Garlicky Spaghetti Squash with Chicken, Mushrooms, and Kale is a squeaky clean and satisfying meal, loaded with zesty, rustic flavor! Perfect for those who love to eat clean, or folks who follow a ketogenic, whole30, or Paleo lifestyle.
I made this recipe for the first time back in 2014, and it has not only been a staple ever since, it has also inspired many-a-spaghetti-squash recipe.
For instance, my Chicken Pesto Spaghetti Squash, Mixed Vegetable Spaghetti Squash Marinara, and Spaghetti Squash Bolognese all employ the same concept: spaghetti squash + loads of saucy goodness.
It covers all the bases! It’s loaded with protein and antioxidants from the chicken and kale. The spaghetti squash provides a low-carb alternative to pasta and contains complex carbs and fiber, and the saturated fat content is low, which makes this healthy dinner recipe perfect for those who are mindful about their macros.
This clean and straight-forward recipe is marvelous for a myriad of eaters. Doing a Whole30? This will not just sustain you, it will bring you life! Enjoy a clean eating, paleolithic, or keto lifestyle? This x 100!
How about we make it?
How to Make Garlicky Spaghetti Squash with Chicken:
Begin by roasting the spaghetti squash. To do so, you can follow my instructions on How to Roast Spaghetti Squash.
While the squash is roasting, prepare the rest of the recipe. Heat the avocado oil to medium-high and add the onion. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until onion is deeply brown, and almost caramelized, about 15 to 20 minutes. If at any point the onion begins to burn, reduce the heat to medium-low and add broth to deglaze the pan.
Add the garlic, mushrooms, and chicken and continue cooking until the mushrooms have softened and the chicken has browned slightly, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth, thyme, sea salt, and lemon zest and bring to a full but gentle boil. Add the kale leaves and cover the skillet. Cook until kale has wilted and chicken is cooked through, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Once the spaghetti squash has finished roasting, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool enough to handle. Use a fork to release the spaghetti strands from the squash and place them in a large bowl.
Transfer the chicken mixture to the bowl with the squash and toss everything together until combined. Taste for flavor and add sea salt, and/or lemon juice to taste.
Recipe Adaptations:
- Omit the onion and garlic to make recipe low-FODMAP.
- Replace the chicken with 1 pound of ground beef or turkey.
- Add more vegetables – broccoli and/or cauliflower would be great!
- If you eat dairy, add feta cheese crumbles or grated parmesan cheese.
More Healthy Spaghetti Squash Recipes:
- Spaghetti Squash Burrito Bowls
- Creamy Tuscan Spaghetti Squash
- Keto Mediterranean Spaghetti Squash
- Spinach Artichoke Pesto Spaghetti Squash Bowls
Enjoy this squeaky clean dinner recipe!
Garlicky Spaghetti Squash with Chicken, Mushrooms, and Kale
Ingredients
- 1 medium-sized spaghetti squash roasted
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil (or olive oil)
- 1 medium-sized yellow onion thinly sliced
- 5 cloves large garlic minced
- 3 cups baby Portobello mushrooms chopped into sixths
- 2 tsp fresh thyme chopped
- 2 large chicken breasts sliced into strips, about 1 to 1.5 lbs
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 4 cups kale leaves
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Roast the spaghetti squash using these instructions and set aside until ready to use
- While the squash is roasting, prepare the rest of the recipe. Heat the avocado oil to medium-high and add the onion. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until onion is deeply brown, and almost caramelized, about 15 to 20 minutes. If at any point the onion begins to burn, reduce the heat to medium-low and add broth to deglaze the pan.
- Add the garlic, mushrooms, and chicken and continue cooking until the mushrooms have softened and the chicken has browned slightly, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth, thyme, sea salt, and lemon zest and bring to a full but gentle boil. Add the kale leaves and cover the skillet. Cook until kale has wilted and chicken is cooked through, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Once the spaghetti squash has finished roasting, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool enough to handle. Use a fork to release the spaghetti strands from the squash and place them in a large bowl.
- Transfer the chicken mixture to the bowl with the squash and toss everything together until combined. Taste for flavor and add sea salt, and/or lemon juice to taste.
Nutrition
Truly delicious …. loved this, such a flavorful dish – I didn’t have any kale so used broccoli and zucchini …. definitely do again 😋👍🏼
I wish you would allow us to send this recipe. Most all other sites do except you. I find it exasperating!!
Hi Kathy,
I’m not sure what you mean by sending the recipe. Could you please explain?
This sounds lovely, and I expect to make it within the week. However I no longer save recipes in bookmarks – too many to actually find anything, ditto my pdf “print” copies, so I finally started using Pinterest to keep them organized and accessible…..but suddenly no Pinterest access to this site?!? Neither a link, nor hovering over the photos opens access. Was this deliberate for some reason, or a glitch? Hoping for the best and bookmarking, but that has become a black hole :-/
Hi Sylvie!
Oh strange!! I don’t know what the situation is with pinterest. I’m getting traffic from pinterest and when I go on pinterest, I’m able to click through my pins to the site. Feel free to email me a screenshot if you’d like!: roastedrootfood@gmail.com
@Julia,
As of this evening everything is working properly again. The option shows up when I hover over a picture, and the new widget which offers sharing options is back as well (it was nowhere to be found as of my attempts this morning), so yay for things being back to normal <3
Am I to assume one onion 1/4 inch slice?
Thanks for catching that, Jean! Yes, that’s correct 🙂
Man this was so awesome! The boyfriend licked the plate when he thought I was looking….lol I would definately call this a 2 thumbs up! Thx!
Yaaaay I’m so happy to hear it, Colleen! It’s definitely one of those meals I can eat over and over again 😉 So glad you and your boyfriend liked it! xo
This look absolutely delicious! I am trying to find a Paleo Freezer Meal in a meal train for a lady at my church. Would you be able to freeze this meal?
Would it be okay to use the curly kind of kale instead of the dino kale for this recipe?
Absolutely! Enjoy!
It looks delicious! I really need to make this for my husband and kids, they love spaghetti and chicken and these pictures look so tempting 🙂
I am ALL over no tech Sunday – with football of course, and I am ALL over this squash!
I relate to how you feel.. I have encountered some tech issues lately too and it is just the WORST feeling in the world having to rebuild! On a positive note, this spaghetti squash dish looks so delicious and definitely one I can see myself making…
Thanks for the empathy, Thalia! We’ll keep our fingers crossed that both you and I don’t encounter tech issues in the future. EVER! Not ever. Hope you enjoy the sketti squarsh.
We just did an server update that crashed our whole site – as in ‘all files gone’! So of course we called the company and they wanted to charge us $80 to fix it – needless to say a whole day gone on their malfunctioning update – here’s to no tech, no high blood pressure Sundays! 🙂
Oh girl, so sorry to hear that! Tech issues are such a pain in the ass. And when issues come up, it seems as though it’s never a simple 5 minute fix…more like 5+ hours. Hopefully you got everything resolved! xoxo
Wow this looks so delicious! Definitely going to try this!
YIKES. This really now makes me wonder whether my back-up company is actually backing things up. Or just 50% of things. I think I should have a word with them.
Also, I never do tech things. Ever. I really just ignore them and keep hoping that my site won’t explode one day. Sigh.
so fun! I <3 spaghetti squash
I love the mixture of mushrooms, garlic, and kale! This is a really great take on spaghetti squash. xo
Thanks, Phoebe! I feel like the shroom/kale/chicken combo works so well together! Hope you try out the recipe!