low carb – Food Under Pressure

December 20 2016

Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash (cooked whole) | Food Under Pressure

Jessica All Recipes, Side Dish Recipes 21 day fix, low carb, spaghetti squash, squash, vegetables, veggies, whole30

Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti Squash is great! Especially as a low carb alternative to pasta.

However, Spaghetti Squash is normally a pain in the neck to cook.

You have to cut it in half, which in itself is intimidating enough for some – who could blame them? You risk fingers cutting hard, raw gourds like hard squash and pumpkins. Seriously.

It takes forever to cook. In the oven, after cutting in half and cleaning, Spaghetti Squash takes like an hour. Who has that kind of time?

In the microwave, it doesn’t come out very good in my opinion, and it still takes almost half an hour. Plus, do you even have a microwave big enough to fit 2 halves of squash? Not everyone does…

Well – I’ve said it time and time again, I LOVE my INSTANT POT! I love it anyways, but I fall in love even more when it makes things like intimidating Spaghetti Squash a freaking BREEZE to make. And, it comes out PERFECT!

I cook it WHOLE – yep, you read correctly – WHOLE! It takes zero effort. When it’s done, its so simple to peel and clean, you’re ready to eat it in NO TIME!

Spaghetti Squash

Ingredients

1 medium to large Spaghetti Squash, left whole

1 1/2 cups water

Tools

Instant Pot, or other pressure cooker

Cooking Rack

Instant Pot Silicone Mitts

Grapefruit spoon, or other spoon

Sharp Knife

Directions

Plug in Instant Pot (IP). Pour water in bottom of IP insert. Place cooking rack over water.

Place spaghetti squash, whole, on rack. Do not pierce or poke holes.

Close lid. Turn Vent Knob to “Sealing”.

Press “Manual” (high pressure on other pressure cookers). Adjust cook time to 18-22 minutes.

*why the cook time range? 18 minutes if you like your spaghetti squash “al dente”. 20 if you like it cooked through. 22 if you like it really soft. I cook mine 18 minutes, because I like that al dente bite!

Once IP comes to pressure, cook time countdown will begin. When cook time is complete, IP will beep. Quickly release pressure (QPR) by turning vent knob to “Venting”. I ALWAYS place a towel over vent knob before venting.

Open lid. You should be able to easily poke a hole in your spaghetti squash using a fork.

Carefully remove squash. Yesssss… it will be HOT! Try using the Instant Pot Silicone Mitts!

Place on cutting board and carefully cut in half. It will be EASY to cut! Hooray!

Now to get those seeds out… I use a grapefruit spoon. Never heard of ‘em? You need one or 2, trust me! It’s a regular size spoon, but its serrated! Genius, I tell ya! Perfect for grapefruit, and things like this! Get em here.