Chicken Caesar Spaghetti Squash Boats packed that chicken caesar flavor into a low carb spaghetti squash. A healthy, gluten free, paleo, and Whole30 remake on a classic comfort food!
Raise your hand if you used to eat chicken caesar salad wraps from Chick-fil-a growing up 🙋🏻♀️🙋🏻♀️🙋🏻♀️
Guilty as charged. In high school my friend and I would go to the mall and stop by there for lunch. We totally thought we were being healthy by ordering salad in a wrap.
I mean we got waffle fries too (obviously), but the healthy sandwich thing balanced it out. I now know that definitely wasn’t the healthiest of meals for a handful of reasons, but man was it good. And it forever made me a lover of chicken caesar.
So I’m taking that love and putting a fun twist on it – chicken caesar spaghetti squash boats!!
Instead of you typical wrap, we are serving this chicken Caesar over spaghetti squash! It makes a great low carb alternative, ups the veggie intake, and adds some fiber to the meal. And it’s both kid and adult approved.
These chicken caesar spaghetti squash boats are perfect for an easy weeknight meal (most of the cook time is the spaghetti squash cooking) or for meal prep. We practically ate it all between 4 people (I couldn’t stop picking at it when I made them). It’s the ultimate healthy comfort food that is gluten free, paleo, and Whole30 approved!
How to make Chicken Caesar Spaghetti Squash Boats
Less then 10 ingredients to make dreamy spaghetti squash boats. The chicken caesar mixture comes together in about 10 minutes and the rest of theme is just the spaghetti squash cooking. Here is what you need:
- 2 small spaghetti squashes
- chicken breast
- kale (120 grams)
- onion
- garlic
- lemon juice
- avocado oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
- Caesar dressing
To start you need to roast the spaghetti squash in the oven. You can also do this in the Instant Pot (manual mode for 7 minutes!), but you would need to do it in 2 batches since we are using 2 spaghetti squashes. When the squash is almost done, you make the chicken mixture.
Sauté the onion, chicken, garlic, and kale until chicken is cooked through. Toss the mixture with lemon juice and the dressing and then evenly divide it between the spaghetti squash! Voila!
To meal prep
To meal prep these guys, it’s super simple. Just make it according to the recipe and for storage you can either store the spaghetti squash and chicken caesar mixture separately or together. It will keep in an airtight container (these are my favorite meal prep containers) for about 5 days. You can either reheat it in the microwave or in a pan over the stove.
Homemade vs store bought Caesar Dressing
I used store bought Caesar dressing to make this recipe even easier than it already is. While you can definitely make your own, or find a recipe online, this is just so much easier for me! And I’m not sure if you have tried Tessemae’s dressing, but they are bomb! I will gladly pay a bit more for it rather than try to perfect my own.
If you can’t find Tessemae’s, I would look for a dressing that doesn’t have any added sugar (or as little sugar as possible), any weird preservatives or artificial flavors, or fillers.
Can I use pasta instead?
Yes! While I love the spaghetti squash, any noodle will really work here.
You can easily substitute zucchini noodles (just make sure you squeeze all the water out of them or they will make the sauce runny), sweet potato noodles, parsnips noodles, or anything you like. If using a veggies noodle, you can toss it in with the kale and sauté until cooked through. You could also use cauliflower rice as well if you want a super low carb meal.
If you aren’t doing the Whole30, you can use gluten free pasta or pasta of your choice!
More Healthy Spaghetti Squash Recipes:
Turkey Kale Spaghetti Squash Boats
In other exciting news, I hope you guys are ready for next month?! Not because it is March and that means the warmer weather, although that is pretty great, but because I’m bringing you a new series – 30 Minute Meal Solutions!! All month I will be focusing on easy, one pan dinners that are made in 30 minutes or less. I know you guys love those kinds of recipes so stay tuned!!
Chicken Caesar Spaghetti Squash Boats
ingredients
- 2 small spaghetti squashes (about 1760 grams)
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 1 1/2 cups chopped onion (half a large/150 grams)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound chicken breast (cubed)
- 4 packed cups chopped kale (120 grams)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons Caesar dressing
instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut spaghetti squash in half, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and place flesh side down on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Roast for 35 minutes until skin gives when you press into it.
- When there are about 10 minutes left on the squash, make the chicken mixture. Add oil to a large sauté pan and let it get hot, about 30 seconds. Add onion and sauté until softened, about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chicken and garlic. Season liberally with salt and pepper and cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add kale, mix to combine, and cook for 1-2 minutes until cooked down and chicken is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper and lemon juice.
- Remove chicken mixture from the pan and place in a medium bowl. Mix with 1/4 cup Caesar dressing. Remove spaghetti squash from oven and thread with a fork. Evenly divide mixture between the 4 boats, mixing up the mixture with the spaghetti. Top each spaghetti squash boat with 1/2 tablespoon (or more) Caesar dressing and pop back in the oven for 5 minutes. Enjoy!
nutrition
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Sana says
Loved it!
The first time I used spaghetti squash, it was a different recipe and we didn’t like it at all. But we really liked this one! Will definitely be making it again:)
Kelly says
So glad to hear that Sana! Thank you for trying it and glad you liked it!
Julie says
Made it on Saturday. Loved it. Will make it again for sure.
Kelly says
Glad to hear that Julie, thanks for trying them!
Danyele Peters says
Super easy, and delicious! I made a few tweaks only because of what we had in fridge vs. the recipe, but I can’t want to try this recipe to the T! Super yummy!
Kelly says
So glad you liked it Danyele! I’m the same way and most of the time make recipes with what I have on hand haha. Thanks for trying it!
Sandy Barrera says
Omg so easy soooo good and it gets better the next day! I use more garlic then what the recipe calls for because I just love garlic but the flavor builds up the next day!!!
Kelly says
Yes!! I’m a lover of garlic too, glad you hear you amped it up! Thanks for trying Sandy and glad you liked it!
Q.M. says
So easy, quick and healthy! Even the kale was good. It turned out delicious!!! I will definitely make this again! Thank you for this recipe.
Kelly says
So glad you liked it! Thanks for trying Q.M.!
Liz says
So good. Another healthy way to eat spaghetti squash. Made one half for dinner and the other half meal prep for work lunch. Thanks for another great recip!
Kelly says
So glad you liked it Liz! And love that you used it for meal prep. Thanks for trying!
Michelle Foglio-Skotte says
Love this recipe, quick, easy, healthy, and so yummy!!
Kelly says
So glad to hear it Michelle! Thanks for trying it!
Dad says
U will have to make it when we come down
Kelly says
Yep! So so good!