This recipe was an accidental creation on a busy afternoon when I was desperately craving mac and cheese but knew I needed to stick to the program! As a rule, I normally try to eat my carbs in the first half of the day and eat lots of veggies for dinner. A secret cheesy squash bake was just what I needed!
So this cheesy squash bake recipe is loaded with hidden veggies that even my daughter and husband couldn’t find! The base of the cheeses squash bake sauce is butternut squash and with endless “pasta” options you can really make it your own.
What Pasta Should I use for this Cheesy Squash Bake?
My pasta of choice is a zucchini noodle. I have been recently using this peeling tool from Williams Sonoma to make my noodles because I absolutely love the thickness of them! I honestly almost never cook my zucchini noodles because they get mushy so fast.
If I'm layering it with a steaming hot sauce of some kind, I find that usually is enough heat to get the noodles tender but still a little al dente.
For this recipe today I used quinoa fussili noodles from Aldi. These are great option for a little more protein. So really the sky is the limit with the pasta options! If you have a unique pasta that you like, let me know about it in the comments below.
Cheesy Squash Bake
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash peeled and chopped into 1 in cubes
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 2 cups water for steaming
- 1-2 cups water
- Salt + pepper to taste
- 4 oz sharp cheddar shredded (reserve some for the topping)
- 1 cup Unsweetened original almond milk
- ½ cup plain greek yogurt
- 10 oz zoodles or pasta rotini works well here!
- 1 lb Ground turkey
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 1 tablespoon parsley
- 1 tsp cayenne
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Panko bread crumbs
Instructions
- Peel and chop up your butternut squash and onion. Toss it in a stock pot with 1-2 cups of water and season with salt and pepper. Heat over medium high heat for about 15-20 min until steamed through.
- Place steamed squash and onion in a food processor or blender and add in 1 to 2 cups of water until silky smooth. You want it to be thick enough to adhere to the noodles, so use your discrection with the amount of water you need here.
- Put the squash mixture back into the original pot and add in shredded cheese, greek yogurt, and almond milk. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low for 10 min. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Prepare your pasta according to the box. I used zoodles and It turned out great! Just spiralize 2 to 4 zucchini (depending on size) but don’t cook it! You will add in the hot “cheese” sauce and it will make them tender.
- While pasta is cooking, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a skillet and brown your ground turkey. Add in oregano, parsley, cayenne, paprika, and garlic powder. Salt and pepper to taste.
- In an oven safe dish spoon in whichever pasta option you chose. Add “cheese” sauce and top with the ground turkey. Sprinkle on panko bread crumbs and extra shredded cheese and broil until brown and bubbly!
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