Recipe: Spaghetti Squash with Chickpea Tomato Sauce (Oil-Free, Vegan)

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Fall is here and that means… spaghetti squash! They were on sale at our local grocery store a few weeks back, so I decided to pick one up. I wasn’t sure what we were going to do with it, but I figured Brian would make something delicious.

We had a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes on hand, so he decided to make a quick sauce. Before I knew it, he was putting in a splash of this and a splash of that… and our kitchen smelled amazing.

We always prepare our spaghetti squash in the same way. We microwave it until it is soft enough to cut in half and then place it face down into a baking dish with water in it. We bake it at 400°F for about 40 minutes and it always comes out perfect!

Spaghetti squash makes a great pasta swap and it has a great natural flavor. The funny thing is – before we switched to eating a whole food, plant-based diet, I thought spaghetti squash was bland and needed tons of salt. Now I will eat it plain straight out of the oven!

Brian really knocked it out of the park with this sauce. As soon as I tasted it, I knew we would have to make this one again and film a recipe video! Check out the video here and print out the full recipe below.

Spaghetti Squash with Chickpea Tomato Sauce (Oil-Free, Vegan)

  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

  • – 1 spaghetti squash (approx. 3lbs)
  • – 1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
  • – 1 Tbsp minced garlic
  • – 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • – 1 x 15oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
  • – 1 Tbsp tomato paste
  • – 1/2 tsp liquid aminos (or low sodium soy sauce)
  • – 1 tsp coconut aminos
  • – 1 Tbsp italian seasoning
  • – 1/2 Tbsp basil
  • – 1/2 Tbsp oregano
  • – 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • – Very small dash of cayenne pepper
  • – 1 x 15oz can garbanzo beans (drained & rinsed)

Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to 400°F.
  2. Microwave the spaghetti squash for 5-6 minutes, or until soft enough to cut. Halve lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.
  3. Fill a large baking dish (we use a 13×9 glass one) with about 1/2 inch of water and place your squash halves in the pan, cut sides down. Bake until tender, about 40 minutes.
  4. While the squash is cooking, make your sauce. Heat a small sauce pan to medium high. Water sauté the onion and garlic for one minute, stirring constantly.
  5. Add the balsamic vinegar and continue to cook for about two more minutes, until the onion is tender and the balsamic vinegar has reduced a bit.
  6. Add in the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  7. Once the squash is finished cooking, let it cool down for 10-15 minutes. Then, using a fork, scrape out the insides of your squash to make your “noodles.”
  8. Top with sauce and serve!

Makes two servings.


This is seriously one of my favorite things Brian has ever made! We haven’t tested out batch cooking this one yet, but I think it will work great for a weekly meal prep. Just double, triple or quadruple the recipe for how many servings you need and you’ll have a tasty lunch for the entire week!

Be sure to check out the video and leave us a comment below if you try this one out!

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22 Responses to Recipe: Spaghetti Squash with Chickpea Tomato Sauce (Oil-Free, Vegan)

  1. Kathy Timme says:

    Perfect timing for this recipe, as I cooked a spaghetti squash yesterday. I used up my Plant Pure Nation Marinara sauce last night and have lots of the squash left over w/o sauce on it. Now I know what sauce to try next. I’m looking forward to trying this recipe tomorrow night. Thank you!

  2. Angelika says:

    So I just cooked it. My first time cooking a Spaghetti squash so expectations were high and crushed. The squash doesn’t remind me of spaghetti at all! Lol
    Besides that I loved the sauce! Never thought of chickpeas in a tomato sauce. After serving I put some nutritional yeast on top. So good!

    • LOL! It definitely doesn’t taste like spaghetti. Don’t give up! We are working on a casserole that uses it and that was the first dish I had that I actually enjoyed spaghetti squash in. But this sauce would be great on pasta, zucchini noodles, or a baked potato even!

  3. Rebecca says:

    I made this recipe for our main meal today… i did it exactly as you taught and it came out perfect! Will definitely be making this again!

  4. Char says:

    Made this dish today! At first I wasn’t crazy about the smell of the mix of spices etc. but once I added it on top the spaghetti squash, it was delicious!!! Really really great! Can’t wait for the left overs. 😋 thank you!

  5. Lynne Schuler says:

    may I suggest that you make the recipe font black? not dark grey. Hard to read. and maybe just a little bigger font?

    thanks.

  6. Emily says:

    “This is going to be a staple in our house!” said my husband! The sauce was very simple to make and it was SO flavorful!! The chickpeas made it nice and hearty dish. One of the most flavorful spaghetti squash dishes I have ever made!

  7. Tim Sweeney says:

    Going to try this one for lunch today but $11 for a 14.5 ounce can of tomatoes? Ouch.

    • Oh dear! Haha it seems Amazon doesn’t have the normal priced ones anymore. We usually pay about $2 a can at Whole Foods for these. Although I usually wait until they have them on sale for closer to $1 a can and stock up!

      • Tim Sweeney says:

        Oh, yes. I found some much cheaper (about $2.50 a can). Although I made a mistake and bought the non-fire roasted kind. Still the meal was the best one I have made so far (only been doing this for about 5 weeks and have never had spaghetti squash). Absolutely fantastic! I can’t wait to try it again with the fire roasted tomatoes. On the downside, my wife and the kids, who were willing to try it, didn’t like it but they are not on the whole plant plan yet (that may never happen or may take years). Out of seven kids, only my oldest daughter, 24 yrs old, is even remotely interested in looking at it. She is coming over tonight so we will see.

        On another note, I told Brian on Facebook that you guys rock! Love your stuff and I am so glad you are doing the videos. I have really enjoyed everything I have made using your recipes and instructions. A little jealous actually, I would love to be able to do something like that too (both the recipes and the videos)🙂. Maybe you have posted about this but what is your Thanksgiving going to look like?

  8. Carol Gerling says:

    Brian, the balsamic vinegar really was a great idea. Loved the reçipe.
    Question: I notice you frequently use both types of Aminos. What does that do?

  9. Shannon M says:

    Loved this one!!! Thanks, Krocks, for sharing!!! 🙂

  10. Donna Osgood says:

    I’m gonna try your sauce recipe. I love spaghetti squash. I make a squash-ta(no pasta) salad. Tomato, olive, peperocini peppers & light Italian dressing. Any raw veg you like in it. Chill overnight for flavor to blend.

  11. Jonathan Steele says:

    We just had this for dinner! Great recipe and love that it makes enough for several days of our meals. I added about 1 Tbl of Penzys Chili Con Carne blend (no salt) and put a bit more veggie stock in at the end. The spice level as printed is perfect for most mortals, but if you’re a spicy addict, you’ll need to add some jalapenos (etc). I feel like there was just a tiny bit much of the smoke flavor, next time I’d probably replace 1 of the spoons of smoked paprika with sweet or regular. It may have been from the Penzys blend also. Great job, Brian… we look forward to working through all of your recipes!

  12. Dorothy says:

    I made this recipe, really liked the sauce . I had a couple of garden needless tips in freezer, I cut them up and added to the sauce. Really good!

  13. Gail F Nalven says:

    I haven’t been a fan of spaghetti squash. They sent one in my veg box instead of butternut. This worked out very well, tasty and easy. I thought I might try the leftovers with some veggie meatballs from TJs.

    Thanks,
    Gail

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