Blog 
Carol Hamilton said
I split the squash in two, clean out the “guts” , put the halves in a microwavable dish with about an inch of water and microwave for 15 minutes.
Then scoop out the delicious “spaghettis”
On Wed, Oct 26, 2016 at 6:33 PM, Terre Pruitt’s Blog wrote:
> terrepruitt posted: “I was talking to a friend of mine about spaghetti > squash because I recently cooked it again, after I Finally Cooked Spaghetti > Squash . I had to cook it for 15 minutes before I could cut it. I had > started to cut it. I got one end off, but, it is just ea” >
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terrepruitt said
I only took you 15 minutes in the microwave to cook it? When I used the microwave it took 30 minutes and it still wasn’t quite done. Perhaps your microwave is super powerful?
Thanks for sharing!
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livingoily4life said
I just cooked one a couple of days ago. I added some to soup I made in place of pasta. It was pretty good in the soup but definitely not like pasta. I do like it with spaghetti sauce though.
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terrepruitt said
We have some soup I thought of adding it to, but decided to just eat it by itself. I like the flavor.
Thanks for sharing. I love hearing how people eat stuff!
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Ann Coleman said
I’ve never tried to cook a spaghetti squash, but I do enjoy it when someone else prepares it!
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terrepruitt said
Ha. Yeah, there are a lot of things I like “better” when someone else does the cooking. 😉
It is easy to cook, but in my opinion, hard to cut.
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CZ said
Great post! Always important to research nutrition profiles and not just guess
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terrepruitt said
Guess or assume, huh? I kinda assumed that since it was a vegetable it would have some good nutrition, but, meh. It is better than pasta, perhaps . . . but that really can depend! Thanks for reading and commenting!
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