Simple and flavorful, Vegetarian Spaghetti Squash Burrito Bowls are an easy meal that the whole fam will love. This healthy spaghetti squash recipe is loaded with veggies and seasoned with salsa verde!
This recipe is featured in my Winter Week 4 Meal Plan and the monthly winter vegetable meal plan. For more info, visit the meal plans page.
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One of my husband Will’s go-to dishes is a homemade burrito bowl. He makes them for us at least once a month, and even more often during our busiest times of the year.
His bowls include the typical fix-ins: beans, corn, peppers, and onion, but have a lil’ extra somethin’ from the addition of salsa verde (a.k.a. green salsa).
I made these Spaghetti Squash Burrito Bowls with Will’s tried and true recipe in mind. You’ll see that they have most of the same ingredients, but of course, contain even MORE veggies since stringy, crunchy spaghetti squash “noodles” make up the base.
That’s a classic Veg World move, am I right?
I also added a few more seasonings in addition to the salsa verde, namely chili powder and cumin. And you should feel free to adjust the spices based on your own taste preferences.
The final result is v delicious but in a “lightened up” way!
(PS – if you’re looking for a salsa recommendation, I love the Trader Joe’s salsa verde. It’s what I use to season my Veggie Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken!)
Ok, let’s get to the good stuff!
How to Make Spaghetti Squash Burrito Bowls
First, you need to prep that spaghetti squash! If you’ve never cooked one, it’s a simple process.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Use a sharp knife to slice the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise (keyword here is sharp knife…they can be difficult to cut!)
- Scoop out the seeds with a spoon and discard, or roast them for a crunchy snack!
- Rub a little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper over the flesh and put the spaghetti squash halves cut side down on the baking sheet.
- Pop in the oven for 35-50 minutes (cook time depends on the size of your squash). Flip them over to cool off a little bit before using a fork to scrape the squash “noodles” away from the skin.
- Pro tip: keep your oven mitt on when you flip the squash over. The skin can be very hot.
In the meantime, prep your filling by sautéing diced onion, bell pepper, garlic, corn, black beans, and seasonings. Mix the spaghetti squash and fillings together in a large mixing bowl. Add salsa verde to taste, and transfer everything back to the spaghetti squash “boats.”
Sprinkle them with cheese, put them back in the oven for a few minutes, and enjoy their warm and gooey deliciousness.
Serving and Substitutions
Can you make these vegan? Sure can. Nix the cheese or use nutritional yeast. All other ingredients are vegan (and gluten free, for that matter).
Do you need to serve them in the spaghetti squash skins? No, you don’t. Putting the filling back in the skins is the easiest way to top them with cheese and transfer everything back into the oven to melt it. However, you can stir the cheese into the bowl with the other fillings instead and skip the final step.
Possible substitutions and additions. You can sub pinto beans instead of using black beans. Other yummy add-ins include green onions, cilantro, avocado, pickled red onions, pickled red cabbage, or shredded chicken.
If you’re on a spaghetti squash kick, be sure to check out some of the other reader favorites featuring this veggie:
- Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai (one of the most loved recipes on the site!)
- 5 Ingredient Italian Spaghetti Squash Boats
- Vegetarian Spaghetti Squash Ramen
I’d love to hear how you like this recipe! Rate/review using the stars on the recipe card or in the comments, and follow the Veg World on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Looking for something totally different? Browse the recipe library.
📖 Recipe
Spaghetti Squash Burrito Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 spaghetti squash - sliced in half and deseeded
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic - pressed or minced
- ½ red onion - peeled and diced
- 1 bell pepper - seeds and stem removed, chopped
- 1 cup black beans - drained and rinsed
- 1 cup corn - canned or frozen
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¾ cup salsa verde - more to taste
- 1 cup shredded cheese - Mexican blend or Monterey Jack
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice the spaghetti squash in half and remove the seeds. Rub olive oil, salt, and pepper on the flesh and place each half cut side down on the baking sheet. Bake for 30-45 minutes (cook time depends on the size of your squash), or until the squash is tender and you can pull the flesh away from the skin with a fork. Reserve the skins for later.
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the garlic, red onion, and bell pepper. Cook for ~5 minutes, or until the veggies are slightly soft. Add the beans and corn, and stir in the chili powder, cumin, and pepper. Cook for 1-2 more minutes.
