Learn how to cook spaghetti squash in the microwave in just three easy steps! Cutting and seeding the spaghetti squash happens after cooking.
A few weeks ago on Facebook and Instagram, I felt so darn proud of myself because I figured out how to cook a whole spaghetti squash in the oven.
Based on responses, I wasn’t the only one that’s made their life easier [and kept a few fingers] by cooking the spaghetti squash whole; saving the cutting and seeding for when the squash is soft enough to handle after cooking. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of people that also shared that they cook their spaghetti squash whole in the microwave— and then go on to the cutting and seeding part.
Same results, in a fraction of the time. You know I had to try it…
Since I’m writing a post on how to cook a spaghetti squash in the microwave, I’m sure you’ve realized the method works. And yes, I’m not going back to my old oven ways!
Once you have the finished product [spaghetti squash strands], there are countless ways to eat it!
I sometimes keep it very simple and serve as-is for an easy side dish. If I’m feeling extra fancy and want the boys the eat their portion, I’ll add some butter and Parmesan cheese OR top it with classic marinara sauce.
If the boys are in bed before I eat dinner, I might go spicy and even top it with spicy peanut sauce and shredded carrots for a Thai-version! Essentially everything you add to spaghetti noodles you can add to spaghetti squash. Just remember that spaghetti squash strands have more of a “bite” to them than noodles do. Hence why I need to “mask” it for the toddler and baby crew in this house… whatever it takes folks, whatever it takes!
Here’s my 2pm cooking helper [big bro is napping and he’s not] wanting in on some of the microwave action too! With a magnet in his mouth… [magnet play board is next to microwave].
So tell me: have you tried cooking a spaghetti squash in the microwave? I’ve now cooked spaghetti squash in the microwave, oven, and slow cooker. Am I missing any other cooking method?!
- 1 spaghetti squash
- Make cuts all around the spaghetti squash with a knife. Place in microwave and microwave on medium-high in 5 minute increments.
- Rotate spaghetti squash every 5 minutes until soft [total time should be anywhere from 10-15 minutes depending on the size of the spaghetti squash].
- Remove from microwave. Let rest for 10 minutes. Cut in half and scoop out seeds, and then separate the strands.
- Serve immediately [with a drizzle of olive oil, butter, and/or salt and pepper]. OR store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Learn how to cook spaghetti squash in just 3 easy steps! Share on X
OMG, why haven’t I ever done this? I love cooking spaghetti squash and this method rocks! Thanks Katie 🙂
I’ve been doing it all ways for years. Like right now I’m putting my squash in the microwave for quick and easy supper. Just don’t forget to prick the squash several times all around. The steam could make it explode. My only problem is, I need recipes for it. I do love eating it plain or with s & p and some butter or olive oil. But when I want to make a more substantial meal I’m at a loss. I’ve done the spaghetti sauce thing. Even adding meatballs. I want more. Any ideas? Thanks for listening (reading). Enjoy your night and never feeling guilty again for wanting and eating spaghetti (squash) again!!!
Oh! Just remembered something. I see in the picture a plate wasn’t used. And that’s fine! But you will have a little mess just from the juices escaping from the little holes from the fork and knife. Plus the dish makes it a bit easier to pick up and get out of the microwave. It’s very hot and a bit squishy. With a plate you just grab the plate. With a pot holder!!
I should’ve used a plate. Thanks Gail!
I make spaghetti squash lazagna. cook the squash, clean out with a fork. in a banking dish, spread a layer of sauce then spread spaghetti squash another layer Iif sauce, then parmesan cheese sprinkled all over then half tsp dollop of ricotta cheese all over then sprinkle matzarella cheese all over. make several layers. ake at 350 till cheese on top is melted! Everyone loves this in my family!!
I’m trying that this fall!!
I make it with pesto and chicken. Slice the chicken breast into chunks, salt and pepper, cook it in a skillet with a little olive oil. Toss your spaghetti squash with some pesto (fresh or from the jar, your call), plate your noodles, and top with the sliced chicken breasts. You can kick the chicken up with some Italian seasoning or cooking in onions and garlic if you like. I also love the sundried tomato basil pesto if you can find it. Any way you fix it, it’s a 30 minute dinner which makes life a lot easier around my house.
I totally agree! I just did it for first time now. Sooooo easy!
Hi, there are lots of yummy recipes for spaghetti squash on Pinterest! My favorite is cheesy garlic squash!
Ooooh I have to try it!
