Can You Freeze Spaghetti Squash? A Food Preservation Guide

Perhaps you are growing spaghetti squash, or maybe you found it on a banging sale. Either way, if you have more than you can eat before it goes bad, you may wonder can you freeze spaghetti squash?

Yes, you can freeze spaghetti squash. You can freeze it raw, but it is best to blanch it or cook it before freezing to kill the enzymes that keep it aging. Like most frozen vegetables it is best quality within 6 – 8 months, but is safe to eat indefinitely as long as it has been kept in proper temperatures.

If you can freeze mashed potatoes, and can freeze sweet potatoes then surely you can freeze spaghetti squash too! In fact, freezing spaghetti squash is super easy.

Can you freeze spaghetti squash?

Like so many times before, you may notice a theme here, we found a fantastic sale on organic spaghetti squash at our local market. So, as per usual, we loaded our cart with enough spaghetti squash to garner the standard “What are you going to do with ALL of that spaghetti squash?” from curious onlookers.

Afterall, creating a stockpile is a FANTASTIC way to save money and time.

Preparation, Cooking & Freezing

The first thing you need to get is get all of your spaghetti squashes ready for cooking.

If you are using organic or pesticide free spaghetti squash you don’t really need to wash the outside husk since it’s so thick and you won’t be eating it. So you really just need you have plenty of space to work with since they are so large.

Things you will need:

– spaghetti squash (duh)

– cutting board

– large knife

– measuring cup

– large mixing bowl

– freezer bags

– Sharpie

Optional:

– deep freezer (in case you decide to go food preservation crazy and freeze all of these vegetables)

Preparing Spaghetti Squash

Once your preparation area is ready, you will need to start cutting your squash. Please, be super careful when doing this part. The husks are really thick and take a good deal of effort to break through.

As you can see in the picture, I use the biggest and sharpest knife we have. Sometimes, I can cut straight through the squash with no problems.

However, most times, I end up sticking the knife in the middle of the spaghetti squash all the way through, holding the blade in place, and then slamming the bottom of the spaghetti squash down.

Again, please be EXTREMELY careful during this part. Slamming a blade down through a spaghetti squash is a great way to injure yourself if you’re not paying close enough attention.

At any rate, however you end up cutting your spaghetti squash, you should end up with two equal halves.

Now you will want to start cleaning the seeds from your spaghetti squash. Don’t throw them away. We like to use everything on our homestead.

You can roast them yourself for a nice snack, use them in your own garden, or feed them to any animals you may have around your farm. They are a great natural parasite deterrent.

You can use a fork or a spoon for this part. Gently, scrape the seed from inside of the spaghetti squash. You don’t have to be too careful, you just don’t want to scrape out too much of the actual squash.

Want to use those seeds too? You can roast them like zucchini seeds.

How To Cook It

You may be wondering why you need to cook your squash. Can’t you just freeze it raw? Squash contains an enzyme that will let it still go through the “aging” process even when frozen. The reason we cook it first is to destroy those enzymes and halt the decomposition process.

Once your spaghetti squash are cut and clean, you will want to start cooking them. Place each half of spaghetti squash cut side down on the oven rack. We can fit about 3-4 full spaghetti squash or 6-8 halves per batch. Cook at 400 degrees for around 45 minutes, give or take a few depending on the oven.

When the timer is up, carefully pull your spaghetti squash out of the oven and place it open side up on a clean surface. You may want to wait a few minutes for the outside husk to cool before handling.

When you are ready, pick up the squash or put it on a plate and begin to scrape the “spaghetti” from inside the squash. It should come out pretty easily. If the noodles do not come out easily, you may need to cook for a little bit longer.

You will now have yourself a nice big bowl of noodles.

You can either eat this fresh (throw some spaghetti sauce on it) or you can save it for later.

What’s the best way to freeze spaghetti squash?

We will take a measuring cup and put 2 cups of noodles in a freezer safe quart bag. 2 cups will make about 1 full meal serving or 2 side servings.

Freezing spaghetti squash is actually pretty simple. Just put them into a ziplock bag, squeeze out the air, flatten (to save space), and toss them into your freezer!

It’s super easy to do and, best of all, now you have a super tasty and healthy meal for any occasion! Make sure you date and label the ziplock bags. Your spaghetti squash will stay good for up to a year.

When your ready to eat it, all you have to do is thaw it out. You can do this by sticking it in the fridge over night, reheat it in the oven (if your patient), in the microwave (if your are less patient), or in your Instant Pot.

Want an idea to get you started down the spaghetti squash recipe path? Here is one of our favorites!

Do you have any Spaghetti squash recipes you love? Share them with us in the comments below.

For more great recipes and food preservation tips…