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Easy Garlic Parmesan Spaghetti Squash cooks in a flash thanks to the Instant Pot. This delicious low carb vegetarian friendly dish is the perfect accompaniment to your favorite grilled or roasted protein—from tender round steak, to baked lemon chicken or salmon cakes, but can also be served as a main when topped with your favorite marinara sauce or meat sauce.
We especially like this spaghetti squash topped with sausage spaghetti sauce!
How Many Calories and WW Points Garlic Parmesan Spaghetti Squash Recipe?
According to my calculations, each serving has about 93 calories. That’s a low calorie filling option when compared to a cup of pasta that packs a whopping 210 calories all by itself! (A cup of plain cooked spaghetti squash has about 40 calories.)
To see your WW Points for this recipe, track it in the WW App!
(You must be logged into WW on a smartphone or tablet.)
How to Make InstantPot Garlic Parmesan Spaghetti Squash, Step-by-Step
Step 1: Gather and prepare all ingredients.
Step 2: Place trivet inside inner pot and add 1 cup of water to pot.
Step 3: Add cleaned spaghetti squash halves to pot, placing them on the trivet. Put cover on pot in locked position.
Step 4: Move steam release valve to “Sealing” position and cook on HIGH pressure for 7 minutes.
Step 5: As soon as the cooking cycle completes, move the steam release valve to “Venting” position and quickly release the pressure/steam (being careful to not get burned). After the valve drops, unlock and remove the cover.
Step 6: Using oven mitts or tongs, carefully place the squash on a large cutting board (affiliate link). Remove the trivet from the inner pot and carefully dump out the hot water and wipe dry. Return the inner pot to the Instant Pot (affiliate link).
Step 7: Add olive oil to the inner pot and press the Sauté button. Add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds, then turn OFF to prevent burning.
Step 8: Hold the spaghetti squash with tongs or dish towel and scoop squash strands directly into the pot with the oil and garlic. Repeat with the second half. Stir in salt and pepper and Parmesan cheese. Taste and adjust seasonings, if desired.
Step 9: Spoon squash into a serving dish and top with fresh parsley and additional Parmesan, if desired.
Step 10: Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Recipe Notes
Cooking spaghetti squash in an Instant Pot is so much quicker and easier than using the oven. Cutting the spaghetti squash in half (crosswise not lengthwise) will result in longer strands, that look more like spaghetti. And scooping out all the seeds is much easier to do before cooking the squash.
The typical 3 pound spaghetti squash should yield about 4 cups of cooked “squash noodles.”
While the actually cooking time is only 7 minutes, you’ll see that we’ve put 15 minutes cook time in the recipe card below. This is because each pressure cooker will take several minutes to come up to pressure before the cooking cycle begins—so we added a few extra minutes. Regardless, this simple low carb side dish is still ready in less than 30 minutes!
Serving Suggestions
Enjoy as side dish to your favorite grilled or roasted meat or fish. Or cut out the carby pasta and enjoy a big bowl of garlic parmesan spaghetti squash topped with your favorite pasta sauce!
Ways to Use Leftovers
Store any leftover squash in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Can easily be reheated in microwave!
If you’ve made this Garlic Parmesan Spaghetti Squash, please give the recipe a star rating below and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. And stay in touch on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates.
Instant Pot Garlic Parmesan Spaghetti Squash Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 spaghetti squash (about 3 pounds), cut in half crosswise, cleaned of all seeds and strings
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- Chopped Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
Instructions
- Place trivet inside inner pot (for squash to sit on) and add 1 cup of water to pot.
- Add cleaned spaghetti squash halves to pot, placing them on the trivet. Put cover on pot in locked position.
- Move steam release valve to "Sealing" position and cook on HIGH pressure for 7 minutes.
- As soon as the cooking cycle completes, move the steam release valve to "Venting" position and quickly release the pressure/steam (being careful to not get burned). After the valve drops, unlock and remove the cover.
- Using oven mitts or tongs, carefully place the squash on a large cutting board (affiliate link). Remove the trivet from the inner pot and carefully dump out the hot water and wipe dry. Return the inner pot to the Instant Pot (affiliate link).
- Add olive oil to the inner pot and press the Sauté button. Add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds, then turn OFF to prevent burning.
- Hold the spaghetti squash with tongs or dish towel and scoop squash strands directly into the pot with the oil and garlic. Repeat with the second half. Stir in salt and pepper and Parmesan cheese. Taste and adjust seasonings, if desired.
- Spoon squash into a serving dish and top with fresh parsley and additional Parmesan, if desired.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
(Must be logged into WW on a smartphone or tablet.) 2 PointsPlus (Old plan) Cooking spaghetti squash in an InstantPot is so much quicker and easier than using the oven. Cutting the spaghetti squash in half (crosswise not lengthwise) will result in longer strands, that look more like spaghetti. And scooping out all the seeds is much easier to do before cooking the squash. While the actually cooking time is only 7 minutes, you’ll see that we’ve put 15 minutes cook time in the recipe card below. This is because each pressure cooker will take several minutes to come up to pressure before the cooking cycle begins—so we added a few extra minutes. Regardless, this simple low carb side dish is still ready in less than 30 minutes!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe source: The Fresh and Healthy Instant Pot Cookbook: 75 Easy Recipes for Light Meals to Make in Your Electric Pressure Cooker (affiliate link) by Megan Gilmore
