This recipe has it all! Not only is it crazy healthy, but it's low carb, low calorie, packed with only the good stuff and easily made dairy free, vegan, vegetarian, paleo or whole30 approved with a few swaps.
You won't believe it's actually good for you!
When you really look at it, this recipe is essentially veggies topped with more veggies (and chicken) and smothered in a creamy sauce made with-big shock here- more veggies! But all I'm tasting is a massive- and I do mean massive- bowl of delicious ingredients smothered in a creamy garlicky Alfredo sauce. So PLEASE don't let all this veggie talk deter you.. because it is damn delicious!
The tasty secret here is in the sauce.
It always it, right? I roast the cauliflower and garlic together in a convenient pouch for a no mess route to flavortown. If you haven't roasted garlic in the oven before, you have to try it. It comes out sweet and soft and I could eat it as is or smeared on some crusty bread. For this recipe though it's going right into the sauce to be blended with milk and veggies until it's creamy perfection.
The convenient tin foil pouch is the perfect way to keep the flavor in and gets you perfect sweet roasted garlic and cauliflower, every time!
The pictures below show the before and after of roasting the squash, cauliflower and garlic in the oven. Prior to cooking the squashes are sliced in half and seasoned before placing seeds side down on a baking sheet. The garlic and cauliflower, meanwhile, are wrapped up in a tightly sealed pouch. After cooking everything is nice and brown, soft and ready to be eaten!
I love spaghetti squash because VOLUME.
I will normally buy a small spaghetti squash which ends up being ~1000-1200g total. Then after cutting it in half and subtracting the seeds and shell you're left with about 400-500g of flesh in each half (I have one half as a serving). For this much flesh you're talking about 28-32g of carbs. That's the carb equivalent of about half a small russet potato or a small apple. Now compare the size of half a spaghetti squash and an apple... you see what I mean by volume?
I served this to my boyfriend and he couldn't believe the size for just 1 serving!
Chicken Broccoli Alfredo Spaghetti Squash
4 servings | 50 minutes
Ingredients:
Roasted Cauliflower Cream Sauce:
10 oz bag frozen cauliflower or half a fresh head of cauliflower, cut into florets
1/4 cup skim milk or dairy free milk (I have subbed for unsweetened almond milk)
8 cloves garlic
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup chicken broth
1 tsp olive oil
Spaghetti Squash Bowl:
2 small spaghetti squashes
16 oz bag frozen broccoli florets or 4 cups fresh broccoli, cut into florets
1 tsp olive oil
Additional salt and pepper for seasoning
2-4 oz shredded cheese and a little grated parmesan for topping (omit for dairy free)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425.
Cover a large baking sheet with tin foil and spray with nonstick spray.
Slice both squashes in half using sharp knife (if you have trouble with this, use a fork to poke a few holes in the squash and microwave for 6-8 minutes and then try and cut in half).
Once in half, spray all halves with nonstick spray and season with salt and pepper. Place all four halves face down on a large baking sheet.
Peel the skin off of garlic cloves.
Place garlic and cauliflower florets on a piece of tin foil.
Drizzle garlic and cauliflower with 2 tsp olive oil and season with 1/2 tsp salt.
Fold sides of tin foil up around garlic and cauliflower and tightly seal it at the top to form a pouch (you want to make sure there's no open spots so the contents don't burn).
Add squash and tin foil pouch to the oven to bake for 45-50 minutes or until the squash is fork tender.
While those are cooking, prepare the chicken and broccoli.
Bring a pot of water to a boil and steam broccoli florets until fork tender.
Dice chicken into bite sized pieces and season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Heat a medium sauté pan with the remaining teaspoon of olive oil. Add chicken pieces and cook until no longer pink.
Once broccoli and chicken are cooked, remove from pans and set aside.
Remove the squash and tin foil pouch from the oven.
Scoop the seeds out of the spaghetti squash and use a fork to break up the flesh.
Dump the contents of the tin foil pouch into a blender along with 1/2 cup chicken broth, milk, pepper, mustard, garlic powder and onion powder and blend until smooth. Add remaining chicken broth until your ideal consistency is reached (I usually end up adding the whole remaining 1/2 cup but you can add more or less depending on preference).
Mix broccoli, chicken and cauliflower cream sauce into the flesh of the spaghetti squash. You can remove the flesh from all halves and combine everything in a large bowl or serve each person a half and let them top with their own chicken, broccoli, sauce and cheese.
The latter is my preference because build your own = less work for you!
Optional extra step: Set oven to broil, add in squash halves topped with cheese and broil until the cheese begins to bubble and brown.
Remove from the oven, top with an extra sprinkle of parmesan and enjoy!
Nutrition facts for Roasted Cauliflower Cream Sauce (left) and for entire meal, including the cream sauce (right).