I haven’t cooked spaghetti squash in years and I used to do it in the oven and it took forever! I’m glad I googled it . My husband and I loved it. I did the butter and Parmesan cheese. Thank you so much.? Sharon Calhoun
U can pressure cook a spaghetti squash. Cut squash in half, remove seeds, put 1 cup water in pressure cooker, add squash (cut side up). Cook at high pressure for 8 mins. Use quick release method to release pressure. Let rest 10 mins then separate strands. All done. Enjoy!!
I do this too… 6 minutes in my pressure cooker! Fast and easy but trying the microwave tonight. Less clean up.
Good call!
Love it- need more gluten free recipes as my daughter has celiac !!
I’ve always boiled mine on stove ’cause that’s how mom always did it. And we love melted Velveeta cheese on it.
Sounds delicious!
Thank you, I was beginning to think I was the only one that boiled spaghetti squash
I have always used the microwave to cook my spaghetti squash as follows:
1. Pierce the skin & cut in half
2. Scoop out seeds & place upside down
In 1 inch of water
3. Microwave at 70% for approx. 10 min &
Remove spaghetti by pulling a fork
Downward. Add a favorite sauce
Thanks for sharing your method!!!
Mary you should try this method, you’ll never go back. So easy.
Some people have used a pressure cooker. I was just reading about that today.
I should try that!
Amazing method to cook spaghetti squash!!! Thank you so much!!!
Glad I could help!!
I cook mine in the microwave as well, but instead of making slices to the outside with a knife, I use a hammer and (a clean) nail. No chances of slicing myself instead of the squash!
Great idea Cindy!!!!
Awesome idea I will have to do that I was so afraid my hand may slip and afraid of cutting myself.
Thanks for sharing your tip. That is always my concern too. Much easier on the hands too!
Whether I cook in the oven or finish in the microwave, I will allways put the whole squash in the microwave for 2 minutes first to soften the skin. It is easy to cut after that to remove the seeds but not too hot to handle. Then, open side down with a water seal in the microwave or rub the cut side with olive oil before cooking in the oven, then cook it cut side up.
Like most, cutting it is the only hard part but this works vert well.
I’m glad to hear you do the microwave method before oven. I’ll have to try that next time too!! Thanks for the pointer 🙂
we received a spaghetti squash in the basket from Bountiful Baskets this week, it actually had these instructions on the sticker attached. Although it was a much larger squash than the once pictured so it took about 12 minutes
It is too hot here today to use my oven, so I will try making my spaghetti squash in the microwave! Hope it works! I make a shrimp scampi and serve it over my spaghetti squash.. It’s delicious! (I have a recipe if you want)
Yes please send the recipe for shrimp scampi!!
I love the idea of not cutting and seeding before cooking! I had already cut up my squash and started cooking it before seeing this idea. I use a large knife and a small mallet to cut thru my squash, keeping my finger out of the way. I will have to try it next time. Thank you!
I tried micro method at 70%, turning every 5 minutes for total of 3 times but it came out not spaghetti like at all. It was still good. It was more like zucchini than spaghetti.
Maybe I cooked it too long or microwave was too strong at 70%.
Any suggestions?
For spaghetti squash to be spaghetti-like, you need to scrape the cooked squash out of the shell using forks! Otherwise the squash is just regular squash like.
Yes!
Sorry for the delay. Did you shred with fork?
I just had spaghetti made in micro wave, full power, uncut, 15 minutes w/ hamburger- green onions& smothered w/ provolona cheese soooooo good
So good!! Sounds delish!
Thanks for the info! I did the micro…now quick saute of large shrimp, drop in olive oil, butter, garlic, fresh grated parm and fresh basil ribbons. Oooo, lala!!!!
Whoa!! That sounds amazing!
I do this same method of cooking for acorn squash in micro as you do for spaghetti squash. Glad to know I can do spaghetti squash whole!!
I’ve also cooked my spaghetti squash in the crock pot, in the garage, so it doesn’t heat up my house in the summer.
I need to try the crock pot version!! Genius!
Used microwaved squash noodles as a base for a panang curry topper. I just lightly sautéed fresh cauliflower and onion in the tiniest bit of oil, added pre-cooked chicken breast chunks and pre-made panang sauce pouch, covered for about 5 -10 min to finish cooking cauliflower and to warm flavors through. Then I scooped chicken curry mix over lightly salted squash noodles. It was an experiment that came out pretty well. I think I’ll add peas next time for color and texture.
That sounds delicious!!!
