Pressure Cooker Spaghetti Squash with Roasted Balsamic Cherry Tomatoes
Kristen, Dine and Dish, started a DietBet challenge this past month and invited me and other food bloggers to join her. I accepted the challenge and I’ve been super motivated to lose a little bit of weight. One of my favorite low calorie substitutes is substituting spaghetti squash for pasta. A cup of spaghetti squash has only 42 calories compared to about 220 calories for a cup of spaghetti.
Last time I posted a spaghetti squash recipe a reader suggested cooking the spaghetti squash whole. Then after it’s cooked, it’s easier to cut the squash in half and scrap out the seeds. I used that technique this time and it was so much easier.You do need to cook the squash a couple of minutes longer though.
I topped the spaghetti squash with roasted balsamic cherry tomatoes. I used red and yellow tomatoes because the yellow ones looked so tasty at the market, but feel free to use whatever you like.
Some of my family don’t love spaghetti squash even though it has a very mild taste. So for them, this time I mixed the spaghetti squash with a little pasta. If you look closely at the picture, you can see a little linguine peeking out. Angel hair pasta would have been my first choice, but I didn’t have it in the pantry. My daughter liked it better mixed with the pasta, and said she couldn’t really taste the spaghetti squash served this way. Either way, it’s a great way not only to cut calories, but also boost the nutrition of your meal.
Making Spaghetti Squash with Roasted Tomatoes in an Instant Pot
Spaghetti Squash with Roasted Balsamic Cherry Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 3 lb. spaghetti squash
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- Coarse salt and ground pepper
- 2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
Place the spaghetti squash and water in the pressure cooking pot. Cook 10 minutes on high pressure. Use a quick pressure release and carefully remove squash from cooking pot. (The "baked" squash will be very soft and easy to squeeze. If it's still firm, put it back in the pressure cooking pot and cook another minute or two until the squash feels tender.)
When cool enough to handle, halve squash crosswise. Scoop out seeds; discard. Use a fork to scrap the strands of “spaghetti” from the skin of the spaghetti squash.
Prepare roasted cherry tomatoes: Slice the tomatoes in half, and put them in a strainer. Sprinkle the salt over the tomatoes, gently stir. Place the strainer over a bowl and let sit for 15 minutes.
Heat the broiler.
Discard cooking water from pressure cooking pot and dry pot. Select Saute and add 1 tablespoon oil to pressure cooking pot. Add garlic; cook until fragrant and just starting to color, about 3 minutes. Add squash (discard any liquid that may have accumulated on the plate). Cook, stirring frequently, until squash is hot, about 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper.
While squash is cooking, Carefully stir tomatoes and discard any liquid that has accumulated in the bowl. Put the tomatoes in the bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Spread the tomatoes in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil.
Broil on the center rack for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the tomatoes begin to brown and soften. Remove from oven.
Serve spaghetti squash topped with roasted tomatoes.
I just bought a Krups Cook4me connect . Does this work for that pot too? How? I am totally new to the multicooker/Instant Pot type electric pressure cookers but this recipe looks yummy!
Hi Kelly Ann – I took a look at the manual and it looks like if you use the Manual mode and select Pressure, you should be able to cook this and other Instant Pot recipes without making any changes.
Did you poke your squash with a fork or knife to vent prior to placing in the pressure cooker? I was not going to do that but when reading instructions for cooking a whole squash in the oven that was one of the steps. I wanted to make sure that it was not needed for pressure cooking the whole squash.
Hi Linda – I didn’t, but if you prefer to, there’s no reason not to take the extra precaution.
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My squash was not done at all, I ended up cutting it in half and doing it another 5 min, then it was over done. Mine was only 2.5 lbs. any idea why it didn’t work? I’m new to pressure cooking.
Hi Marci – thanks for the feedback. I updated the recipe with additional instructions. What kind of pressure cooker do you use?
The nesco electric pressure cooker. Should I get a different one?
No, you don’t need to buy another one – I just don’t know much about stove top models. My guess is your pressure cooker didn’t actually reach pressure or didn’t maintain pressure the first time you cooked it. If you have your manual, check the troubleshooting section and see reasons why it didn’t maintain pressure. etc. Perhaps a valve was in the wrong spot or the gasket was installed right, etc.
Hope that helps!
Love this idea, Barbara. What a delicious simple meal. Will be trying it for sure in the summer when our cherry tomatoes and spaghetti squash come one. But I may not be able to wait that long….I’m also admiring your beautiful dish that you served it in. Very lovely.
Thanks Heather! The nice thing about using cherry or grape tomatoes is that they taste sweet all year round.
And here I thought cooking the squash in the microwave was a genius idea. I can’t wait to try this way.
Thanks Barbara!
You can pressure cook a WHOLE spaghetti squash!?! I have got to try this!
Just make sure to buy one that’s short and fat and not long and skinny, so it will fit in the pot. 🙂
Yay, so glad to hear my squash tip turned out well! I’m always looking for shortcuts (hence, the use of a pressure cooker :).
Thanks for the tip to add some pasta to the spaghetti squash — perfect for my husband who prefers the “real thing”.
Thanks A for sharing your tip!
This looks delicious!