Creamy Spaghetti Squash Chicken Casserole (Paleo, GF)
Creamy Spaghetti Squash Chicken Casserole recipe. A savory and easy spaghetti squash recipe made with a creamy dairy-free sauce.
This Creamy Spaghetti Squash Chicken Casserole is my favorite healthy pasta casserole alternative. It is creamy, protein-packed and incredibly flavorful.
It really hits the spot for those times that I am wanting a creamy pasta dish, but am looking for something healthier.
This casserole is considered to be “primal”, but it can easily be made Paleo and Whole30.
Ingredients needed to make this Creamy Spaghetti Squash Chicken Casserole:
It may look like there are a lot of ingredients in this casserole, but a lot of them are seasoning to flavor it! Below is a list of everything you’ll need to make it:
- spaghetti squash
- chicken breast
- chicken broth ( or bone broth )
- thyme
- rosemary
- cauliflower
- garlic
- onion
- olive oil
- nutmeg
- salt and pepper
- coconut cream
- coconut flour ( or tapioca flour )
- goat cheese ( optional )
How to make this primal spaghetti squash chicken casserole:
This Creamy Spaghetti Squash Chicken Casserole needs to be made in steps.
I like making it in a certain order so that while part of it cooks, I can continue on with the rest and I can be the most efficient with my time.
Here is the order that I recommend making this casserole in:
Step 1– Bake the spaghetti squash
Step 2– Boil the chicken breast in chicken stock, then shred it
Step 3– Boil the cauliflower in water
Step 4– Make the cream sauce
Step 5– Mix the spaghetti squash, shredded chicken, cauliflower and cream sauce together and pour into a pan
Step 6– Sprinkle the casserole with goat cheese ( optional ), and bake it
Note: I like to broil this casserole at the end of cooking to get it a bit crisp. Keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t burn. Some ovens are hotter than others!
This recipe does take some prep-work, but it is so worth it!
Some dietary tips to consider for this chicken spaghetti squash casserole:
This Creamy Spaghetti Squash Chicken Casserole is easily customizable to fit your dietary needs.
The goat cheese here is optional, you can omit it for AIP, Whole30, Paleo or if your body can’t handle dairy.
Goat cheese is considered primal and my husband and I enjoy it from time to time. I also think it tastes really good here!
This recipe was shared at the AIP Recipe Roundtable.
Creamy Spaghetti Squash Chicken Casserole (paleo)
Ingredients
- 1 medium spaghetti squash
- 1.5- 2 lbs chicken breast
- 32 ounces chicken broth ( to boil chicken in )
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 head of cauliflower
- 2 1/2 Tbs minced garlic
( or 1.5 tsp garlic powder)
- 1/2 of a yellow onion minced ( or 1.5 tsp onion powder )
- 1 Tbs olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper (optional- omit for AIP)
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional- omit for AIP)
- 1 can coconut cream
- 3 tsp coconut flour ( or 1 Tbs tapioca flour )
- 1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese (optional- omit for AIP, Paleo, and Whole30)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Cover a cookie sheet in aluminum foil.
- Cut the spaghetti squash in half and remove the mushy core with a spoon. Then cover the surface with some olive oil and evenly "paint it on" with a silicone basting brush. You could also spray olive oil on top with a cooking spray instead.
- Lay the squash face down on the aluminum paper. Cook the spaghetti squash for 30-40 minutes and then remove it from the oven and let it cool.
- While the spaghetti squash is cooking, put the chicken breast and 32 ounces of chicken stock into a large pot and bring to a boil. Add 1/4 tsp of dried rosemary and 1/4 tsp of dried thyme. Lower to a simmer and cook covered for 30 mins. Remove the chicken from the chicken stock (reserving 1 cup of liquid) and shred it with two forks. Set the shredded chicken aside.
- While the chicken and spaghetti squash are cooking, fill another pan with water and cook the cauliflower (cut into smaller cauliflower floret pieces) for 11 minutes. Remove from heat and strain. Set the cauliflower aside.
