Healthy Spiralized Sweet Potato Spaghetti Casserole! Lighten up a classic home cooked comfort food dish with spiralized sweet potatoes! A simple wholesome gluten free/grain free spaghetti casserole ready in no time. Protein rich and veggie packed.
Just letting you know thisSweet Potato Spaghetti Casserole recipe was originally published in 2015. I retested, rephotographed, updated content. Now I am republishing it for you today! I hope you enjoy. Thank you for following Cotter Crunch Y’all!.
I think I mentioned this before, but did you know that I grew up in a house full of boys? Yes, I have 3 older brothers, no sisters. I’ve been surrounded by boys on my life. In fact I married a man who only has a brother. That being said, Healthy yet Hearty Recipes are big deal and a must. And casseroles are a necessity!
One of our favorite hearty comfort foods growing up was spaghetti casserole. Although, being the youngest and only girl, if I didn’t get a piece of this casserole at dinner, I wouldn’t get any at all later. Brothers don’t share food. Especially food with meaty cheesy goodness. I remember each time my mom would make this spaghetti casserole, I’d stand waiting in the kitchen, praying that I’d beat my brothers for the first piece. Did I mention that my brothers like carbs, and cheese, and meat? So you can imagine the “pieces” they would take. Not a small square, but rather a whole plate full. Veggies? Ya, those did not exist on their plates.
The funny thing is, when I asked my mom what was actually in it years later, I was shocked. Sure, it was simple ingredients but also pretty unhealthy. Doesn’t that always happen? Realizing a favorite childhood meal is really not so homemade or healthy. Haha! Heck, my husband’s favorite childhood meal was spaghetti or beans on toast. That’s a thing in New Zealand, carbs on carbs. Needless to say, we all have our favorites and our taste buds have their memories.
Over the next few weeks I’m going to try to take some of our favorite childhood comfort foods and give them a little grain free or gluten-free makeover. For me, it’s the best of both worlds. Being able to relive some of our homemade comfort foods but also being able to recreate and share with others healthier gluten-free options. Plus it doesn’t hurt that these recipes can hide extra veggies in the dish. We all know we need extra veggies during the winter anyways.
Speaking of, today’s recipe. Let’s get to it! Hearty, yet healthy, SPIRALIZED SWEET POTATO SPAGHETTI CASSEROLE.
What I like about this dishes that you can make it in a variety of ways. You can make it more starchy with spiralized sweet potato noodles, or you can make it lighter with squash or zucchini (Zoodles). And of course, you can always just use gluten-free noodles. Spaghetti casserole, three ways.
Just spiralize a veggie….
Add your favorite mix-ins to give it more bulk, and flavor. Chicken sausage, olives or pimentos, basil, etc.
Make sure you have a binder. I used non dairy cream/milk, sour cream, and egg. But don’t worry, I also gave non dairy options!
Then all you do next is bake! You can even make it vegetarian friendly. But I will admit, the chicken sausage is probably my favorite part.
OK I lied, twirling the noodles in a bowl my favorite.
P.S This what the spaghetti casserole (vegetarian version with pesto) looks like before you add eggs and bake it. So basically you are totally allowed to eat it as a “deconstructed” casserole. Haha!
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Spiralized Sweet Potato Spaghetti Casserole
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45
- Yield: 5 servings 1x
Description
Lighten up a classic home cooked comfort food dish with spiralized sweet potatoes! A simple wholesome gluten free/grain free spaghetti casserole ready in no time. Protein rich and veggie packed.
Ingredients
- 2 peeled sweet potato (4.5 cups spiralized)
- 2 oz cream cheese or 1/4 to 1/3 cup sour cream (see notes for non dairy option)
- 1/2 to 2/3 cup almond or coconut milk (drinking milk works great).
- 1 egg and 2 egg whites whisked
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp garlic (minced)
- 1/4 tsp onion salt or sea salt (dash of garlic/salt for after baking as well)
- 2 oz diced olives or pimentos (drained if using canned)
- 1/4 cup tomato sauce
- 2/3 cup cooked sliced gluten free sausage (chicken sausage, chickpeas, or any gluten free breakfast sausage all work)
- 1 cup greens (spinach or kale)
- 5 oz crumbled cheese – Parmesan or Feta work great. (see notes for non dairy option)
- 4–5 basil leaves for topping
- optional black pepper seasoning on top
- Optional 2 –3 tbsp pesto mixed with spaghetti noodles before baking
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Peel your sweet potatoes then spiralize them. Comes out to about 4.5 cups.
- Place sweet potato noodles in a bowl and steam in microwave for about 1 minutes or on stove top for 5 minutes, until potato noodles are al dente.
- Then add 1 tbsp oil and your garlic, onion salt. Toss so that the noodles are lightly coated. To make more flavorful, feel free to toss the cooked sweet potato spaghetti noodles in a pesto before placing in casserole dish. (I used an 8×11)
- In another bowl, mix your sour cream (or cream cheese), whisked eggs, and milk.
- Lightly coat a casserole dish with oil or coconut spray.
- Layer your ingredients. starting with noodles, then chicken sausage, olives or pimentos, then spinach or kale greens.
- Next add your cream cheese/egg mixture. then add tomato sauce and crumbled cheese (parmesan or feta work great).
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until cheese starts to brown. Check noodles for tenderness if you can.
- Optional: Top with fresh basil, black pepper and any additional sea salt or garlic.
Notes
DAIRY FREE RECIPE NOTES
- For Dairy Free: If you cannot eat feta/cheese, then add 1/4 to 1/3 cup nutritional yeast instead.
- Instead of cream cheese or sour cream, you can use a non dairy yogurt or cream cheese but consistency might be a little different.
TO MAKE MEATLESS:
- Feel free to replace the sausage with 1 cup cooked chickpeas for meatless option
Nutrition shown below for casserole with lean chicken sausage
- Category: main, dinner
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 249
- Sugar: 3.1g
- Sodium: 678.5mg
- Fat: 14.8g
- Saturated Fat: 6.7g
- Carbohydrates: 14.1g
- Fiber: 2.5g
- Protein: 15g
- Cholesterol: 61.7mg
Keywords: spaghetti casserole, spiralized sweet potatoes, sweet potato noodles, healthy pasta, kid friendly, gluten free
This dish would be great for a family dinner, potluck, or even a brunch. It’s also makes for a great recovery meal with the balance of healthy gluten free starches, proteins, and fat. Hearty eater’s won’t even know that the main carb in this dish is a vegetable. Which makes it more fun to serve and watch the expression on their face. Come on, you know you love tricking people into healthy eating.
Well, you know I’m going to ask…
Favorite childhood comfort food? Have you ever made a spiralized sweet potato casserole?
But wait, there’s more! This recipe is part of our 10 BEST OF FOOD ALLERGY FRIENDLY LUNCH BOX IDEAS.
Head on over to the page to check out more recipes!
Cheers,
MORE WHOLE HEALTHY SWEET POTATOES RECIPES
This recipe is part of our 8 Healthy Ways to Cook Sweet Potatoes collection. Check it out!
