One of the things I love about eating spaghetti squash is that my mental veggie consumption checklist for my family goes … check, check, and check! Plus it tastes great too – especially in this Spaghetti Squash Carbonara recipe. My 9-year-old honestly isn’t a huge fan when I pair spaghetti squash with tomato sauce, but she’ll scarf down just about anything that’s covered in bacon and cream (won’t we all? LOL). So I hope your family enjoys this one as much as mine does! :)
My Go-To Store-Bought Bacon: Applegate
For this recipe, I used our favorite bacon – Applegate Organic! One of the things I love about their company is that they understand that bacon and other meats shouldn’t be an everyday thing. One of the changes we made when we cut out highly processed food was to reduce our consumption of meat. This recipe is a perfect example of how you can use meat just to flavor a dish – instead of it always being the centerpiece.
And to top things off, Applegate recently announced their commitment to removing GMOs from their entire supply chain, which means a third-party will verify that their meat comes from animals on a non-GMO diet. Woo hoo! Enjoy this new recipe. :)
Spaghetti Squash Carbonara
Ingredients
- 1 spaghetti squash (about 3 pounds)
- 8 ounces bacon
- 1/2 onion (peeled and diced)
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese (freshly grated)
- salt (to taste)
- pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400° F. Cut the squash in half longways and scoop out (and discard) the seeds. Place it flesh side down on an oiled baking sheet and bake until tender when pierced with a fork, about 40 - 50 minutes. When ready, use a fork to shred the squash into noodle-sized pieces.
- Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until brown on both sides and crispy. Move the bacon to a paper towel lined plate and reserve 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease in the pan.
- In a bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, eggs, and grated cheese and set aside.
- Cook the onion and garlic in the bacon grease over medium heat for about 2 - 3 minutes. Add the cream mixture to the hot pan while whisking continuously (so it doesn't curdle). Bring to a light boil while still whisking and cook for another minute or two until the sauce slightly thickens - it doesn't take long!
- Crumble the bacon and transfer it and the squash noodles to the skillet with the sauce, stir to combine, and serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition Facts
Hello! Made this recipe from the Real Food on a Budget Cookbook as well. I doubled the recipe for a group of 8 I know that not everything looks like the picture, but I was thinking the sauce would be light around the spaghetti squash, but instead it became really soupy and the spaghetti squash got lost. Was this supposed to happen? It was still really yummy — I will probably just be lighter on the egg/parm sauce next time. Thanks for any information you can share! :-)
HI there, found this recipe in your Real food on a Budget Book and the cream is missing in that recipe! Why the change in this recipe and will it still be great if I omit the cream? Thanks!
Hi Danielle, correct, the book omits it so that it could stay within “budget,” and works with or without it. – Nicole
We absolutely LOVED it. Hubby wants it again.
Delicious! We’ve enjoyed it twice now. The second time we added mushrooms, and will continue making it that way. So good!
This was seriously delicious! After a few spaghetti squash recipes with tomato sauce, I honestly wasn’t such a fan either. The sweetness of the squash just didn’t blend well with the tomatoes in my opinion. But in this recipe the sweetness of the cream paired with the saltiness of the bacon (I actually used prosciutto) complemented the squash perfectly. My husband really loved it too!
A quick question though. I didn’t realize until I started cooking that the heavy cream I bought (Organic from Trader Joe’s) had “gellan gum” in it. I was disappointed to find an ingredient I didn’t recognize in something as simple as heavy cream. I didn’t even think to look at the ingredients when I was at the store. Are there heavy creams that don’t use gellan gum? And would it be better to buy a non-organic one without it than an organic one with it?
No. It is important for a high fat milk to be organic. Fat stores the toxins found in non-organic milks, pesticides, antibiotics and other chemicals. This link might help you find a cream without additives: https://www.toxinless.com/heavy-cream. Lisa usually buys Organic Valley.
I never thought this would go over well with my family -but they loved it! My husband and two kids (ages 9 & 11) both gave it a thumbs up and said I need to make it again.
I’d tried spaghetti squash once before with a red sauce, and no one liked it. The bacon and cream made this one totally different and delicious.
What would you serve with this dish?
Hi there. A green salad or baby sweet peas?
Hello, I made this for the family tonight & they all loved it. I added celery, zucchini, & frozen peas, and I used coconut cream. It worked really well. Thank you so much for this recipe.
This recipe looks easy to make! Love your blog!
I love your site and your recipes but most of all I adore your dedication to real food. Therefore I was deeply disappointed by your sponsor. I believe that we should stick to our principles especially when a blog is followed by so many fans and influence the meal planning of so many families.
Still love you though …..
Is there a good non dairy substitute for the heavy cream? Thank you!
Hi there. I use coconut cream in many sauce recipes but have not tried it in this one.
I used coconut cream when making it and it worked well.
Yes yes yes!!!! I have an overload of spaghetti squash from my garden and I needed a new way to cook it. Thanks for the recipe it could not have come at a better time.
Hi there! have you tried this on zoodles?
Hi. No, we have not but let us know if you do.
Yum! My kids love spaghetti Carbonara and puréed butternut squash, but ironically not spaghetti squash (even with butter and parm). Maybe I was missing the bacon. I’ll be sure to pick up a spaghetti squash at the farmer’s market and give this recipe a try.
I love that you’ve done a spaghetti squash recipe! :) Can’t wait to try!