Beef Bolognese Spaghetti Squash is the gluten-free and paleo pasta dish of your dreams! Tender roasted spaghetti squash noodles are covered in a beefy bacon tomato sauce flavored with Italian herbs.
Healthy Spaghetti Squash Pasta with Beef Bolognese Sauce
Spaghetti with tomato sauce is a classic comfort food dinner that everybody enjoys. But the average recipe doesn’t work for people following a gluten-free or paleo diet. When I went on a paleo diet fast with my husband, I created the most amazing paleo and gluten-free pasta dish that I haven’t stopped making since. And now I’m sharing it with you!
It starts with a simple batch of oven-baked spaghetti squash pasta and is complete with an ultra flavorful bolognese sauce. If you aren’t familiar with bolognese, I’ve got a feeling you’re about to discover your new favorite homemade pasta sauce.
It’s an Italian meat sauce that features diced onion, chopped carrots and plenty of traditional Italian seasonings. My version includes bacon bits and a touch of cinnamon for even more irresistible flavor. It is sweet, salty, hearty, light, and all kinds of yummy!
What You’ll Need
This diet-friendly pasta dish uses fresh ingredients that are healthy as well as delicious. It doesn’t get better than that!
- Spaghetti Squash: Prepare your spaghetti squash noodles with this easy recipe.
- Coconut Oil: For sautéing.
- Onions: Diced into small chunks.
- Garlic Cloves: Freshly minced.
- Carrots: Finely diced.
- Bacon: Uncooked and cut into small pieces.
- Ground Beef: This recipe uses a full pound of lean ground beef.
- Fresh Herbs: Use 2 tablespoons each of basil, oregano and parsley, plus 1 teaspoon of thyme.
- Ground Cinnamon: The sweetness of the cinnamon helps to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes.
- Salt & Pepper: Added to taste.
- Canned Tomatoes: You’ll need a 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes and a 15-ounce can of diced tomatoes.
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How to Make Beef Bolognese Spaghetti Squash Pasta
This recipe is easy enough for the busiest of weeknights. Apart from the pasta, everything comes together in a single pan. You can even make the noodles in advance and refrigerate them until you’re ready to make the sauce and serve! If you do this, you just have to toss the noodles in the microwave to reheat them.
Cook Spaghetti Squash: Follow the instructions in the recipe linked above.
Sauté Onions: In the meantime, heat a large skillet to medium-high heat and add the coconut oil. Once melted, add the diced onions. Sauté them for 10 minutes, until slightly caramelized.
Add Garlic: Add the minced garlic and sauté for 30 seconds.
Sauté Carrots & Bacon: Add the diced carrots and bacon. Sauté for 5-7 minutes.
Cook Beef: Add in the lean ground beef and cook until there’s no more pink, about 6-8 minutes.
Add Seasonings: Add in the basil, oregano, parsley, thyme, ground cinnamon, salt and pepper. Stir to combine everything.
Add Tomatoes: Add in the canned tomatoes. Bring them to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes to let all the flavors combine.
Serve Over Noodles: Pour the sauce over the freshly-baked pasta and serve. If you made the pasta in advance, follow the reheating instructions in the recipe above before adding the sauce.
Tips for Success
I have a few handy tips to help you get this pasta dish just right. Here they are!
- Use Fresh Herbs: I don’t recommend substituting the fresh herbs for dried ones. You won’t get the same flavor from these particular herbs when they’re dried.
- Use a Food Processor for Dicing Veggies: If you’d rather not dice up your vegetables by hand, you can do it in a food processor to save time! Just make sure you dice the veggies separately and don’t grind them up too much.
- Season to Taste: You can always add more salt and pepper to your sauce once it’s complete. If desired, you can add more of any other seasoning as well. Give the sauce a taste before you pour it over the noodles to make sure it’s up to snuff.
Variation Ideas
Putting a spin on this recipe is a-okay. In fact, I’ve got some yummy suggestions of my own!
- Sub the Ground Beef for Ground Turkey: You could also use ground chicken or pork.
