Spaghetti Squash Taco Bowls

This is a weekend supper, not a weeknight one. The squash wants the better part of an hour in the oven, and the filling wants your attention while it does. But it’s the kind of meal people come back to the stove for. A roasted spaghetti squash half becomes the bowl, the strands get fluffed right in the shell, and it all gets piled with taco meat, cheese, salsa, and sour cream, with tortilla chips tucked around the rim like a crown. That’s our own supper in the photo, straight out of the oven.

We make ours with green chilies and skip the chili powder and lime. The chilies bring plenty of flavor without much heat. If your house likes it hotter, you know what to do.

What you need

Serves 4, one squash half each

For the bowls

• 2 spaghetti squash
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ¾ teaspoon salt

For the filling

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound ground beef or pork
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 3 cloves German hardneck garlic, minced
• 1 can (4 oz) diced green chilies
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• ½ cup water or broth
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup corn kernels (frozen is fine)

For the top

• 1½ cups shredded cheese
• 1 cup salsa
• ½ cup sour cream
• Tortilla chips

How we do it

1. Roast the squash. Heat the oven to 400°F. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. These are big squash and they fight back, so use your heaviest knife and go slow. Rub the cut sides with oil, sprinkle with salt, and roast cut side down for 35 to 45 minutes, until a fork slides easily through the skin.
2. Brown the meat. While the squash roasts, heat the oil in a big skillet over medium-high. Cook the meat and onion until the meat is browned and the onion is soft, about 8 minutes. Drain off any extra fat.
3. Season the filling. Stir in the garlic, green chilies, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, and tomato paste and cook 1 minute, until it smells like something. Add the water and salt and simmer until it’s saucy, 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Add the beans and corn. Fold them in and cook until everything is hot.
5. Make the bowls. Flip the squash halves over and fluff the flesh into strands with a fork, leaving it in the shell and pushing it up the sides so it holds the filling.
6. Fill and broil. Spoon the filling into each half, cover it with cheese, and broil 2 to 3 minutes, until it’s bubbling. Watch it, because broilers don’t wait.
7. Crown it. Top with salsa, sour cream, and a little more cheese, then tuck tortilla chips around the edge. Eat it by digging all the way down so every bite gets some squash.

Getting ahead: The filling keeps 4 days in the fridge. Make it Friday night, and Saturday supper is mostly just roasting the squash.

If you’d rather go Italian with your spaghetti squash, our spaghetti and meatballs, hold the spaghetti is the other way we eat it.