- When the spaghetti squash is finished cooking, add it to a large mixing bowl with the veggie and bean filling. Add in the salsa verde and stir. Divide the mixture evenly into each squash half. Sprinkle the cheese on top and put the squash boats back onto the same lined baking sheet and into the oven for 5-10 more minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the dish is warmed through. Enjoy warm!
Notes
Nutrition
Happy first day of fall!
Lizzie
Liz
This dish was really delicious. I am trying to serve my husband more tasty meatless dishes (I am a lifelong vegetarian) and he LOVED this. I make my own black beans and this was a great dish to use them in. We were able to get 4 servings from this recipe, which was great. We served it with sliced avocado, but greek yogurt would also be nice.
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN
Hi Liz, that’s wonderful to hear! I’m so glad you and your husband enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for sharing your experience and leaving a review!
Barb Muncey
Absolutely delicious. I served it as a side for roast chicken breast. It made ample to serve 4. We had it with sour cream and avocados. Will definitely do this one often!
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN
Hi Barb, I’m so glad that you enjoyed this recipe!! Sounds like you had a delicious meal :). Thanks for sharing!
Wendy Burkett
This recipe looks delicious and I can’t wait to try it. I do have one question however. How do you come up with so many nutritional numbers if everything is fresh? I don’t see how there’s that many carbs and cholesterol at 44 mg sodium, potassium, sugars everything seems a lot higher than it should be by just looking at the ingredients. Can you please break down where you are getting all of those numbers? Thank you
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN
Hi Wendy, thanks for your question! The nutrition facts are calculated using software that pulls nutrition information from a database of foods. While it may seem that the numbers are high here, they are correct. For carbohydrates, an entire spaghetti squash provides approximately 67 grams, a cup of black beans provides 28 grams, a cup of corn provides 29 grams, and the vegetables and salsa verde together provide about 23-25 grams, with a few more grams of carbs coming from other ingredients. So, the total carbs divided by 2 equals the 79 grams of carbs per serving listed on the nutrition label. Only 26 grams of those carbs are sugars, since there is so much fiber and complex starches in the recipe. The sodium in the recipe mainly comes from the jarred salsa verde. If you are interested in cutting down on the carb content, I would recommend only using one or two cups of spaghetti squash per serving, instead of the entire squash. If you need to reduce the sodium, I’d recommend purchasing a reduced or low sodium salsa verde. Finally, the nutrition facts on the recipe card are for one serving and are based on the assumption that the recipe yields about two servings. If you choose to split it up into more servings, the nutritional values would be lower than listed here. Hope that helps, and let me know of any questions!
Wendy Burkett
Thank you for breaking that down for me. I made this last night and I have to say it was really amazing. I am trying to cook healthier for my mother and she loved it as well. I will be putting this on my go to Recipes during the squash season and I’m also going to freeze a few that I have pre-made for future meals. Yum!!
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN
Hi Wendy, that’s wonderful to hear!! Thanks for reporting back, and I’m so glad that you enjoyed the recipe and will be making it again. Have a good weekend!
SWD
This is an outstanding recipe! We all loved it and will make it again. I used fire roasted salsa verde and had a fresh tomato that needed to be used so I diced it and threw it in. We used the suggestion for Mexican shredded cheese. DELICIOUS!
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN
I’m so glad to hear it!! The fire roasted salsa verde sounds like a great addition. Thanks so much for letting me know how you enjoyed it!!
Pam
Excellent dish. It was a hit
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN
So happy to hear it! Thanks for rating the recipe, Pam.
Brenda Kring
Made Burrito bowl. It was really good. Will make again.
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN
That’s great to hear! Thanks for letting me know :-)!
tracey
I’ve had this recipe made by another, but I didn’t remove the squash meat from the ” boat”. Is it necessary to do this?
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN
Hi Tracey, it is helpful to remove the squash meat to mix with the other ingredients before putting it all back in the boats for the final baking step. That way, it gets evenly distributed. However, I suppose you could just leave it in there after it bakes and add the rest of the fillings to the boats. Then, you could use your fork to pull the squash away from the skin to mix it with the fillings while you are eating. It’s up to you.
Barbara Ambreye of our weekly dishes
One of our weekly favorites
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN
So glad to hear that! Thanks for rating the recipe :-).