Crockpot Spaghetti Squash, Meat, Tomatoes

I saw this Crockpot Spaghetti Squash, Meat, Tomatoes recipe on Instagram the other day, and I just had to try it! It’s essentially spaghetti squash bolognese, and I love some spaghetti bolognese. It’s something Mom used to make all the time when I was growing up.

Spaghetti squash is one of those things I mean to try but never have gotten around to it. Add to that an Italian flavor and the ease of using my slow cooker, and there was no way I could pass this up. I’m finally going to find out what spaghetti squash is like, and I’m so chuffed!

This crockpot spaghetti squash, meat, tomatoes recipe is an easy & healthy one-pot meal. Spaghetti squash, your preferred ground meat, tomatoes cook together in this tasty recipe that can be tailored to your liking.

Recipe Author: Shannon Epstein at Fit Slow Cooker Queen
Get the recipe

The Ingredients

My pre-shopping kitchen check showed me I had several items for this recipe on hand. My pantry had Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and cooking oil. That left me with 4 items to shop for, and they were all easy to find.

Since I have never made anything with spaghetti squash, I wasn’t sure my usual grocery store would carry it. But I did check online before I went, and they had it whole and halved. I chose a whole squash, as you can see. It was 4.39 pounds and cost me $6.54 (1.49 per pound).

I always tell my husband what’s on the menu each week, and I ask him to choose which meat to use. He was all for ground beef. I had some ground turkey in the freezer, but I went with ground beef. It’s just tastier. But I did make this recipe again with the second half of squash and the ground turkey. Both versions were great!

Crockpot Spaghetti Squash, Meat, Tomatoes Ingredients
Spaghetti squash, ground beef, vegetable oil, black pepper, salt, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, onion powder, and canned diced tomatoes

The Process

The beauty of using a slow cooker is that it does a lot of the work for you. There is little or no time spent standing at your stove.

Prepping & Cooking

This Crockpot Spaghetti Squash, Meat, Tomatoes did have a few minutes at the stove to brown the meat. I used my largest skillet and had it done fairly quickly. Tip: The pan and all that meat were a little heavy, so I used a colander to drain off the fat and juices. It’s so much easier on my wrist!

Browned ground beef in a skillet
A 12-inch skillet was large enough to brown the ground beef all at once

I had the ceramic crock next to the sink, so it was easy to pour the meat right in. I had been working on prepping the other ingredients while the meat browned, but I didn’t have them all done when it finished.

It took me a few more minutes to get the spaghetti squash cut in half and seeded. I’m not gonna lie: it wasn’t easy to cut it in half even with a sharp knife. Tip: My serrated bread knife actually worked better for this job than my chef’s knife. But I did manage to get it done, and scoping out the seeds and whatnot was easy to do.

Seeded and unseeded spaghetti squash halves
Halving the spaghetti squash was tough, but it was easy to seed with a spoon

Finally, I was ready to assemble my meal in the slow cooker. I began layering on the ingredients in the order listed and finished with the squash. lt was ready a mere 2 hours later. Pretty fast for a slow cooker!

Finishing Up

While it cooked, I thought about how I was going to get the spaghetti squash out of the slow cooker to shred. Tip: In the end, I used 2 pairs of tongs to place it onto a plate covered in paper towels. The paper towels kept the squash from moving around as I scraped out the flesh with a fork. It was like buttah, so it only took me a few minutes to scrape and mix it back in with the meat and tomato mixture.

Cooked spaghetti squash
The cooked spaghetti squash as so soft I was able to scrape the flesh out with a fork

Timing

This recipe lists 10 minutes of prep time, 4 hours of cooking time, and a total time of 4 hours and 10 minutes. I came in way below that because I chose the shortest cooking time.

The recipe gives the option of 2-3 hours on high or 4-6 hours on low. I simply adore that as it makes my life easier when I’m struggling! Here’s how my time was spent on my Crockpot Spaghetti Squash, Meat, Tomatoes:

  • 16 minutes to prep
  • 2 hours to cook
  • 4 minutes to shred and mix
  • 2 hours 20 minutes total

My prep time was a total of 20 minutes, and I’m sure that was because I struggled with having the spaghetti squash. It was a new experience, so I think that’s to be expected.

Next time I will go with the packaged spaghetti squash half to speed things up, make it a little easier, and reduce waste. I’m not sure what I would do with the other half under normal circumstances, and I would hate for it to end up in the trash.

So how was it?

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This Crockpot Spaghetti Squash, Meat, Tomatoes was so flavorful! I expected something like a bolognese sauce, and I wasn't disappointed. The recipe was pretty easy to put together. I liked that the ground meat had to be browned first--it kept it juicy in the slow cooker. The only thing that I had trouble with was halving the spaghetti squash. It was tough, but a serrated knife was the solution. Then all I had to do was scoop out the seeds and layer everything in my slow cooker. The recipe was ready in a mere 2 hours on high, and the spaghetti squash was ridiculously easy to scrape out and mix in with the meat sauce. The first time I made this was with ground beef, and the second with ground turkey. Both were excellent, though hubby thought the ground turkey was a little dry (I didn't notice). This is one that I will be adding to my weeknight menu rotation!
The Hungry Pinner
The Hungry Pinnerhttps://www.hungrypinner.com
I'm Candice, and I'm The Hungry Pinner. I created this blog to share my love for cooking and my experiences with the MANY recipes I've found on Pinterest over the years. Join me as I blog my way through those recipes to find out if they are worth trying yourself.

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This Crockpot Spaghetti Squash, Meat, Tomatoes was so flavorful! I expected something like a bolognese sauce, and I wasn't disappointed. The recipe was pretty easy to put together. I liked that the ground meat had to be browned first--it kept it juicy in the slow cooker. The only thing that I had trouble with was halving the spaghetti squash. It was tough, but a serrated knife was the solution. Then all I had to do was scoop out the seeds and layer everything in my slow cooker. The recipe was ready in a mere 2 hours on high, and the spaghetti squash was ridiculously easy to scrape out and mix in with the meat sauce. The first time I made this was with ground beef, and the second with ground turkey. Both were excellent, though hubby thought the ground turkey was a little dry (I didn't notice). This is one that I will be adding to my weeknight menu rotation!Crockpot Spaghetti Squash, Meat, Tomatoes