Vegan Tuscan Mushrooms & Broccoli Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
A creamy vegan Tuscan sauce made with coconut milk, nutritional yeast and herbs, tossed with sun dried tomatoes, chopped steamed broccoli and seasoned mushrooms.
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The spaghetti squash train continues with this absolute winner of a dish! I guess I'm having a thing for spaghetti squash bowls these days?
This is another meal I keep on weekly rotation in our house because not only is it absolutely delicious, but it's absolutely the easiest meal to make. It's also a great low-carb option to sub in instead of pasta, which I have made with this recipe before as well and you totally can too, but I personally love eating from a squash bowl.
If you keep coconut milk and nutritional yeast on hand at all times (vegan kitchen must-haves), then you can make this dish any time you want.
Trader Joe's Mushroom Medley
Another secret to this dish is Trader Joe's frozen seasoned mushroom medley (if you know you know!). It's a delicious blend of gourmet mushrooms that are tossed in olive oil and herbs. They're vegan and make this dish go from delicious to AMAZING.
If you don't have a Trader Joe's though, you can easily sub in 12oz of sliced baby bella mushrooms and season them with some garlic powder, salt, pepper and Italian herbs (measure with your heart!).
Preparing the Spaghetti Squash
This recipe will take you about 1.5 hours, which sounds like a lot but it's really just 20 minutes of hands-on cooking and then the rest is super easy!
You can make the spaghetti squash ahead of time as meal prep 1-2 days in advance, and keep the shredded squash in a tupperware container until you're ready. I don't recommend trying to cut your squash in half before it's been cooked - you risk seriously injuring yourself because the squash is so tough to cut uncooked. Instead, follow my easy steps to perfectly cooked spaghetti squash.
- 1Preheat the oven to 450 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- 2Wash the outside of the squash and dry with a towel, then use a sharp knife to pierce several holes all around the squash. This will allow steam to vent out of the squash so it doesn't basically explode in your oven.
- 3Place the squash on the baking sheet and put in the oven for 1 hour. Check the squash at 45 minutes though, and if the outside has started to already turn brown and has softened to the touch, you can take it out then, otherwise keep cooking until it gets to that point.
- 4Remove the squash from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes. This would be a good time to start the rest of the recipe.
- 5Once the squash is cool enough to handle, use a very sharp knife to cut the squash in half lengthwise, then use a fork to remove the seeds from the center of the squash and discard the seeds. Use your fork to gently pull the squash away from the sides of the skin and transfer the squash to a bowl, scraping up all the squash.
- 6You can keep the squash skin/bowls for this recipe or discard them if you prefer to just serve these from a casserole dish. You can do this 1-2 days in advance.
The Tuscan Sauce
The creamy Tuscan sauce I make is one that even a non-vegan would love. It's rich, full of flavor and you'd never know it was dairy free.
You can use light coconut milk or regular full fat coconut milk, the choice is yours. I use whatever is in my pantry, and both are delicious. Of course the full fat coconut milk will make for a thicker sauce, but in the end, both have the same flavor in my opinion and I never can tell the difference.
I also use a LOT of nutritional yeast, which thickens the sauce too, and if you've never even heard of nutritional yeast, that's OK, just be sure to go and get yourself some because your life will change. Mine did, and for a long time I was totally freaked out by it, but I'll never look back.
The Recipe
Enjoy this amazing recipe that I can't stop making, and I hope you fall in love with it too!
Vegan Tuscan Mushrooms & Broccoli Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
Ingredients
- 1 medium spaghetti squash
- 1 TBS olive oil
- 12 oz Trader Joes Mushroom Medley or use 12oz sliced baby bella mushrooms, seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Italian herbs
- 4 oz sliced sun dried tomatoes in oil
- 15 oz coconut milk regular or light (regular will make for a thicker sauce)
- 1/4 C nutritional yeast flakes
- salt to taste
- 1 tsp Italian herbs include this even if you use regular mushrooms
- 12 oz bag broccoli florets, steamed in the bag
- 1/4 C shredded non-dairy mozzarella cheese
Instructions
To prepare the spaghetti squash
- 1 Preheat the oven to 450 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2 Wash the outside of the squash and dry with a towel, then use a sharp knife to pierce several holes all around the squash. This will allow steam to vent out of the squash so it doesn't basically explode in your oven.3 Place the squash on the baking sheet and put in the oven for 1 hour. Check the squash at 45 minutes though, and if the outside has started to already turn brown and has softened to the touch, you can take it out then, otherwise keep cooking until it gets to that point.4 Remove the squash from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes. This would be a good time to start the rest of the recipe.5Once the squash is cool enough to handle, use a very sharp knife to cut the squash in half lengthwise, then use a fork to remove the seeds from the center of the squash and discard the seeds. Use your fork to gently pull the squash away from the sides of the skin and transfer the squash to a bowl, scraping up all the squash.6 You can keep the squash skin/bowls for this recipe or discard them if you prefer to just serve these from a casserole dish. You can do this 1-2 days in advance.
To make the rest of the recipe
- In a large deep sided skillet, heat olive oil over medium and add mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes. Stir occasionally, cooking until the mushrooms have softened, about 5-6 minutes.
- Pour in the coconut milk, nutritional yeast, Italian herbs and salt to taste. Stir well and bring to a low simmer, cooking until the sauce starts to thicken.
- Stir in the steamed broccoli, breaking up the florets into smaller pieces with your wooden spoon, then stir in the spaghetti squash. Once everything has stirred together, taste again for salt and/or pepper.
- Set the broiler to high and make sure the oven rack is set in the middle of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spoon the squash mixture evenly into each squash bowl. If you discarded the squash bowls, then pour it all into a baking dish. Sprinkle the mozzarella evenly over the top, then put under the broiler for 4-5 minutes, or until the cheese starts to bubble and brown.
- Serve right away hot or keep it in tupperware for meal prep meals up to 2-3 days in advance.
