Spaghetti squash & meatballs is healthy alternative to a classic family dish. Make this one-pot low-carb, paleo, whole30 recipe with ease in your slow cooker.
Updated 2019
Spaghetti squash and meatballs is my go-to slow cooker meal when I don’t know what to cook but I have some basic ingredients in my house. I pretty much always have a spaghetti squash, some ground meat and crushed tomatoes on hand.
What Is Spaghetti Squash?
Spaghetti squash is a cucurbita pepo vegetable. In other words, it’s a squash. The seeds inside spaghetti squash are similar to pumpkin seeds. When cooked, the inside flesh is scraped into spaghetti-like strands. Hence why spaghetti squash exploded on the scene a few years ago as a popular, healthy, alternative to spaghetti. You can cook spaghetti squash several ways, including in the slow cooker; either by itself or as a part of a recipe like you see here.
Healthy Meatballs
The most important part of this recipe in my opinion. Don’t worry, they’re also super easy and definitely not lacking in flavor. You can use your preferred ground meat whether it be beef, turkey, chicken or even pork. I used ground turkey. To keep the meatballs low-carb, paleo, and whole30 compliant, I ditched the breadcrumbs in favor or almond flour. Can you make these with a different compliant flour like coconut flour or cassava flour? Sure. Use the flour that fits your lifestyle. Try to make the meatballs the same size and don’t make them too big or too small. I make 10-12 meatballs for this recipe. Of course if you have a preferred meatball recipe, you can swap it in for this one.
Tomato Sauce
The tomato sauce for this spaghetti squash & meatballs recipe is a simple combination of crushed (or diced) tomatoes, dried onion flakes, salt and pepper. Of course you can jazz up your sauce with additional ingredients like bell peppers and/or mushrooms. While I like it simple, I suggest you make the sauce to your liking. You can substitute marinara sauce for the crushed tomatoes but check the ingredients for compliancy.
Tips For A Successful Slow Cooker Spaghetti Squash & Meatballs Recipe
- Please, please, please remember to use oven mitts or tongs when you remove the spaghetti squash from the slow cooker. It will be very hot.
- If the squash is not soft to the touch when it’s done, then it needs to cook a little longer. If your spaghetti squash is mushy then it was overcooked.
Other Spaghetti Squash Recipes
I make this recipe in my 6-quart slow cooker.
PrintSlow Cooker Spaghetti Squash & Meatballs
- Total Time: 4 hours 10 mins
- Yield: Serves 2-4 people 1x
Ingredients
- 2 pound spaghetti squash
- 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 1/3 cup onion, diced or 1 tablespoon dried onion flakes
- Salt & pepper to taste
Meatballs:
- 1 pound ground meat
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons almond flour
- 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Pour crushed tomatoes, onion, salt and pepper into the bottom of the slow cooker. Stir to mix well.
- Cut spaghetti squash in half, crosswise. Scoop out the seeds and add to the slow cooker, hole side down.
- Add all the meatball ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Mix together well with your hands until all the ingredients are blended together. Form mixture into 10-12 meatballs.
- Add meatballs to slow cooker in the tomato sauce.
- Cook HIGH 2-4 or LOW 4-6.
To Serve
remove spaghetti squash from the slow cooker. It will be very hot so use oven mitts. Let squash cool then rake a fork back and forth across the squash to remove its flesh into spaghetti-like strands. Top with meatballs and sauce.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 4 hours
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 299
- Sugar: 11.7 g
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 24.5 g
- Fiber: 6.2 g
- Protein: 29.3 g
- Cholesterol: 111 mg
Looking for a homemade Italian seasoning? Use my blend:
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[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”WVBqkLDE” upload-date=”2019-07-25T23:00:10.000Z” name=”Slow Cooker Spaghetti Squash & Meatballs” description=”Spaghetti squash and homemade, low-carb, paleo, whole30 meatballs cook together in this super easy slow cooker one-pot meal.”]
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Anna
Sunday 9th of August 2020
So easy to make and so delicious! It was so hot in the midwest a couple weeks ago but I still like having warm food for dinner so I made this recipe. I don't know what made those meatballs so tasty but they were seriously some of the best meatballs I've ever made!
Kris
Sunday 7th of June 2020
This is a yummy recipe and so easy! I made this last night using 1 lb of ground pork and a 3 lb spaghetti squash (it was the smallest one they had at my supermarket). I was able to make 16 meatballs that were a little larger than golf balls . Though not all of them could be placed in the sauce due to the larger squash, I just opened the lid part way through and stirred them around a bit. I did add extra basil and garlic because I love both of them. My kids even enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for a wonderful, healthy and incredibly easy recipe!! I will definitely be making this again!
Hannah
Monday 3rd of June 2019
Could I cook the meatballs from frozen?
Fit SlowCooker Queen
Monday 3rd of June 2019
Yes absolutely. No change to the cook time.