I’ve never had spaghetti squash but my family just decided to try to eat healthier. So we bought a squash at the grocery store and cooked it 15 minutes. It was SO good! My mother in law was shocked to hear you can cook it whole. She stopped eating spaghetti squash because she always needed someone to cut it open for her. She will be using this method from now on too.
A friend made an awesome spaghetti squash mushroom and chicken Alfredo. Yum!
wow katie….you made a lot of peoples day here on your site! good job!
giving the microwave no cuts no poked holes a chance
cooking for 15 min
Question:
I’ve recently purchased several spaghetti squash for a dinner function.
Does anyone know approximately how long they’ll be good for cooking?
We been blessed with an abundance of spaghetti squash in our garden this year so we have tried lots of ways to eat it. One of our favorites no one else mentioned was with Alfredo sauce and grilled chicken. It’s very yummy!
Great recipe for a quick and delicious vegetable. I would also like to try it with shrimp next time.
Thanks so much for the microwave information. I don’t have the strength to cut a raw squash, and I’ve been baking it in the oven for a few years (without cutting it).
I love the recipes! Y’all have a new follower
Thank you Ronda! Welcome to the M2MN community!!!!
I clicked on your site to get your reccomendation for microwave time, but INSTEAD I WAY MORE enjoyed the picture of your son being a silly boy…and enjoying a mom letting a kid be a kid instead of FREAKING out about ‘kid stuff’…oh, and I STILL used your time guidelines and my spaghetti squash was AWESOME with pesto ?
Lol! Thank you for giving me the mom-confidence to let things be! He is one silly boy— and so is his brother! I will definitely try it with pesto asap!
Corkscrew is great to pierce squash.
Thanks for all the great tips!! I love Spaghetti and will be trying some of the different post here. The Corkscrew or hammer method seems the way to go to pierce the holes into the squash. You can use the squash to make chicken spaghetti also… it works great. Thanks again for all the post and all the great tips. I also think your son is a cutie… Shelia
Easy to make while camping! No hot dog and hamburgers here when were camping. Either pierce ALL over or cut in half, wrap well in heavy duty aluminum foil and place on the edge of the fire or on the grate. Carefully rotating, no a stick wont work so plan ahead. Then use as planned.
My husband laughs and said we see the most people around the camp when I’m cooking. While in Montana made a thai soup in a huge pot. He thought I’d lost my mind until the people started showing up and we offered a meal.
Tonight, chow mein spaghetti squash!
Thanks so much. I made a huge pot of spaghetti sauce with sausage and meatballs and am going to put the spaghetti squash in the microwave in the morning the way you said to cook it. I plan to mix the squash along with some angel hair pasta. I have cooked squash in the micro before, but this one is a pretty hefty squash and I appreciate you saying do it in 5-minute increments. You’re wonderful! Thank you!
You’re welcome Annie! I like how you mix the two!
so going to try it this way!! The BEST way I’ve eaten it is with Sunshine Sauce its amazing! …google it, you wont be sorry =)
I’m googling now!! Thank you!
We have been on a low carb diet. We love spaghetti squash and decided to smoke it in a smoker, along with the meat and made a sauce inside on the stove leaving enough room for the drippings to simmer in when we got done. It took a while for the squash to complete and we put 1 squash cut in half with the cut sides down.
Used 1 pound of meat and made it like 1 big burger 1 1/2 ” thick. We put bell pepper, onion, celery, garlic, salt and pepper inside the hamburger meat before cooking. Time for both to get done at around 250-275 was 2 hrs. We enjoyed it very much and had a side salad with tomato, cucumber, onion, celery, bell pepper and of course lettuce.
In the sauce we put can tomatoes, tomato sauce, basil, parsley Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper along with oregano. A little bit of liquid smoke was also used, about a tablespoon. simmered about 1 hour.
When I make my squash, I remember to poke it all over with a fork or knife. Then I wrap it several times in paper towels. One time, even though I had poked it, it DID explode and the noise was bad but the toweling helped a bit, as the squash stayed confined to the paper towel.
I make a complete meal out of it by browning ground beef, or turkey, sweet bell peppers, onion, mushrooms, my favorite spaghetti or maranara and a little grated cheese. After microwaving, cutting it lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and fill with the mixture. Transfer the 2 halves to a pan. Bake at 350 degrees just till everything is warmed through….cuz basically everything is cooked. Add a salad and a couple pieces of garlic bread, you’ve got dinner.
Delicious Sharon!!!! I love how you make the meal!
I use the microwave method and I pierce mine (probably too much).
