Grab that lone spaghetti squash sitting on your counter and break out the barbecue sauce! These BBQ Chicken Spaghetti Squash make low-carb eating fun and delicious!
Man this one was satisfying!
The idea first popped into my head a few months ago and I haven’t been able to shake my desire to try a barbecue spiked spaghetti squash ever since.
I’m super happy to report that I finally made my recipe daydream a reality and it was AWESOME!
I had mine straight out of the squash boat (as per usual!) and I served Paul’s baked casserole style with extra cheese and veggies and a dollop of sour cream on top of the BBQ drizzle. I may or may not have stolen some of his as well. Thumbs up all around, yo!
The smoky sweet sauce was delightful with the spaghetti squash and I’m already dreaming up what other veggies I can stuff into the mix next round. Mushrooms? Pineapple? Sweet Potato? Cauliflower? Tomatoes? Jalapeños?!
Let me at it!
Whether you rescue leftover or rotisserie chicken for this recipe, or cook it up with these sassy stuffed squash in mind, your plate is sure to be rocked!
As written, this recipe makes enough for two large portions (1 squash boat each) or 4 servings. Round out your plate with a healthy salad, fresh veggies and dip, or homemade coleslaw. Sweet potato fries would also be an awesome addition!
Ready for the recipe?
BBQ Chicken Spaghetti Squash
:: pin it for later ::
BBQ Chicken Spaghetti Squash
Ingredients
- 1 medium spaghetti squash
- 1/4-1/2 green bell pepper (diced)
- ¼ red or white onion (sliced or chopped)
- 12 oz chicken breast (2 cups chicken cooked + chopped)
- ⅓ cup favorite bbq sauce
- 2 oz grated cheese plus extra to taste
TASTY EXTRAS:
- jalapeño slices
- fresh parsley or cilantro
- extra BBQ sauce for drizzling
- ranch dressing for drizzling
- any extra veggies your heart desires
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Slice your spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. For easy cutting, feel free to stick each squash in the microwave for 4-5 minutes to soften it up just a tad. The knife slides through way easier this way!
- Next grab a lipped baking sheet or a rimmed baking dish.
- Rub the cut side of the squash with a teeny bit of olive oil.
- Place inside a baking dish or atop rimmed baking sheet and roast face-down for about 40 minutes, or until tender and easily pierced with a fork.
- Cooking time will vary a bit depending on the size of your squash, and larger squash will need to roast a bit longer to tenderize. Once ready, the once rock-hard exterior of the squash will be visibly softened with a tender interior.
- The squash can be roasted and stored in the fridge for a few days if you’d like to meal prep and plan ahead for a speedier dinner.
- While the squash roasts, start on the chicken and veggies.
- For the chicken, you can cook it any which way you prefer. I added 12 oz of boneless, skinless chicken to my Instant Pot with 1 cup of water and set it to 5 minutes on HIGH with a natural pressure release. If using leftover or rotisserie chicken, you’ll want to measure out 2 cups, chopped.
- Add 1/3 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce to the chicken and mix well.
- Next heat a skillet to medium-high heat with a drizzle of oil and sauté your onion and peppers to soften until tender. Add to BBQ chicken.
- Once squash is roasted, allow to cool until easily handled or pop on an oven mit and use a fork to separate and fluff the strands of spaghetti squash.
- Remove about 1/2-3/4 the spaghetti squash strands and toss together with your chicken and veggie mixture and a little bit of your cheese.
- Stuff back into your squash boat (load ’em up!) and top with the remaining cheese.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for approx. 10-15 minutes until golden and bubbly.
- Top with an extra drizzle of barbecue sauce, ranch dressing (if desired!) and any extra toppings your heart desires.
- To round out your meal, serve with a leafy green salad or fresh veggies + dip. Fresh coleslaw would also be an amazing addition! Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
We LOVED this BBQ Chicken Spaghetti Squash and hope you do too!
Spaghetti Squash Tips and Tricks
- Spaghetti squash are typically harvested in early Fall, and often available in Fall, Winter, AND Spring because they store so well! Score!
- Store your spaghetti squash in a cool, dry place (the pantry works great!) and they can stay fresh up to 3 months!
- Storing raw squash in the fridge can make it spoil more quickly – no thanks!
- Cooked spaghetti squash can be stored in the fridge for 2 days; great news for leftover lovers!
- For stuffed squash boats, roasting is king! Serving it up casserole style? You can cook your squash in your slow cooker or even in an electric pressure cooker (I love my Instant Pot!)
- 4-5 minutes in the microwave can make your spaghetti squash MUCH easier to cut in half.
- When scooping out the seeds from the middle, save them! They taste amazing salted and roasted just like pumpkin seeds!
- Accidentally under-roasted? Fret not! You can return the squash to the oven and roast a little longer if you find yourself with a ginormous gourd that needs extra oven time.