- Put 1 tbs of olive oil in a pan. Set the stove top to medium heat. Place the minced garlic and onions into the pan and mix them into the olive oil. Let them cook for 4 minutes. Add the can of coconut cream to the pan, along with the salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add the coconut flour or tapioca flour, and the 1 cup of reserved chicken stock ( from when you boiled chicken) to the mixture and allow the mixture to boil for 8-9 minutes. It will thicken during this time. Remove the mixture from heat.
- Take the spaghetti squash and use a fork to rake against the inside of it, removing the “spaghetti” from the inside.
- Place the shredded chicken, cauliflower, and spaghetti squash in the pot with the creamy white sauce and mix it all together.
- Place everything in a large 13×9 inch pan and cover it in 1/2 cup of crumbled goat cheese.
- Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Set the oven to broil and bake for 5 more minutes.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
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31 Comments on “Creamy Spaghetti Squash Chicken Casserole (Paleo, GF)”
Really great recipe. We eat this all the time. Yummy!
So happy to hear that!
Delicious!! Love it! <3
Thank you 🙂
I’m so happy to hear that 🙂 🙂 🙂
I added some chopped baby spinach at the coconut milk/chicken stock boiling stage. Added color and flavor.
That’s a great idea! Thank’s for sharing! 🙂
I am such a casserole girl. I just started eating Paleo due to several food allergies. I am so excited to try this dish.
Me tooo, there is something so comforting about a casserole. I hope you like it! 🙂
I just did a quick calculation and there are around 2265 calories in the whole casserole, so 566 calories a person if you are serving 4, and 377 calories a person if you are serving 6. Most of calories come from coconut cream. 🙂
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Absolutely delicious! I added some mushrooms, used shredded leftover rotisserie chicken, and added a quarter cup of hot sauce. 🙂
Yumm! What a great idea– mushrooms, rotisserie chicken, and hot sauce! My fiance would love that. Thanks for the tip! 🙂
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Will Coconut Milk work, I live in the Middle East and it is sometimes hard to get products, just wondering if I can’t find the cream. We do get coconut milk, I assume it will not be as creamy.
If it’s canned coconut milk, it will work great. It’s usually very creamy and I have found that canned coconut cream and canned coconut milk are pretty interchangeable. 🙂 Let me know how it works out!
Thanks, will let you know.
Make the casserole with the full cream coconut milk, it was wonderful. Thank you for sharing this recipe. Have you tried it with adding curry? Just wondering and if so how much curry powder should be added.
I could not get coconut flour here so I used tapioca flour.
Thanks for getting back to me and letting me know the coconut milk worked! I’m also happy to hear the tapioca flour worked too. I haven’t added curry, but I’d love to hear if it does taste good. I was thinking about incorporating hot sauce to make a buffalo chicken version soon!
Will try the curry the next time I make it. My husband loved the dish and likes curry.
Will this freeze well?
Will be going back to the states for a few months and want to make meals for my husband before I go.
We have just started eating Paleo and want to keep him on track.
I’m sorry for the delayed response! I don’t know about how it will freeze. I want to say it will be fine, but I’ve never done it. As far as paleo meals go, meat sauce freezes really well. You can also use meatsauce to make stuffed peppers and freeze those. I did some research on freezing spaghetti squash, it seems to work, but doesn’t taste as fresh.
My husband will not eat cauliflower, what can I sub?
What about broccoli? You could also try carrots, asparagus, or sweet potato. Let me know how it turns out (and how he likes it haha)
What do you mean by a can of “coconut cream”?
Hi Wendy! I meant a 14 ounce can of coconut cream. I usually buy the Savoy brand, which is in the international section of my grocery store. I hope that answers your question! Let me know how it turns out 🙂
Made this with ground turkey! It was amazing and my husband ate it up. I highly recommend this recipe!
That’s a great idea to make it with ground turkey, yum! Glad you guys liked it!
You could even make this with the faux alfredo sauce (made from cauliflower) as the white sauce, i bet that would be a great veggie superboost!
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Great dinner !
Absolutely divine…
Thank you Dominique