Creamy Kale And Chickpea Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
This creamy kale and chickpea stuffed spaghetti squash recipe is the perfect option for a guilt free meal! Cooked spaghetti squash is stuffed with a creamy mixture of sautéed chickpeas, baby kale, garlic and Roma tomatoes. Mixed with some lite sour cream and parmesan cheese, for that perfect flavor that makes you second guess if it really is healthy!
Spaghetti squash is a great alternative for pasta! This creamy kale and chickpea stuffed spaghetti squash will leave you satisfied with all of the delicious flavors it has to offer!
There are a few ways to cook and serve spaghetti squash. You can bake it, shred it and put sauce on it, or mix veggies/meat in with it. You can stuff it with endless ingredients and get super creative, which is exactly what I did!
First things first. You obviously want to start off with a spaghetti squash. And a very very sharp knife. These things are scary to cut! The entire time I was cutting mine in half, I kept imagining cutting one of my fingers off! So be VERY careful when doing this. You got it!
A little trick I taught myself is to cut the top off first, before cutting your squash in half. Then place the squash on the flat side you just cut, standing the long way. That way your squash is more stable than it was on its round surface. If any of that made sense!
Now, you want to take all of the seeds out and the “guts” if you will. You can save the seeds to dry out and plant in the spring! Or throw them away.
Sprinkle them with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Place them on a large enough baking sheet thats lined with parchment paper.
Place them cut side down, and slit a few lines in them with a knife.
Bake in your preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the meaty part feels soft and tender.
But, in the meantime while your squash bakes, you want to prepare the best part. THE STUFFING!!
The stuffing for this recipe is so simple and delicious! Baby kale, Roma tomatoes, chickpeas, garlic, some lite sour cream, and grated parmesan cheese. Notice how I said “lite”? I wanted this recipe to remain on the healthier side. So I made sure to use just enough to make this recipe taste like it would be bad for you, but oh so yummy, and healthy!
You want to roast you’re chickpeas for a bit, until they get nice and golden brown. Set those guys aside and sauté your baby kale, garlic and Roma tomatoes.
It’s insane to me how much kale wilts down. That does not look like three cups! But it is!…or was…
Last ingredients to add are the sour cream and parmesan cheese. These two ingredients are the glue to this recipe, if you will. They help hold everything together, and make everything taste amazingly delish!
Uh, yummmmmm!
SO good, and filling! You don’t need meat for a source of protein. Beans are a great alternative.
Once your stuffing is done cooking, your squash should be done, or almost done.
It’s time to get our stuffing on!
You want to shred your squash a little bit with a fork to get some pieces loose before stuffing your squash.
Once your squash is stuffed, you want to bake them for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.
When mine were done, I turned the broiler on low heat to brown everything a little bit more! More so for photos, so this is optional!
I can’t get over how tasty this was! I didn’t miss real pasta at all while eating this. If you’ve never tried spaghetti squash, you should! It’s not as gross and blah as you’d think! Especially if you make this recipe in particular 😉 !
If you do end up making this recipe, id love to hear from you and see your results, hear your thoughts and opinions! Feel free to tag me in a photo of your results @thehungrylyoness on Instagram or Facebook!
Also, make sure to check out my latest recipe for crispy potato tacos with jalapeño cilantro sauce! https://thehungrylyoness.com/2020/01/14/crispy-potato-tacos-with-jalapeno-cilantro-sauce/
Creamy Kale And Chickpea Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
Ingredients
- 1 Spaghetti Squash, cut in half
- 3 Cups Baby Kale, chopped up
- 2 Roma Tomatoes, or plum tomatoes
- 2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
- Olive Oil
- 1 14 oz. Can of Chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1/2 Cup Lite Sour Cream
- Salt & Pepper, to taste
- 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
- 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- Cut your squash in half the long way (be very careful)!
- Place squash on baking sheet lined with parchment paper and drizzle the insides with olive oil and season with some salt and pepper.
- Turn squash cut side down on baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes.
- While squash is cooking, make your stuffing.
- In a large sauté pan over medium high heat, add some olive oil.
- Sauté your chickpeas with some salt, onion powder and garlic powder. Cook until they turn a light golden brown, about 5 minutes.
- Transfer chickpeas to a bowl when they are done and set aside.
- Add some more oil in same pan, and add your kale, tomatoes and garlic. Sauté until kale is wilted down.
- Add chickpeas back to sauté pan.
- Turn heat down to medium low, and add your sour cream and parmesan cheese.
- Stir everything together until well combined. Cook on low heat for a few minutes, until things start to bubble and thicken up.
- Take off heat when done.
- When squash is done, let cool for a few minutes. Shred some of the squash lose with a fork.
- Stuff squash with stuffing until it's all used.
- Reduce oven heat to 350° and bake stuffed squash for about 10 minutes.
- This is totally optional, but after the 10 minutes was up, I turned my broiler on low heat, and cooked for a few minutes for that extra brown and crispy look! Doing this wont affect the taste. I just did this for photos.
- Enjoy!
