February 2, 2018
Two to three times a month I make spaghetti squash; normally trying to disguise it in some semi-healthy casserole. Up until this week, our favorite has been a pizza like casserole that I came up with myself… 9×9 pan with precooked spaghetti squash, browned ground turkey, pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese and turkey pepperoni, yum! Well, I had intentions of making that this week but then last minute changed my mind. I had some cooked chicken breast to use up and I was hungry for the buffalo chicken pasta dish that I make and my family loves. (You can find that recipe here.) Who doesn’t love buffalo chicken dip? Who wouldn’t want an excuse to eat that for dinner? Well picture chicken wing dip marries penne pasta and ta-da – a dinner everyone loves! (Thankfully my kids like a little spice!) So, you see where I’m headed; it occurred to me, why not use the spaghetti squash in place of the pasta for the chicken wing pasta recipe!?! It was a winner!
My kids, who overhear us watching ‘Chopped’ sometimes, have recently been acting as judges at the dinner table (🙄😗), well my little judges tonight gave it two thumbs up and ‘a million stars.’ 😁 We all agreed this was our favorite spaghetti squash disguise so far!
Sorry there’s no pictures- I didn’t expect to blog about it and there wasn’t much left to photograph! That’s gotta say something, right? 😀
Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash
(Inspired by WhitneyBond.com)
2 cups shredded chicken
8 oz cream cheese (I used reduced fat)
1/3 cup buffalo sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup light ranch (or blue cheese)
1 large or 2 small, pre-cooked\prepared spaghetti squash
Melt the cream cheese along with the buffalo sauce and chicken broth in a large skillet over medium heat. Whisk until melted, creamy, and all incorporated. Add spices and combine to stir. Stir in the ranch dressing, then add chicken. Allow to simmer for about 5-10 minutes. Then add the spaghetti squash and simmer until heated through, approximately another 10 minutes. Enjoy!
How do you cook your spaghetti squash? I know many who cut in half and roast. I’ve found this leaves a lot of unwanted extra moisture; no one wants a soggy casserole. I’ve found my favorite way to roast it is to cut it as shown below (thank you pinterest!), roast on a pan @400* for about an hour. Cool and shred/pull apart from outer rind. Super easy. I usually do this the day before, then my spaghetti squash casserole is a much faster/easier dinner the following night.
Runner With A Hunger 