Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Spaghetti Squash Boats
Zesty Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Spaghetti Squash Boats – Easy Meal Prep Dinner!
For a hearty meal that’s lighter on carbs but LOADED with flavor, try these buffalo chicken stuffed spaghetti squash boats! Seriously, if you love classic buffalo wings and blue cheese, this is the recipe for you. No need to fret when it comes to enjoying those flavors on your new healthy lifestyle! Warm, cheesy, delicious—and gluten free! This buffalo chicken stuffed spaghetti squash boat makes healthy dinners more fun and flavorful.
On its own, Buffalo sauce isn’t so bad—it’s typically made with just hot sauce and butter. But, many commercial varieties now use butter flavor, so there’s actually no added fat in the sauce. In fact, many store-bought options are a whopping 0 calories! Just beware of that sodium…
Spaghetti Squash as a Spaghetti Substitute
We’re adding even more nutrition by cooking up a spaghetti squash as our vessel. I love spaghetti squash because it’s low in calories and carbohydrates, gluten free, high in fiber, and loaded with nutrition! And, 1 cup of spaghetti squash has only 7g carbs and 30 calories!
Plus, just half of a spaghetti squash, or one of these buffalo chicken stuffed spaghetti squash boats, contains about 2-3 cups of the vegetable. Clearly, that’s a nutritional win when compared to spaghetti!
And, although spaghetti squash doesn’t exactly take the place of pasta, the shreds do resemble noodles pretty well. As a lower carb option, it makes for an intriguing and enticing nutritious dish. Plus, it’s a VEGETABLE! Well, technically it’s a squash so it is a fruit… But, c’mon—it’s treated like a vegetable in the culinary world.
Easy Ingredients & Flavor Balance!
We only need a few simple seasonings and ingredients to make these buffalo chicken stuffed spaghetti squash boats! The Greek yogurt provides a creamy tang that helps to cut the heat of the Buffalo sauce. And, we’re packing in the protein with shredded chicken. Now, you could bake chicken and shred it yourself (like in my curry chicken salad recipe). Or, you could use pre-cooked (cubed or shredded), or even rotisserie chicken pulled off the bone for added ease and flavor!
For me, the blue cheese is what really brings this flavor bomb home. Of course, these buffalo chicken stuffed spaghetti squash boats couldn’t be MY favorite without some enticing cheese on top! It’s bold and sharp, putting an edge on that spicy Buffalo sauce as intended. And, it gives my taste buds a charming boost that I love!
Or, feel free to top yours with blue cheese or ranch dressing for an extra cool and creamy component. But, they’re just as delicious without, too!
Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
Ingredients
- 1 spaghetti squash
- ⅓ cup Greek yogurt, or nondairy yogurt of choice
- 3 Tbsp Buffalo sauce
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
- 1½ cups chicken, shredded
- 2 Tbsp crumbled blue cheese
- 2 Tbsp green onion, chopped
- ¼ cup shredded cheese for topping
- ranch/blue cheese dressing for topping, see my Un-Junk Your Food eBook for my health-ified recipes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Poke holes in squash with a fork and microwave 5 minutes to soften up the squash. Score all the way around the squash lengthwise with a knife, marking the line of the cut.
- Cut squash in half lengthwise, scrape out seeds.
- Brush with olive oil, season with salt & pepper.
- Place cut-side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake for about 40 minutes, until tender enough to scrape strands. Should be easily pierced with a fork. (Not TOO cooked through since you’ll cook more later.) Time will vary depending on the size of squash.
- Can store in the fridge for a few days before making your boat, or prep to eat immediately.
- When cool enough and ready to eat, scrape/shred the squash.
- Reduce heat to 350°F (180°C).
- In a large mixing bowl, combine Greek yogurt, buffalo sauce, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Add shredded chicken, crumbled blue cheese, and green onion.
- Mix to combine.
- Place cooked spaghetti squash halves, face up, onto a baking sheet lined with parchment.
- Spoon ½ of buffalo chicken mixture into each spaghetti squash boat and mix to combine with spaghetti squash shreds.
- Top with cheese and bake for 20 minutes. Cover with foil as a tent if it starts to brown (don’t stick foil down firmly on squash boats).
- Broil without foil for the last few minutes for golden bubbly cheese.
- Garnish with green onion, ranch or blue cheese dressing, and extra hot sauce if desired!
6 Comments on “Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Spaghetti Squash Boats”
DELICIOUS…A new family favorite! Thanks for the GREAT FLAVOR in a HEALTHY recipe!
Yay! This is wonderful to hear! So glad that you and your family have enjoyed these spaghetti squash boats 🙂 Thanks for giving the recipe a try!
Thoroughly enjoyed every single bite! My daughter loved it too. She doesn’t like blue cheese so we substituted Feta and it worked just great as well! Absolutely delicious. Even better leftover!
That’s so great to hear, Michele! Thanks so much for trying out the recipe 🙂
Delicious! My husband and I both thoroughly enjoyed this recipe!
Yay! So glad to hear it 🙂 thanks so much for giving it a try!