Meatball Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Meatball Stuffed Spaghetti Squash is spaghetti and meatballs without the guilt. Comfort food lightened up! Weight Watchers friendly recipe-6 SmartPoints!

 

Meatball Stuffed Spaghetti Squash is spaghetti and meatballs without the guilt. Juicy meatballs, stuffed in spaghetti squash, topped with fresh marinara sauce and cheese. Weight Watchers friendly recipe. www.bitesofflavor.com

 

My Meatball Stuffed Spaghetti Squash are everything you love about spaghetti and meatballs without the guilt.  Juicy delicious meatballs, stuffed in spaghetti squash and topped with fresh marinara sauce and cheese.  The perfect meal when you are craving comfort food!  Easy to make and super healthy.  This is a Weight Watchers friendly recipe and each squash half with four meatballs is 6 SmartPoints.

 

Have you ever had spaghetti squash before?  If you haven’t, I guarantee that after you make this squash once, you will be making it on a regular basis!  It takes a little bit of time to bake in the oven, but it just like spaghetti noodles.  It’s amazing!  I love using spaghetti squash in place of noodles when I’m craving a dish like this one.  This recipe is packed with all the traditional flavors you love about spaghetti and meatballs without all the carbs of the spaghetti noodles.

 

This recipe had a few steps and takes about an hour or so to make.  The squash is really what takes the longest to make.  To make spaghetti squash, pierce the outside with a fork, place in a microwave safe dish, and microwave for about 5 minutes, flipping halfway through.  This step is key because microwaving the whole squash for a little bit really makes it easier to cut the squash in half.

 

After the squash has cooled down a bit, cut the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.  Next, spray a casserole dish with cooking spray, season the cut side of the squash, then lay it cut side down in the casserole dish.  Roast the squash for one hour.  Roasting the squash can totally be done ahead of time!  You could do this on Sunday for meal prep day that way you have the roasted squash ready to go during the week.

   

 

Spaghetti Squash

 

The next star of this recipe is the meatballs.  I prefer to make my own meatballs that way I know exactly what ingredients I am putting in them.  Meatballs are actually easy to make!  Just mix all the meatball ingredients into a big bowl, then form the meatballs, lay on a baking sheet, and bake in the oven for 12 minutes.

 

Meatballs

 

What really makes this recipe even more special, aside from homemade meatballs, is the homemade marinara sauce.  While you can buy jarred marinara sauce, I seriously recommend making my Twenty Minute Marinara SauceThis sauce is packed with amazing flavor, it’s super easy to make, and ready in twenty minutes!

 

Twenty Minute Marinara Sauce is the perfect sauce for any Italian inspired dish. Packed with fresh flavors and ready to eat in twenty minutes. Freezer friendly and all natural with no preservatives! Weight Watchers friendly recipe. www.bitesofflavor.com

 

After the sauce has been blended and the meatballs are done baking, add the meatballs to the sauce and let them cook until the spaghetti squash is done roasting.  After the squash has roasted and is cool enough to touch, turn squash over and with a fork, scrape the inside so that strands start to appear that look like spaghetti and fluff up.  And just like that, you have spaghetti squash noodles!!

 

Roasted Spaghetti Squash

 

To finish off the dish, lay the squash bake in the casserole dish with the cut side up, top each squash half with four meatballs, marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese.  Bake in the oven for about 4 minutes until the cheese melts!

 

Meatball Stuffed Spaghetti Squash is juicy meatballs, stuffed in spaghetti squash, topped with fresh marinara sauce and cheese. Comfort food lightened up! Weight Watchers friendly recipe. www.bitesofflavor.com

 

Meatball Stuffed Spaghetti Squash are everything you love about spaghetti and meatballs without the guilt.  Easy to make and super healthy.  This whole dish is so delicious… from the homemade beef meatballs, to the homemade fresh marinara sauce.  Guaranteed to be a family favorite recipe!

 

I hope you enjoy these bites of flavor!