- Add Mushrooms: Sauté them along with the beef until they’re nice and tender. And don’t forget to cut them up beforehand.
- Use Different Noodles: Not a fan of spaghetti squash? You can serve your bolognese over Zoodles instead. If you’re gluten-free but not paleo, you could also use Butternut Squash Pasta. Feel free to go for regular wheat-based noodles if you’re not on a gluten-free or paleo diet.
- Spice it Up: Some people like their sauces a little spicier, and I’m here for it! Go ahead and throw in some red pepper flakes or chili powder if you’d like.
Serving Suggestions
I like to top off my bolognese spaghetti squash with a few fresh basil leaves or a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Either or both of these toppings add a lovely finishing touch. If you’re not paleo or gluten-free, I highly suggest throwing some garlic bread into the mix as well. Oh, and there’s one more thing I almost always serve this pasta dish with – a glass of red wine!
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
Leftover spaghetti squash with bolognese sauce can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days. Once cooled, place your leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate them. If you keep the sauce and the pasta in separate airtight containers, the pasta will last for up to a week.
Reheat individual portions of spaghetti squash pasta in the microwave for 20 seconds at a time. If the sauce is separate, you can warm it up over a medium-heat burner on the stove. Add a splash of water if needed to bring it to the proper consistency.
Can I Freeze Bolognese Spaghetti Squash?
Absolutely – you can freeze the sauce and the pasta separately or store them together. The sauce lasts for up to 3 months in the freezer while the noodles can be frozen for up to 6 months.
Whether you store them together or separately, place the cooled leftovers into a freezer bag. Squeeze out all the air and seal the bag completely. Leave some extra room for the sauce to expand and lay the bag down flat in the freezer. Thaw out your leftovers in the fridge overnight before you reheat them.
Print
Beef Bolognese Spaghetti Squash
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stove
- Cuisine: American
Description
Beef Bolognese Spaghetti Squash is the gluten-free and paleo pasta dish of your dreams! Tender roasted spaghetti squash noodles are covered in a beefy bacon tomato sauce flavored with Italian herbs.
Ingredients
- 3–5 lbs. of spaghetti squash
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 2 small onions, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups of carrots, diced
- 4 strips of bacon, diced
- 1 lb. lean ground beef
- 2 tablespoons of basil
- 2 tablespoons of oregono
- 2 tablespoons of parsley
- 1 tablespoon of thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- salt & pepper
- 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
- 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes
Instructions
- Cook Spaghetti Squash – follow me how to guide here.
- In the meantime, heat a large skillet to medium high heat. Add coconut oil, once melted, add small diced onions. Saute for 10 minutes, until slightly caramelized.
- Add minced garlic cloves, saute for 30 seconds. Add diced carrots and strips of diced bacon. Saute for 5-7 minutes.
- Add in lean ground beef and cook until no more pink, about 6-8 minutes.
- Add in basil, oregano, parsley, thyme, ground cinnamon, salt & pepper. Stir to combine everything.
- Add in crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes to let all the flavors combine.
- Serve over Spaghetti Squash Noodles.
Filed Under:
More Gluten Free Pasta Recipes
I’ve got you covered for all of your gluten-free pasta needs. Just try out some of these tasty dishes!
- Basil Pesto Pasta with Grilled Vegetables
- Creamy Shrimp Pasta with Blistered Tomatoes
- Low Carb Zucchini Lasagna Roll Ups
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26 comments on “Beef Bolognese Spaghetti Squash”
I am a novice when it comes to cooking, and, I’m into the paleo thing. I really appreciate the pictures and step by step instructions. I made this recipe tonight, while it didn’t look like ur pictures, I thought it was very good! When herbs are called for, is the measurement referring to dry or fresh? Thanks again. Ur blog is a wonderful learning tool.
Oh, so glad you enjoyed it Jen and appreciate the step by step. 🙂 Yeah that you enjoyed the recipe girl!