You waned some ideas, well fist, I won’t eat a spaghetti squash withoout fresh Parm cheese on it. Add to that is the simple yet delicious way I eat it. I pour CLASSICO Brand different alfredo sauces such as Sun Died Tomato Alfredo, Tomato & Four Cheese Alfredo. At Walmart they are only $2.00 a jar. I cook mine 12 min tout I roll it 1/3 the way over for 4/min each. After you’ve easily cut and scraped the “guts”, fork the squash into your “spaghetti”, plate it, put on plenty of fresh Parmesan and butter (butter optional) out on top of squash before you layer on the Alfredo sauce of your choice. Heat that approx 90 seconds.
How many times y’all pierce the squash would be appropriated. My arm hurts afterwards!
Im not fan of the whole spaghetti sauce on top… so what I do is…sautee spinach w/chopped garlic, onions and some sweet italian sausage in a little bit of butter or olive oil if im out. Toss in the spaghetti squash and brown it up a bit. Sprinkle salt & pepper, fresh parmesan and call it a night.
When I buy spaghetti squash at the grocery store, I have one of the produce people slice it in half for me. They wrap each half in plastic wrap, & then the two halves in plastic wrap again,
I also have the deli quarter my rotisserie chicken. A good grocery store will be glad to do it.
I sautee onions & garlic in a bit of olive oil, add ground turkey, & spaghetti sauce, to make a thick & hearty topping for the squash.
Sounds delicious!!!! And great tip on having the store slice and wrap!
I forgot to make holes in it and it exploded in the microwave!
Oh no!!
thank you for sharing, I would have never thought about doing this and it turned out wonderfully. I put a little bit of olive oil and crazy salt and it was delicious. Can you cook a Butternut squash in the same fashion?
I have cooked spaghetti squash like this for years. It is so much quicker. I use an ice pick and poke several holes in the squash to let the steam escape. Otherwise you will have a huge mess in your microwave to clean up. Let it cool for a few minutes and then cut and scrape out the seeds. If it’s a large one I micro for 4 minutes flip it over and then micro again for 4 minutes. It is perfect every time.
My father grew these in his garden in the 70’s. They produced very well. My mom got quite creative in using them. She had sweet and savory recipes. We shared them with neighbors and friends they had never seen such a thing.
Guess I didn’t make enough cuts in it – BOOM! The explosion blew the microwave door open and squash was all over my kitchen. I have learned my lesson.
Katie,
I can’t tell you how happy I was to come across your instructions to microwave a spaghetti squash for the spaghetti-like strands! I was planning to bake it, but had a very difficult time cutting it, just to remove the stem part. What a struggle! I almost gave up and tossed it. Your simple recipe worked perfectly! So easy dealing with it after microwaving! I sauteed some garlic in olive oil, added the strands and salt/peppered. Still have the other half for another time. Thanks again, Kate! You saved the day!
Thanks for the instructions, Katie! I’m going to give it a go.
yumm. Great idea to microwave. I did this tonight with butternut squash, and it worked great. Making a butternut soup now. It was much easier seeding, and scraping meat out, and no muss or fuss.
Also, much less wasteful. Got almost all the squash out!
Mine exploded in the microwave after only 8 minutes. Made quite the mess and I made a lot of cuts in it.
Since I am pretty much Lucille Ball when it comes to clumsy accidents, I love having an option that does not involve me trying to cut a hard, round squash on a flat surface without impaling myself. 🙂 Thanks!
We live it with shrimp and tomatoes. After you “spaghetti” is ready just sauté some shrimp quickly in a large skillet, as soon as they’re pink throw in a can of your favorite flavored diced tomatoes, juice and all. There are so many yummy flavors out there, or plain is just fine.. Then throw the squash in the pan a toss it all until heated through. Such a quick dinner. It’s FABULOUS cold too for lunch!
OMG Me too. This is my first time here and I am thrilled with all of the ways spaghetti squash can be made, especially in the microwave.
Thank you so much for this. I knew there had to be a better way. I started baking it whole a while back but I needed a faster means tonight and thought I would search it out. You were the answer I needed. Thanks again for saving my dinner tonight on time, heating up the house during summer, and carbs.;-)
Thank you for this cooking method. I only discovered spaghetti squash last year and enjoy the taste and calorie lowering. The only part I did not like was having to get my husband to saw it in half and then bake it in the oven for what took too long. With the microwave method, I can do the whole thing by myself in less time. Can’t wait to try it!
Wow this is awesome thanks