Welcome to the easiest healthy meal ever. This is so easy that it may seem like a cop out for a recipe post, but I just couldn’t take the risk that there was anyone out there that hadn’t tried substituting spaghetti squash in a pasta recipe.

This is also a chance for me to go on a short rant about hidden sugar in our diet. It’s everywhere. Sugar is so ubiquitous at this point that it is hiding in savoury foods like tomato sauce and meatballs! While I love a homemade tomato sauce as much as the next person, if this recipe involved making your own tomato sauce I wouldn’t have made a claim about it being the easiest healthy meal ever. Also, jarred marinaras are actually quite good – just make sure they haven’t added sugar in the ingredients. President’s Choice Spicy Roasted Garlic is what I used for this recipe (it isn’t even a little bit spicy), but there are others on the shelf as well. Don’t just trust a brand though – some PC marinaras have sugar in them, some don’t. Same goes for Classico, etc. I used pre-cooked PC mini meatballs because they were the only ones I could find in the entire grocery store that didn’t have filler (e.g. breadcrumbs, etc) or sugar added. They are also really good. I feel like this post is running the risk of devolving into brand-pushing, but really all I want to highlight is the importance of reading ingredients! Don’t let some food company rip you off by filling the food you want to be eating with cheap, unhealthy ingredients.

With just a few extra minutes in the supermarket, reading the ingredients list allows you to really know what you’re putting in your body and feeding your family and friends. Trust me, the time you spend doing that will easily be made up for when you get home and throw this together as quickly as you will. The only thing that takes time is roasting the spaghetti squash, and that can be done ahead of time. If you’ve never used spaghetti squash as a pasta stand-in before, you’re in for a treat. Not only is it low carb, low calorie, high fiber and gluten free, it also stands up well to the sauce without adding too much of its own flavour. This dinner tricks you into feeling like you’re indulging, when really you’re basically just eating a plate full of vegetable with a little meat and maybe some parmesan cheese on top. You’re welcome.

Spaghetti (Squash) & Meatballs

Ingredients

1 spaghetti squash
2 Tbsp EVOO
1 jar (sugar free) marinara sauce or homemade
1 package (breadcrumb / other "filler" free) meatballs, or homemade
parmesan cheese, for grating (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F.
Slice spaghetti squash in half lengthwise.
Rub 1 Tbsp olive oil on the cut side of each half of the squash.
Place the squash halves, cut side up, on a foil-lined baking sheet.
Bake in oven for 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the sauce & cook the meatballs according to package directions.
When squash is done, remove from oven and let sit for 5-10 minutes, or until cool enough to handle.
Scrape the inside of the squash with a fork to loosen the spaghetti-like strands, and transfer them to a plate.
Place sauce and meatballs on top of spaghetti squash, top with optional parmesan and enjoy!