Candied Ginger Spaghetti Squash

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Spaghetti squash is a favorite in my family. The texture is great. It’s not too wet or mushy, and it really has a texture similar to pasta. It soaks up the flavor of whatever you put on it.

This year we grew our own garden and we grew spaghetti squash for the first time ever!! I wanted to make it super kid-friendly, so I created the following recipe. It turned out amazingly delicious. The ginger caramelizes on top and tastes just like candied ginger. We loved it so much we had it two nights in a row.

While I often flake the squash into a spaghetti pile and put sauce on top like marinara or pesto; in this case, I simply melted the mixture in while cooking. Then I place the whole squash wedge on a plate and flake it off with a fork while eating it out of the skin.

While ginger is the star of the show in this recipe, you can avoid the ginger for kids that have a salicylate sensitivity or prefer it with no ginger.

You can also use coconut sugar instead of the brown sugar if you prefer.

Use a convection oven if you have one, otherwise a regular oven is fine. A convection oven has air moving around that roasts food better. If you don’t have a convection oven you might need to turn up the oven toward the end… see instructions below.

Ingredients

  • 1 spaghetti squash
  • 1/3 cup butter or coconut oil (use coconut oil if dairy-free)
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • ½-1 inch of fresh ginger root

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut squash in half and scrape out seeds and pulp. Then cut pieces in half again so there are four long wedges.

Butter or coconut oil should be room temperature and soft (but not melted). Mix butter, brown sugar and maple syrup together. Peel then grate ginger root with micro planer or fine grater. Add ginger to butter mixture and mix thoroughly.

Spoon butter mixture into squash and rub on all of the cut area of squash (everything except the skin).

Place on a baking sheet and into the oven and bake on 375 for approximately 45 minutes. At 30 minutes, brush on more butter/sugar mixture, and check your squash. If it’s not starting to brown yet and you do not have a convection oven, turn the oven up 400 degrees.

It’s done when squash is browned a bit on top and the ginger is caramelized, similar to the taste of candied ginger. Serve the whole squash wedge on the plate.

Julie Matthews is a Certified Nutrition Consultant who received her master’s degree in medical nutrition with distinction from Arizona State University. She is also a published nutrition researcher and has specialized in complex neurological conditions, particularly autism spectrum disorders and ADHD for over 20 years. Julie is the award winning author of Nourishing Hope for Autism, co-author of a study proving the efficacy of nutrition and dietary intervention for autism published in the peer-reviewed journal, Nutrients, and also the founder of BioIndividualNutrition.com. Download her free guide, 12 Nutrition Steps to Better Health, Learning, and Behavior.

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