The Biggest Mistakes Everyone Makes When Cooking Spaghetti Squash

If you're looking to add more healthy foods to your diet, consuming more spaghetti squash is a fantastic way to go about it. This bright yellow, oval winter squash is quickly become one of our favorite varieties because of its unique texture. A cooked spaghetti squash shreds will turn into dozens of spaghetti-like "noodles" when probed with a fork, transforming into a perfect low-carb replacement for pasta. This winter squash is not only low calorie and high fiber, but it also boasts a ton of nutritional benefits, from vitamin C and vitamin B6 to antioxidants like beta carotene (via Cleveland Clinic).

While spaghetti squash cooks very similarly to other types of popular winter squashes, it does have a few distinguishing characteristics that you'll want to pay attention to. Once you know the best ways to cook spaghetti squash and the trick behind making it easier to cut, you'll be a squash-cooking pro in no time. (And no, it doesn't always have to be eaten like pasta.)

Spaghetti squash probably isn't the first food most people think of when foodborne illness comes up, but it is possible to get sick from eating spaghetti squash. While winter squash doesn't generally carry the same risk of salmonella and E. coli as meat products, the CDC recommends washing all fruits and vegetables under running water, even if you don't plan to eat the peel. This food safety practice extends to spaghetti squash, so you'll want to rinse the entire yellow surface before cutting into it.

Healthline explains that fruits and vegetables are touched by many hands between the time they're harvested and when they make it into your grocery cart. It's safe to assume that at least one of those hands was unclean and could potentially contaminate the squash's exterior. Bacteria like listeria can be found in soil and contaminate winter squash, as it did during the 2021 butternut squash recall, reported by Food Safety News. Cutting into a spaghetti squash without washing it first can transfer those contaminants into the flesh inside. Listeria is particularly dangerous to pregnant women, leading to potential miscarriage or premature birth, and it can cause other potentially serious side effects like fever or vomiting (via Mayo Clinic).

After you've cut into the spaghetti squash, the next step is to remove the seeds. It's certainly not everyone's favorite step — those seeds are stringy and slimy — and most people tend to scoop them directly into the trash bin. While it does take a little bit of extra work, we would urge you to save those seeds. One Green Planet reports that not only are all winter squash seeds edible, but they have fantastic nutritional value, too.

Saving the seeds is as easy as scooping out the pulp and transferring it to a bowl of warm water. Using clean hands, agitate the squash pulp to loosen the seeds from the stringy bits. You don't need to obsessively remove all the flesh, as any stragglers still taste great after the seeds have been roasted. Transfer the seeds to a colander and rinse them with cold water before patting them dry with a clean kitchen towel.

From there, there are several ways to use squash seeds. Roast them like pumpkin seeds for a snack or salad garnish, add them to homemade trail mix or seeded breads, or turn them into seed butter or soup. The possibilities are endless.

There's definitely a time and a place to cut spaghetti squash lengthwise. Turning the squash into boats — like with our favorite spaghetti squash lasagna boats recipe — basically creates an edible serving dish. That said, if you're planning to serve spaghetti squash in a bowl or on a serving platter, there's a better way to cut it: into rings. For starters, this method cooks slightly faster (20 to 30 minutes for rings compared to the boat's 30 to 40 minutes). More importantly, we think it tastes better. The rings create more surface area, which allows each ring to become caramelized to deep brown perfection in the hot oven. That adds a subtle sweetness to the finished dish.

You'll want to start by removing and discarding the top half-inch of each end. Then, cut the remaining squash into two-inch rounds. Scrape out the seeds from the center of each round to turn them into a ring. After cooking, you can use a fork to remove the skin and fluff up the flesh, which will turn into a little noodle nest.

According to The Whole Portion, many varieties of winter squash are safe to eat raw, including spaghetti squash. In its raw form, spaghetti squash has a nutty flavor and is full of nutrients. If you choose to eat spaghetti squash raw, you'll want to be sure to cut it into very small pieces as it has a crunchy texture that would be hard to get through if served as large chunks. That said, it's not necessarily healthier to eat it raw, and the texture obtains a noticeable improvement when it's cooked. Furthermore, it's much more difficult to cut into those small pieces when it's raw.

Choosing to serve raw spaghetti squash is one thing, but it's quite another thing to serve it undercooked. When it hasn't been cooked long enough, the flesh won't release like noodles, causing them to be crunchy and unpleasant. To check the doneness of spaghetti squash, pierce the squash with a fork. If the flesh flakes off like spaghetti noodles, give it a taste to make sure the texture is soft and isn't overly crunchy. You can continue to cook it in five to 10 minute increments until it reaches the desired consistency.

Some foods benefit from low-and-slow cooking temperatures while others turn out better when they're roasted at the oven's high heat settings. When it comes to spaghetti squash, it's much better to choose a high oven temperature. Most recipes start with the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, but recipes for spaghetti squash rings call for even higher temperatures, like 425 degrees Fahrenheit. This high heat level promotes caramelization, which begins at 338 degrees (via Webstaurant Store).

It all comes down to something called the Maillard reaction — the chemical process that occurs when sugars and amino acids encounter heat. At high temperatures, the top of the cut spaghetti squash will caramelize and crisp up. That finish would turn out a little weird with regular spaghetti noodles, but it adds an appealing texture to winter squash. If you were to roast the squash at lower temperatures, the squash will still cook and soften, but it will become too soft. Without the caramelized top, you'll end up with an uninspired mushy texture that's bound to disappoint.

Like most winter squash, spaghetti squash will probably last a while after you bring it home from the farmers market or grocery store. According to Bonnie Plants, every variety is unique, and spaghetti squash should last for up to four to five weeks when stored in proper conditions (50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit with a relative humidity of 60 to 70%). Your home pantry is likely a little hotter than that, so Does It Go Bad anticipates you probably have less than a month to use spaghetti squash when you get it home from the store.

That's a long time, but it would be a mistake to use spaghetti squash once it's started going bad. Some small unsavory spots can be cut away, but you'll want to toss the squash if it feels mushy, soft, or hollow. These could be signs of mold, but these squashes won't taste very good even if the blemishes aren't directly harmful to your health. Purdue University advises throwing away spaghetti squash with large brown spots, which is a sign of black rot.

Everyone's favorite way to serve spaghetti squash is as a pasta replacement. This isn't a bad idea by any means. Cooked spaghetti squash flesh flakes off to form noodles that closely resemble spaghetti pasta without the carbs or gluten. So it's a no-brainer to combine spaghetti squash with marinara and meatballs, alfredo sauce, bolognese, or turn it into lasagna. But with such a versatile ingredient, it would be a mistake not to think outside the box. Spaghetti squash is delicious in a number of other preparations, so feel free to explore if you get bored with Italian cuisine.

You'll almost forget spaghetti squash is a vegetable if you roll it up in a tortilla and make a burrito with squash instead of rice. You can also combine the cooked strands with egg to make latkes, or egg and flour to make fritters. If you squeeze out the excess water, you can transform the noodles into a gluten-free crust for pizza or garlic bread, too.