 

Meatball Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Meatball Stuffed Spaghetti Squash are everything you love about spaghetti and meatballs without the guilt.  Easy to make and super healthy.  This whole dish is so delicious… from the homemade beef meatballs, to the homemade fresh marinara sauce.  
Prep Time 30 mins
Cook Time 1 hr
Total Time 1 hr 30 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 2 Spaghetti Squash
  • Salt & Pepper, To taste
  • 1 Cup Reduced Fat Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
  • 4 Cups Twenty Minute Marinara Sauce, Or any jarred sauce (Recipe link in notes section)

Meatball Ingredients:

  • 1 Pound 96% Lean Ground Beef
  • 1 Egg White
  • ¼ Cup Bread Crumbs
  • 2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
  • ¼ Onion, Finely chopped
  • Salt & Pepper, To taste
  • ¼ Cup Chopped Parsley

Instructions
 

  • Make Twenty Minute Marinara Sauce (Recipe link in notes section). Once the sauce is done, keep in a large pot on low heat. If you are not making that recipe, pour jarred marinara sauce into a big pot and heat over low heat for about 10 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 400°.
  • Piece spaghetti squash several times with fork. Microwave for 5 minutes, flipping once.
  • Cut squash in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Discard seeds.
  • Spray casserole dish with cooking spray.
  • Season cut side of squash with salt and pepper and spray with cooking spray.
  • Lay squash in dish cut side down.
  • Roast for 1 hour.

Meatball Directions:

  • Mix all ingredients and form into 21 meatballs.
  • Bake in oven at 450° for 12 minutes.
  • Add meatballs to marinara sauce and let cook for 20 minutes.

To Assemble Squash:

  • After squash has roasted and cool enough to handle, turn squash over and with a fork, scrape the inside so pieces start to appear that look like spaghetti and fluff up.
  • Top each squash halves with 4 meatballs, 1 cup marinara sauce, and ¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese.
  • Bake in the oven for 5 minutes until cheese melts

Notes

**Click here to following recipe directions for Twenty Minute Marinara Sauce.**
This recipe makes 21 meatballs, but you only can fit 4 meatballs in each squash half (for a total of 16). You can freeze the left over meatballs!
To speed up time, roast squash on Sunday that way you have roasted squash ready to go during the week for this recipe. Another time saver is to make the sauce and bake the meatballs while the squash is roasting in the oven.

Nutrition is based on the Weight Watchers Freestyle Program guidelines. Nutrition calculated using Weight Watchers calculator.
NUTRITION: Serves 4- (6 SmartPoints Per Serving) CALORIES: 269 FAT: 12.8 SATURATED FAT: 5.1 CARBS: 5.6 FIBER: 0.3 SUGARS: 0.4 PROTEIN: 32.2

Looking for more Italian Inspired Recipes?  Click here to find all the delicious-ness!

 

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Meatball Stuffed Spaghetti Squash is spaghetti and meatballs without the guilt. Juicy meatballs, stuffed in spaghetti squash, topped with fresh marinara sauce and cheese. Comfort food lightened up! Weight Watchers friendly recipe. www.bitesofflavor.com

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6 Comments

  • Reply
    Rose
    December 8, 2016 at 3:49 pm What a creative recipe! Perfect for cold weather when you want something healthy and filling!
    • Reply
      Kristine
      December 8, 2016 at 5:35 pm Yes... Perfect for cold weather days! Thanks for commenting Rose!
  • Reply
    Stacy
    December 9, 2016 at 7:46 am This looks and sounds great! I love healthy but flavorful recipes.
    • Reply
      Kristine
      December 9, 2016 at 9:13 am It really is good! Thank you for commenting Stacy!
  • Reply
    Clarissa
    December 11, 2016 at 8:24 pm I usually can't jump on the spaghetti squash bandwagon, but these look AWESOME! And I really need to switch up my diet since I'm officially on project #weddingweightloss lol -Clarissa @ The View From Here
    • Reply
      Kristine
      December 12, 2016 at 3:24 pm Thanks Clarissa! I hope you give this spaghetti squash recipe a try... It is GOOD!

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