This easy dinner is one of my favorite spaghetti squash recipes, especially on busy weeknights. And it's much healthier and lower carb that using traditional pasta noodles. All you need is 5 ingredient plus extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.
This is a fantastic side dish for anyone following a low-carb diet, or for the meat lovers at the table. Or serve as a vegetarian main dish. It's easily made vegan by using a plant-based Parmesan style cheese.
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Want to make this recipe perfectly the first time? I want to help with that. So, check out this Table of Contents to see which sections of this post will help you the most.
Jump to:
- 🤷♀️ What is aglio e olio?
- ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- 🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
- 🔪 Recommended Equipment
- 🎯 Why This Recipe Works
- ⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time
- 👩🍳 Preparation Tips
- ⏰ Can I Make This Ahead?
- 💡Ideas for Possible Variations
- 🥬 Make it Vegan
- 🍽 Side Dish Ideas
- 📇 More Spaghetti Squash Recipes
- 5 Ingredient Healthy Aglio e Olio Spaghetti Squash
Summer is for relaxing. We want to be outside with our family and friends, not in the kitchen. If this is you, then you need this spaghetti squash recipe. I like to swap traditional pasta for spaghetti squash anywhere I can, and this aglio e olio pasta dish is the perfect example, as is this Spaghetti Squash Pasta with 'Meaty' Sauce and Creamy Spinach Spaghetti Squash Casserole.
🤷♀️ What is aglio e olio?
Spaghetti aglio e olio is a traditional, wildly popular Italian pasta dish from Naples, and is translated as garlic and oil. The traditional dish has only 4 ingredients - spaghetti, olive oil, garlic and crushed red pepper flakes.
These are all inexpensive, local ingredients in southern Italy with long shelf lives, making this dish accessible to most families, no matter their economic situation.
The garlic and oil sauce can be used alternatively for vegetables, or as a bread topping for an appetizer or side dish, like this Pizza Aglio e Olio.
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- 5 ingredients plus olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Make it in 30 minutes or less.
- Low carb dinner entree.
- Use it as a main dish or side dish for the meat lovers at the table.
- Gluten free.
- Budget-friendly with ingredients having a long shelf life.
🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
The secret to faster and easier meals often lies in the ingredients. For example, store-bought items and ingredients you make ahead and store in the refrigerator (or freezer) can turn a 60-minute recipe into a 30-minutes meal or less.
For the all of the ingredients, measurements and directions, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
- Spaghetti squash
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Garlic - since this recipe needs a lot of garlic, it may be easier to use garlic paste. I recommend Gourmet Garden, found in tubes in the produce department of many grocery stores.
- Red pepper flakes
- Italian parsley - also called flat leaf parsley. The texture of curly parsley isn't recommended for this dish.
- Parmesan cheese - ideally freshly grated, instead of pre-grated. Pre-grated cheese are coated in cellulose to keep them from caking. This also mutes the flavor and melting characteristics.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products and foods I use in my kitchen. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To view my entire storefront of recommended kitchen tools and equipment, check out my shop on Amazon.
🔪 Recommended Equipment
Having the right equipment for recipes makes prepping soooo much easier. If you want more fuss-free prepping and cooking, check out my updated list of favorite kitchen tools and equipment.
- Chef's knife
- Air fryer
- Medium skillet
- Tongs
🎯 Why This Recipe Works
- Spaghetti squash is an excellent low-carb substitute for traditional pasta.
- This type of squash has a mild slightly sweet flavor that goes well with the aglio and olio sauce.
⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time
- Cook the spaghetti squash any way you prefer. I use my air fryer, as it's super quick. But cooking it in the Instant Pot (or other electric pressure cooker) is also excellent. The microwave is also quick, and the roasting in the oven has obviously the longest cook time. For a comparison of spaghetti squash cooking methods and directions for cooking air fryer spaghetti squash, check out this post.
- Instead of scraping out the spaghetti squash noodles into the skillet holding the aglio e olio sauce, leave them in the spaghetti squash shell and drizzle the sauce over the noodles, gently tossing in the shell. Serve in the shell.
👩🍳 Preparation Tips
- If your spaghetti squash is smaller than 2 pounds, this may be too much aglio e olio sauce.
- Add the garlic to the oil before the oil is hot. This allows the garlic to cook more slowly, infusing the oil with garlic flavors.
⏰ Can I Make This Ahead?
Yes. You can either make the entire dish ahead, or only cook the spaghetti squash ahead. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 4 - 5 days.
💡Ideas for Possible Variations
- Make this with traditional spaghetti noodles for the traditional aglio e olio dish.
- Switch the Parmesan out for Romano or Asiago cheese. Don't use a melty cheese. This dish is all about the olive oil and garlic, with cheese only added as an accent flavor.
🥬 Make it Vegan
🍽 Side Dish Ideas
- Garlic bread made with store bought bread. Or make your own Parmesan and Garlic Rolls.
- Roast some broccoli, and serve with lemon and butter (or olive oil), or serve with balsamic roasted tomatoes.
- Tomato soup, such as this Roasted Tomato Soup.
📇 More Spaghetti Squash Recipes
- Air Fryer Spaghetti Squash (or Oven) with Tips
- Spaghetti Squash Pasta with 'Meaty' Sauce
- Creamy Spinach Spaghetti Squash Casserole
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5 Ingredient Healthy Aglio e Olio Spaghetti Squash
Ingredients
- 2 ½ pound spaghetti squash (up to 3 pounds)
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic (or 1 ½ tablespoons Gourmet Garden garlic paste)
- ¼ teaspoon crushed dried red pepper flakes
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese divided
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt (or ⅛ teaspoon table salt)
- ¼ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper (or ⅛ teaspoon finely ground black pepper)
Instructions
- Roast the spaghetti squash in the air fryer using these instructions, or use your favorite method for cooking the squash.Scrape up the "noodles" using a fork. (The above linked post shows details on how to do this.)
- While the spaghetti squash cooks, add the olive oil and garlic to a medium skillet over medium heat. Warm up the oil.Once the garlic is sizzling in the skillet, add the crusted red pepper flakes. Sauté for 2 minutes or until the garlic turns a golden color.
- Add the spaghetti squash noodles, parsley, half of the Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.Toss using tongs.
- Transfer to a plate and serve warm, topped with the remaining Parmesan cheese.
Ian Wilson
Lightly fry some fresh breadcrumbs with the garlic