I first got into spaghetti squash while doing Whole30, and it’s one of the things I continued to make after the 30 days were up. Its only downside is that — like many squashes — it’s as hard as a rock, and attempting to cut through it with a big kitchen knife always makes me feel like I’m one surprise ass grab away from a trip to the ER.
But! After some trial and error, I've found a few tricks that make cutting and cooking the devil's gourd a little bit easier.
1. Make use of your microwave.
You can actually cook a spaghetti squash in the microwave, but I still prefer to roast mine. However, I now use the following method to great success: cut about six slits (roughly one-inch wide, and about a quarter-inch deep) in the spaghetti squash with a knife. Put it in the microwave and cook it until it’s soft (about five minutes). Put on a couple of oven mitts and remove it from the microwave. With your non-dominant hand still in an oven mitt, grip the hot squash. (It'll be too hot to handle otherwise!) Then use a large kitchen knife to cut it in half for roasting.
2. Use kitchen shears to get the seeds and stringy bits out.
I haaaaate this part cooking spaghetti squash because the seeds and guts squick me out in a dumb but still visceral way. However, I’ve found that using kitchen shears is a game changer. You can quickly kind of just hack through the seeds/big strings and get to the actual “meat” much more easily.
BTW, kitchen shears are an incredibly helpful tool in general! I also use them to cut up canned whole tomatoes for taco soup, and to cut uncooked bacon into bite-sized pieces for recipes. Get some highly-rated kitchen shears from Amazon for $9.21.
3. And if you happen to have a grapefruit spoon, use that to scrape out the squash.
If you have a grapefruit spoon, use that to scrape out the squash into long strands. This tip comes via my friend Rachel, who swears by it for cleaning all squashes (and grapefruits). You can get a set of four grapefruit spoon from Amazon for $6.99.
