Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash Cooked Whole
Here’s a step-by-step guide for how to cook a whole Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash with no poking or cutting. This is the easiest way to cook a squash without worrying about the potential danger of cutting yourself. Serve your cooked spaghetti squash in a variety of delicious ways.
If you’ve never tried pressure cooking a whole squash, then you are in for a real treat!
This is the absolute best way my favorite way to cook most winter squash, including spaghetti squash, acorn squash, butternut squash, and kabocha squash!
Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash Benefits
- Spaghetti squash are found during the fall and winter months in North America. They are renowned for having long spaghetti-like strands that often serve as a low-carb and fiber-rich alternative to cooked pasta.
- The only problem with cooking spaghetti squash is that they are really hard to cut open. If you want to bake a spaghetti squash in the oven, you need to cut it open first. I always get really nervous about cutting myself because the squashes tend to be really hard and dense. See my related recipe for Crockpot Spaghetti Squash.
- This is the easiest way to cook a whole spaghetti squash because you don’t have to cut it, poke it, or even prick it first. You literally just pop it into the Instant Pot electric pressure cooker and let the appliance work its magic. I created very similar recipes for Instant Pot Whole Butternut Squash, Instant Pot Whole Acorn Squash, and Instant Pot Whole Kabocha Squash.
Recipe Ingredients
Whole spaghetti squash that is no longer than 8 inches is required for this recipe. If you are using a 6-quart Instant Pot (the most common size), then you need to keep this limitation in mind. Since the point of this recipe is to cook the spaghetti squash whole without cutting it first, then you need to make sure it will fit inside the inner pot.
The squash should feel like a good weight for its size and the skin should be smooth and yellow.
You’ll also need one cup of water for this recipe to help the pot come up to pressure.
How to Cook Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash Whole
Step One
Place a whole, uncut spaghetti squash into the steamer basket or on top of the trivet of the Instant Pot with one cup of water.
You don’t need to worry about poking or pricking the squash at all. Some people worry about the squash exploding, but that will not happen in a pressure cooker.
Step Two
Lock on the lid and set the time to 18 minutes at high pressure.
When the cooking time is up, let the pressure come down naturally for 15 minutes using the natural release.
Then, use the quick release to get rid of any remaining pressure.
Step Three
Remove the lid and use tongs to carefully transfer the cooked spaghetti squash to a bowl or cutting board.
Use a sharp knife to cut the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. The seeds should be discarded.
Step Four
Then, use a fork to gently pull the cooked flesh into a serving bowl. The cooked spaghetti squash flesh will naturally come apart in strands that look almost exactly liked cooked spaghetti pasta or regular spaghetti noodles cooked al dente.
Serve your cooked spaghetti squash with any topping you would put on cooked pasta, including marinara sauce, Alfredo sauce, your favorite sauce, or even just butter, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.
I hope you agree that this Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash recipe is ideal for cooking the entire squash without the fear of chopping off a finger. It’s the easiest method with very little effort.
Pressure Cooker Recipe Tips
- Pick a small to medium-sized spaghetti squash to make sure it will fit inside your pressure cooker pot. Ideally your squash will be less than 8-inches in length to fit inside a 6-quart Instant Pot.
- Serve immediately or store the cooked squash in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- For smaller squashes, cut the cook time down to just 12-15 minutes. A medium whole spaghetti squash weighing around two pounds requires about 18 minutes.
Recipe FAQs
No, you do not need to poke holes in the squash.
Yes, absolutely! But, different squashes have different cooking times. See my recipes for
I recommend the 6-quart Duo (here’s my beginner’s guide to the Instant Pot Duo).
More Easy Instant Pot Recipes You May Like
- Instant Pot Artichokes
- Instant Pot Baby Potatoes with Garlic and Rosemary
- Instant Pot Baked Potatoes
- Instant Pot Beets
- Instant Pot Cabbage
- Instant Pot Carrots
- Instant Pot Yellow Squash
Or, check out my entire index of gluten-free Instant Pot recipes.
Don’t Miss These Instant Pot Resources!
Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash (Cooked Whole)
Here’s a step-by-step guide for how to cook a whole Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash with no poking or cutting. This is the easiest way to cook a squash without worrying about the potential danger of cutting yourself. Serve your cooked spaghetti squash in a variety of delicious ways.
- Total Time: 48 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 whole spaghetti squash (less than 8 inches in length)
Instructions
- Place the trivet inside the base of a 6-quart or 8-quart pressure cooker. Pour in the water and then place the butternut squash on top of the trivet.
- Lock on the lid and make sure the valve is set to “sealing.” Set the time to 18 minutes on high pressure.
- Once the cooking time is complete, let the pressure come down naturally for 15 minutes. Then, remove the lid and use tongs to carefully remove the squash from the pot to a cutting board.
- When the squash is cool enough to handle, use a sharp knife to cut off the top and end of the squash. Then, cut the squash in half from the top to the bottom.
- Open the squash and use a spoon to scoop out and discard the seeds. Then, use a fork to shred the cooked flesh of the spaghetti squash. It should come apart like spaghetti noodles.
- Transfer the cooked spaghetti squash “noodles” to a serving bowl. Add sauce of choice and serve hot.
- Serve immediately or store the cooked squash in an bowl with an air-tight lid in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
- Cooked spaghetti squash can be served in a variety of ways, including with marinara sauce or your favorite ways to serve regular spaghetti.
- For spaghetti squashes that are on the smaller size (less than 6 inches), reduce the cook time to 15 minutes.
- The total cook time includes 10 minutes for the pot to come up to pressure, plus the natural release time.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Category: Side dish
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Diet: Vegetarian
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 47
- Sugar: 4.1 g
- Sodium: 25.5 mg
- Fat: 0.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 10.4 g
- Fiber: 2.3 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
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About the Author: Carrie Forrest is the author of the best-selling Instant Pot-authorized cookbook, The Healthy Meal Prep Instant Pot Cookbook. She has a master’s degree in public health with a specialty in nutrition and receives nearly 10 million annual visitors to her site. Send Carrie a message through her contact form.
This was the perfect recipe to make healthy noodles for my toddler and I. Thank you so much for sharing!!!
I cooked my spaghetti squash for 17 minutes and it came out perfect. Served it with tomato sauce and meatballs. So much easier than the old fashioned way.
So glad you enjoyed this method, thanks for the review! 🙂
This was so easy and came out fantastic! I was able to start the Instant Pot and do the ground turkey, spinach, and ricotta on the stove while it was pressure cooking. So much easier to make squash like this without struggling with cutting it in half. I’ll never do it any other way again!
So glad you enjoyed, Cindy! I agree, it’s the perfect easy method.
Ohhhh such an easy way to cook squash!