Ground Turkey Marinara & Spaghetti Squash

Ground Turkey Marinara & Spaghetti Squash

Ground Turkey Marinara & Spaghetti Squash is a dinner we started making a couple of years ago once we discovered spaghetti squash. It is a great alternative to spaghetti noodles if you prefer low-carb or gluten free. It tastes great too!  We paired this dinner with a Trader Joe’s Reserve Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley, Oregon.

If you don’t know about the Trader Joe’s reserve wines, they are a great value for great wine. Trader Joe’s buys the excess wine from wine makers and bottles it under its private label brand. They can be hit or miss, but the $10 reserve wines usually cost between $17-$20 when sold under its own brand. The one we had with this dinner was great. The Lot # on the label distinguishes the exact wine bottled under the reserve label. If you like a bottle of the reserve wine you purchased, I suggest you stock up, because the good ones sell out really fast. For the reference of this post, the Pinot Noir we had is Lot #159.

Shopping List

  • 1 LB. Ground Turkey (I get Trader Joe’s All Natural Ground Turkey)
  • 2-3 Cups of Marinara Sauce (I get Trader Joe’s Organic No Salt Added Marinara Sauce)
  • 1 Spaghetti Squash (I get mine at Trader Joe’s. They are seasonal, but you can tell when they are ready to eat when they are a bright yellow)
  • Basil (to taste)
  • Camp Mix Original Seasoning (you can purchase here. You can also just use salt, pepper, and garlic salt)

Spaghetti Squash

  • Preheat the oven to 400°
  • Cut the spaghetti squash in half longways and scoop out seeds in center
  • Place the two halves on a cookie sheet lined with foil (the foil keeps the cookie sheet clean so that you don’t have to wash during clean-up)
  • Bake in oven for 45 minutes then let cool until you can touch the exterior
  • Using a fork, scrape the inside from top to bottom creating long “noodle” strands

Ground Turkey Marinara

To cook the turkey,

  • Preheat large pan on stovetop on medium heat
  • Spray pan with non-stick cooking spray (I get the Trader Joe’s Olive Oil Spray) and put meat in pan
  • Using a spatula, chop up the meat into small “ground up” pieces, stirring occasionally
  • Cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring every 2-3 minutes to get browned and cooked evenly

To heat the marinara sauce,

  • Put a small sauce pan on stovetop on med-low heat
  • Put the 2-3 cups of marinara sauce in the pan and cover (as it gets hotter it will “pop” making the sauce splatter)
  • Sprinkle in Basil and Camp Mix to taste (I usually do 4-5 shakes of each) and stir occasionally until hot

Scoop the spaghetti squash onto a plate and top with ground turkey and sauce. You can also sprinkle with cheese (if you don’t mind dairy) or hot pepper flakes to add a little spice. Enjoy!

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