When I have herbs in the recipe, I am referring to using dry herbs {unless otherwise stated}. However that being said, you could always use fresh herbs instead of the dry. It just needs to be double because fresh herbs don’t pack as much punch as dry. {ex. if a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of dry basil then I would do 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon of fresh basil} Hope that helps, glad I’m helping ya learn girl, thanks my goal. 🙂
I love spaghetti squash! Can’t wait to give it this a try! Thanks for sharing at The Weekend Retreat hope to see you back on Thursday!
I am a spaghetti squash convert, totally using it for pasta from now on. 🙂
We were paleo followers for a while, but we decided to modify the diet to fit our family. I’ve always wanted to try spaghetti squash or zucchini pasta. Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Yeah, we modify it a little bit to meet our family as well. 🙂 Spaghetti Squash noodles really are great and have a much better flavor than pasta in my opinion, it adds more flavor to the dish. Hope you get a chance to try it Dee! 🙂 Thanks so much for stopping by.
I’m thinking of trying this with ground turkey just cuz our Paleo diet includes so much red meat.
yeah, that would totally work because you still have the bacon that would give it flavor! Hope you enjoy Bethany!
I LOVE spaghetti squash! The only thing I don’t love about it is that it’s so darn hard to cut in half. But it’s totally worth it. Pinned this recipe to my healthy group board. Have a great evening, Krista!
haha.. I know. I almost cut my fingers off, literally put all my weight on it. I thought I was gonna stab myself trying to get the knife back out. eek! But your right, so totally worth it. 🙂 Thanks for the pin friend, have a great rest of the night.
That’s awesome Krista! It’s so great to hear that your fast brought about the closeness you were desiring. Did you see my posts on fasting this month? Argh! I had to repent and renew my mind. There’s so much more to it than just giving up food.
I need to try Paleo for a bit and see how I do and I’ve been meaning to try spaghetti squash but have yet to get around to it. Looks amazing!
Blessings to you friend!
Thanks Melanie! I didn’t see your post, I will have to search back and look, what’s the title?
You definitely should try Paleo, it really is great, minus the whole no sweets, dairy, or bread thing. {haha… which is almost everything I was eating before :)}
Thanks so much for the words of encouragement Melanie, it means alot!
Looks so hearty and satisfying! Love the addition of cinnamon…
Thanks Allie, that cinnamon is a fun twist. You get the taste right at the end of the bite and I love it. 🙂
Sphagetti squash is one of my favorite ways to make our pasta nights healthier without giving up that glass of wine!! I love the cinnamon twist in the bolognese sauce. Can’t wait to try this meal!! Ps: I’m so happy to hear your fast was so successful!! Loved all the recipes you shared.
haha… so with ya on that glass of wine girl. 🙂 Would be perfect with this meaty bolognese.
Thank so much on the encouragement through the fast, you were so sweet. I will probably still stick to the “paleo way” minus that occasion sweet treat or bread. 🙂
Great job on the Paleo Fast Krista, this bolognese over spaghetti squash looks amazing! Love that you are still on your Paleo kick and I can’t wait to give this dish a try 🙂
Thanks so much Kelly, you are always so encouraging and sweet! 🙂
I have always wanted to try this with squash. This might be the push I needed to make it!
Kim it was my first time doing it and I love it. Definitely doing this from now on. I love the flavor the squash adds to the dish, plus it feels so much lighter on your tummy. 🙂
I finally tried my favorite spaghetti sauce with spaghetti squash last fall, and I liked it better than pasta! I prefer it with squash now, and don’t feel deprived in the slightest. This looks delicious, Krista!
I know right! So delicious! Yeah for another spaghetti squash convert! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by and the sweet comment marcie!
wow, so appetizing…nice pictures, looking for spaghetti squash recipe, I’ll try this one, thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much Amallia. You will love it! I’m definitely making this one again soon. The squash in this dish mixed with the salty bolognese is awesome!
I love using spaghetti squash! I never buy/use regular pasta anymore!
I am a vegetarian, but always make a hearty sauce to top it with (or use vegan cheese to make mac and cheese!)
oh… the vegan cheese sounds interesting. I will have to try that next time. Thanks for sharing Tamar!