This healthy broccoli cheese spaghetti squash casserole is a delicious way to add more veggies to your family's plates. It includes Greek yogurt for more protein, and is baby led weaning and toddler friendly! (gluten-free)
This post has been written and medically reviewed by Kaleigh McMordie, MCN, RDN (Registered Dietitian Nutritionist).
Broccoli Cheese Spaghetti Squash Casserole
This spaghetti squash casserole with broccoli and cheddar is a great way to get more veggies into your little one's diet. Creamy, and cheesy and made with just a handful of healthy ingredients like Greek yogurt and broccoli, it's a delicious dish the whole family will love, from the newest BLW eaters to adult! It works great as a side dish or vegetarian main, or you can add shredded chicken for an all-in-one dinner.
Read more: how to serve spaghetti squash and broccoli for baby led weaning
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Ingredients
- Cooked spaghetti squash (This is a great use for leftover spaghetti squash!), scraped from the shell into strands. Learn how to roast spaghetti squash easily here.
- Broccoli You can use fresh or frozen. If you're making this for young babies, don't use the stalks and make sure to chop the broccoli finely
- Garlic Adds nice flavor without extra salt
- Plain Greek yogurt Makes this casserole creamy, but with extra protein
- Cheddar cheese Grate it yourself for the best melting. Feel free to swap it for another cheese.
- Egg Acts as a binder, holding everything together
- Spices: Salt (optional), pepper, garlic, onion
Helpful Equipment: Sharp knife, large skillet, 8- or 9-inch baking dish
Step By Step Instructions
For the full printable recipe, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Chop the broccoli into very small bite size pieces. Make sure not to include the stalks in you're making this for 6-9 month old babies.
- Heat the skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and the broccoli, and cook, stirring, for about 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more, then remove from the heat.
- In a large bowl, whisk the yogurt, egg, and spices.
- Stir in the cooked squash, broccoli, and half of the cheese.
- Spread the mixture into a greased 8- or 9-inch baking dish.
- Top with the remaining cheese.
- Bake at 400°F for 25 minutes, or until bubbly.
Tips and Recipe Variations
- I love using leftover roasted spaghetti squash in this recipe, but any cooking method you like works well. After cooking, scoop the strands from the shell with a fork.
- If you're looking to skip a step and make this super easy, you can use frozen chopped broccoli (make sure it's chopped fine) and skip cooking it in the skillet. You'll need to thaw and drain the broccoli first.
- To make this a one-dish main meal, add cooked shredded chicken or ground turkey sausage!
- I don't worry about adding a little salt to this recipe, but if you would rather leave out the salt for babies under 12 months, feel free to omit it. If you've only got older children, you may want to increase the salt just a little bit.
- This whole casserole can be assembled in advance and refrigerated (covered) until you're ready to bake it, up to 2 days.
Storage and Reheating
Store leftovers tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat in the oven at 350°F, covered, until warmed through, then remove the cover for the last few minutes.
I don't recommend freezing this casserole after cooking - it will get weepy and soggy.
How To Serve Spaghetti Squash Casserole To Babies 6 Months and Up
For baby led weaning babies 6 months and up (and babies in the finger food stage), chop up the spaghetti squash casserole so that the squash is in small bite-sized strands. Then allow baby to use his hands to scoop it off of a rimmed plate or bowl. Keep chopping it up for babies as they get older and start practicing with utensils.
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Healthy Broccoli Cheese Spaghetti Squash Casserole
This healthy broccoli cheese spaghetti squash casserole is a delicious way to add more veggies to your family's plates. It includes Greek yogurt for more protein, and is baby led weaning and toddler friendly! (gluten-free)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
- Category: side dish
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup broccoli florets
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp olive oil, avocado oil, or butter
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 large egg
- ½ tsp each salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder
- 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 2 cups cooked spaghetti squash strands (from half of a large squash)
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease an 8- or 9-inch baking dish with oil or butter.
- Chop the broccoli into very small pieces (1 cm or smaller), leaving out the tough stems if you'll be serving to babies under 12 months. Mince the garlic.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the oil, swirling to coat the bottom of the skillet. Add the broccoli and cook, stirring, until slightly softened and bright green, about 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more. Turn off heat.
- In a large bowl, whisk the egg, yogurt and spices (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder). Stir in half of the grated cheese, cooked broccoli and cooked squash.
- Spread the mixture into prepared pan. Top with remaining grated cheese.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is lightly browned.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- To make things easy and speedy, you can use frozen chopped broccoli in place of fresh and skip cooking the broccoli and garlic in the skillet. You'll want to thaw the broccoli and pat or squeeze dry with paper towels. The minced garlic can be added raw.
- If you are serving to babies under 12 months, feel free to leave out the salt. I'm not worried about a small amount of salt in recipes like this.
- This recipe can be assembled ahead of time and refrigerated, covered, until you're ready to bake it, up to 3 days in advance.
- To make this a one-dish main meal, add cooked shredded chicken or ground turkey sausage!
- You can swap the cheddar for any kind of cheese you like. I prefer freshly grated for the best flavor and melting.
- You can swap the yogurt for sour cream, heavy cream, or ⅓ cup half and half.
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