Keto Mexican Spaghetti Squash Casserole – easy low carb comfort food!

If you are looking for some low carb comfort food, try this keto Mexican spaghetti squash casserole. Spaghetti squash noodles are mixed with chicken, beans and other tasty ingredients to give you a creamy, cheesy keto casserole. Each serving has only 5.3g net carbs.

You might also like this low carb breakfast spaghetti squash casserole recipe!

We did not grow any spaghetti squash this year but now that they are popping up at Aldi every week I started craving them. If you have never tried spaghetti squash I urge you to try it because it’s fun to eat, delicious, healthy and pretty low carb.

Today I made this keto Mexican spaghetti squash casserole and it does not disappoint. I mixed the spaghetti squash in with cooked chicken and other ingredients to make a creamy mixture that is topped with cheese. I froze the leftovers for a quick low carb lunch too!

 

Is Spaghetti Squash low carb?

Spaghetti squash is a great alternative to pasta but it does have carbs. A cup of cooked spaghetti squash has 41.9 calories, 10g carbs and 2.2g of fiber. Therefore it has 7.9g of net carbs per cup.

I like to make it with low carb ingredients so that you can have a smaller portion and still get that pasta experience. So in my opinion spaghetti squash is low carb and keto but you have to watch how much you eat of it. 

I have lots of low carb spaghetti squash recipes on this blog if you too are a fan. 

 

 

3 Ways to Cook Spaghetti Squash

Lately I cook spaghetti squash in the Instant Pot because it’s so easy however there 3 ways that I have cooked it and here they are.

1. Instant Pot: You just stack the 2-4 cleaned squash halves in the pot (using the trivet that came with it), along with 1 cup of water and pressure cook for 5 minutes. Use the quick release to bring it down from pressure. Let cool then scrape out the insides. 
2. Microwave: Add the cleaned spaghetti squash to a baking dish with a little water and cook for  12 – 15 minutes until it is fork tender. Let cool before scraping out the insides. 
3. Baked in Oven: Cut and clean out the seeds of the spaghetti squash and place face down in a baking dish with a little bit of water. Bake in a 400°F oven for about 40 minutes. If you can pierce it with a fork it is done. Depending on the size of the squash it might take more time so cook a little longer if you don’t think it’s done. 

 

 

 

How to make this keto Mexican Spaghetti Squash Casserole

First of all the ingredients I used were cooked rotisserie chicken, black soy beans, salsa, spices, cheddar and gouda cheese, cream cheese and cooked spaghetti squash. 

A note about the black soy beans: These are great for when you miss beans in Mexican foods like chili or this Mexican casserole. They have the black bean flavor but a 1/2 cup has only 1g net carbs. I have only used this Eden brand of black soy beans and they are great.

 

 

Mexican squash casserole in a nutshell

1. Cook spaghetti squash any way you wish and let cool. Scrape out the squash but keep the skins for when you bake it at the end.
2. In a large skillet add the cream cheese, soy beans and chicken until the cream cheese is melted. Mix well and then add in the spaghetti squash, spices, 1/2 of the cheddar cheese and cilantro. Mix it well.
3. Spoon into the squash shells and top with salsa.
4. Then sprinkle gouda and remaining cheddar cheese then bake in a 350°F oven for 20-30 minutes. You want the cheese to get brown and melty.
5. Garnish with additional cilantro if you wish or even add some sour cream.

 

 

 

A note about the cheeses I used

Lately I have been in love with shredded gouda cheese. They sell it at Aldi now and it’s such a good melted cheese. I like it better than mozzarella because it’s a little stringy but not too much like mozzarella. So I like to mix it with another cheese that has a bit more flavor but might not be as creamy as the gouda. 

Also I like to buy cheddar cheese in a big chunky and grate myself. They put an additive in the pre-shredded bags of cheeses that adds a few carbs. Also it doesn’t taste as good as cheese you buy in a brick in my opinion.  I need to see if Aldi has a block of gouda cheese. 

 

 

 

Spaghetti Squash Tip

One of the reasons I like making spaghetti squash in the Instant Pot is that you can cook 2 whole squashes at once. I like to store cooked spaghetti squash in refrigerator for lots of low carb dishes like these:

• low carb goat cheese and walnut spaghetti squash
• coconut basil shrimp spaghetti squash
• keto spaghetti squash breakfast casserole
• low carb spaghetti squash pizza  skillet

 

I hope you like this as much as I did. It was creamy, cheesy and full of all those Mexican casserole flavors. The spaghetti squash even gives it a hint of sweetness. 

If you decide to freeze this, just scoop into containers after it’s baked and reheat in the microwave for 3-5 minutes. The nutritional information for 1 serving is:

225 cals / 10.4g fat / 7.9g carbs / 2.6g fiber / 25g protein = 5.3g net carbs