This healthy one pot baked dish with chicken and squash not only tastes delicious but can be made in a single pan!
When we transition from Summer to Fall, I love incorporating new seasonal ingredients into our meals. This one pot bake uses spaghetti squash, some chicken, ground turkey and vegetables to make it a balanced meal.
What You’ll Need:
- spaghetti squash
- bell pepper
- onion
- garlic
- spinach
- basil leaves
- chicken thighs
- ground turkey
- egg
- seasonings – salt, pepper, Italian seasoning
- marinara sauce
Making the Recipe – Prep Work:
The first step in making this dish is to bake the spaghetti squash in the oven. To keep your clean up easy, line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
While the oven preheats, you can slice the squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Season the inside of the squash with some salt and pepper and place it flesh side down on the pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes.
While the squash cooks, prepare the rest of the ingredients. You’ll want to dice the onion, slice the peppers and mince the garlic first. You can also chop the basil and the spinach now or do that while you’re cooking the chicken thighs.
Then, cut the chicken thighs into bite sized pieces and set them aside. Getting all of this prep work done first makes the cooking process faster in my opinion!
Making the Recipe – Cooking:
Now, you are ready to start cooking!
Warm a large oven safe skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Put the ground turkey in the skillet and season it with half of the Italian seasoning.
You will want to cook it for about 6-7 minutes or until it is cooked through and you don’t see any pink in the meat. Transfer the meat to a bowl.
Lower the heat in the pan and add a little oil, the onions and bell pepper. Add a little salt and pepper to the vegetables to season them, if you like. You’ll want to cook them until they are tender, then add the garlic for a minute or so, until it is fragrant.
Now, you can remove the vegetables from the pan and add them to the same bowl as the ground turkey.
Next, you’ll add the other half of the oil to the pan and cook the cubed chicken thighs. Season the meat with the remaining Italian seasoning.
Once that is done, you can add the ground turkey and vegetables to the pan with the chicken thigh and stir it all together.
When the spaghetti squash is done cooking, remove the meat of the squash with a fork and add it directly to the pan with the meat and vegetables.
Add in the chopped basil, spinach and the egg. Stir it all together and top it with some spoons of the marinara sauce. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes.
Feel feel free to top the bake with some additional fresh basil or red pepper flakes before serving.
Print
Chicken Bake with Seasonal Squash
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: main dish
- Method: stove top and oven
Description
This healthy one pot baked dish with chicken and squash not only tastes delicious but can be made in a single pan!
Ingredients
- 1 medium spaghetti squash
- sea salt, to season the squash
- freshly ground black pepper, to season the squash
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 bell pepper, sliced thinly
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 cups spinach, chopped
- 2 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
- 1/2 lb. chicken thighs, boneless and skinless (cubed)
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil, extra virgin and cold pressed
- 1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
- 1 large egg, whisked
- 1/2 – 1 cup marinara sauce, organic
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Slice the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds. Season with salt and pepper. Place both of the sides face down on the baking sheet. Roast for 35-45 minutes.
- While the squash is cooking, prepare the rest of the ingredients. Dice the onion, mince the garlic and slice the bell pepper. Chop the spinach and basil leaves. Set aside.
- Cut the chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.
- In a large oven-safe skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, brown the ground turkey. Season the meat with half of the Italian seasoning and cook it for about 6-7 minutes until the meat is no longer pink. Transfer the meat to a separate bowl.
- Lower the heat in the pan to medium. Add 1 Tbsp. of the oil and cook the onions and bell pepper until they are just tender, about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Transfer the vegetables to the same bowl as the ground turkey.
- Add the rest of the oil to the pan and cook the chicken thighs with the remaining seasoning. Cook for about 6-8 minutes, until the meat is cooked through in the center.
- Return the ground turkey and vegetables to the skillet with the chicken thighs and stir well.
- Remove the “noodles” from the spaghetti squash with a fork and add them to the pan. Add in the chopped spinach, basil and the whisked egg and stir everything together well.
- Top the bake with 6-8 Tbsp. of the marinara sauce. Put the skillet in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes.
- Top with some freshly chopped basil and a little red pepper flake (optional) before serving.
Notes
- Substitute ground chicken for the ground turkey.
- To save on some time, you could use cooked cauliflower rice or steam or saute zucchini noodles to use in place of the spaghetti squash.
- Add some additional ground meat or chicken thigh to the dish for added protein, if you like.