- Looking for more spaghetti squash recipes? Check out 7 Ways to Stuff a Spaghetti Squash
Hi Jen,
The only comment I neglected to mention in my previous comment is that it took 20-25 minutes to cook in a 350F oven. Certainly not a biggie, but thought I would mention it!
Love your site!
Made this the other night & it was SO delicious! Will definitely be making this over & over again!
WHAT TYPE OF CHEESE DO YOU LIKE BEST ON THESE?
Hi Ann! I’ve used a combination of mozzarella and cheddar and loved it! Havarti cheese is also awesome here too. I’ve even used the bagged shredded Mexican style blend before and it was so so good.
Hi Jenn! I’ve just stumbled across this recipe and am looking forward to making it soon! I noticed your comment about making it “casserole style”. To do this, do you scrape out all the squash instead of just about half? I’m assuming that you do, mixing it all with the BBQ sauce and other ingredients before baking. Do you have to make any adjustments to the other ingredients (more BBQ sauce, etc.)? Does it still just bake for 10-15 more minutes? Thanks so much!
Hi Ondrea! Yes you just scrape out all the squash strands and combine with the filling and toppings in a baking dish or casserole pan. I personally didn’t make any adjustments to the ingredients but you can always add more of your favorites since you’ll be able to “overstuff” it now that it’s in a larger vessel by adding extra chicken/veggies. Bake time will be around the same since all the ingredients are already cooked/hot so 15 min should do the trick. I like things crazy hot so sometimes I’ll leave it in for 20. Hope this helps! xoxo
I’ve been making this regularly since.i found it last year and never get tired of it. I’ve played around with the meat and other ingredients and it turns out brilliantly every time. Time for me to start using more of the recipes here. SO GOOD!!
Thanks Rich! I’m so glad it’s been crazy versatile and a total hit for ya! Can’t wait to hear what you try next! xo
Hi Jenn,
Do you know the nutritional information for this recipe ?
Hi Sam! Let me run it through the recipe card’s calculator for ya! It should update momentarily. xo
My husband and I love love love the parmasean garlic spaghetti squash recipe you have, and we finally decided to branch out to try this one. SO GOOD!! Fantastic flavor. Thanks for sharing another great recipe!
Woot woot! Thank you Courtney!
Tried this tonight and it was very nice. My mum made it so I don’t know how easy the process was but it seemed easy and we both have never tried spaghetti squash before but it was very good with this filling. I recommend adding more pepper, I used red after adding green and I also added sweetcorn which added a lot of flavour and texture. However, There was a lot of filling which I just shoved in the squash but could have left 1/2 of it and the squash would have still been filled so recommend halving the filling or leaving some out and if you want more you can add more, my mum and I still finished it though because we knew it wouldn’t keep well in the fridge!!! as stuffed as the squash was with all the filling
Hey Jenn,
The recipe looks great and I also wanna try it but i am not sure about bbq sauce? Can you tell me which one to chose as i don’t have any favorite ones!
Hi Jinnah, thank you! We love using Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce (the spicy one is my jam right now!) and Denny Mike’s.
This was a huge hit! My husband eats on a low carb diet and I try to eat a healthy diet. Meals don’t always coincide! I made it with Costco pre-cooked spaghetti squash, pre-cooked chicken skewers and leftover grilled veggies from the night before and it was still delicious (and fast). This will be served in our home often!
This was so freaking good! I love recipes like this, so creative and very few ingredients! Spaghetti squash is amazing and versatile! Love the drizzle of sauces and cilantro, I left the onions out, I love this recipe!
I made this recipe casserole style with just half of a squash and it was amazing! I used white cheddar and added some bacon bits. My husband and I could only finish half of it. I have another half a squash waiting to try another recipe. I also used this idea to make a fajita style spaghetti squash and that was amazing too. My husband wants me to try to make pad Thai with it. If you want to use these as ideas for your blog you are welcome to! Thanks for all the great yummy healthy recipies!
Thank you Cari!!! So glad the recipe was a hit and that you’ve come up with so many tasty ways to serve up spaghetti squash! Amazing! 🙂
This was absolutely amazing!
I will try the spaghetti squash it is looks so good
Made this tonight and topped the spaghetti squash with steamed broccoli, sliced cherry tomatoes, and green onions before pouring on the sauce. So delish!!!
Soooooo good! Will be making this again for sure
Thank you Meghan! So thrilled it earned repeat status 🙂 xoxo
I made it and it was bomb! So delicious and filling! And the best part is that it was so easy! Prepped the squash, cooked veg and chicken while it baked, stuffed em and did dishes while it got golden and melty in the last 10 minutes. I’ll definitely be making this again!
Girrrrrl you just made my day! So thrilled you enjoyed it, Jessica and that it earned repeat status! 🙂 xoxo