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Much like our culinary icons and healthy-ish queens Giada De Laurentiis and Ree Drummond, we believe all foods fit into a healthy diet. Even after Giada’s gut-healing lifestyle shift and duringDrummond’s 55-pound weight loss mission, both of these savvy chefs kept carbs—including real, flour-based pasta—on the menu. The Pioneer Woman’sBroccoli Carbonaraand Giada’sVegetable-Stuffed Shellsare both proof that carb-based meals can be healthy and delicious, especially when you pair them with plenty of vegetables, lean protein and heart-healthy fats. (Psst…in case you need a reminder,carbs are absolutely essential for life—both our brains and our bodies require the macronutrient for energy.)
That said, while we’ll never completely eliminate regular pasta from our menu, we’re all here for maxing out the amount of vegetables we can consume each day. And if those vegetables come in a form that eats like one of our favorite carbs? Bonus!
For this reason and for itspantry staplenature, we’ve been fans of Solely (a dried spaghetti squash “pasta”) since we first spotted it on shelves at Whole Foods Market and online via Amazon last year. And now, Trader Joe’s is getting in on the action.
Redditusers are also chiming in with hot takes about this cool new product, noting, “I tend to go for fresh produce when I prepare meals for my family but I also have a one year old that is allergic to egg and wheat. This would be über convenient to have for lunch some days. I’m not going to cook an entire squash for his little self and I may not want the rest of it for dinner that night. So I’m down with a handful of these noodles at a time.”
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Since this can be prepared just like dried, flour-based pasta, it saves time, too. Even our quickest strategy forhow to cook spaghetti squashrequires microwaving for at least 10 minutes. To make the nests, the instructions explain that home cooks should bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add the squash nests and boil for about 5 minutes, stirring every so often. Drain well, toss with sauce, and grab a fork.
Others mentioned that this product—which is made with just one ingredient: organic dried spaghetti squash, rolled into single portion “nests”—would be an awesome option for those with limited mobility or grip strength. Admittedly, the process of halving a raw spaghetti squash with a knife is quite a feat of strength!
Available for $3.99 for a 1.76-ounce, four-serving container, here’s how the nutrition information stacks up compared to a traditional 2-ounce serving of dried spaghetti, according to theUSDA’s Food Data Central nutrition database.
While the conventional pasta has more protein and is closer to a meal in terms of nutrition, the spaghetti squash nests would be great as a lighter meal or lunch, or even mixed with traditional pasta as a vegetable boost. As long as these hold up to their current competitors in terms of texture and flavor, we can’t wait to add these to our menu. Just imagine, a big bowl of pasta that’s half spaghetti, half squash and full of flavor, fiber and nutrition. We’re already getting hungry!
We might have to wait a bit longer, though. A Trader Joe’s representative confirms toEatingWellthat the Organic Spaghetti Squash Nests are only currently available in a very limited amount of stores. They should be more widely available across the U.S. within a couple months, though, so keep your eyes peeled as you do your nextTrader Joe’s meal prepshopping run.
In the meantime, study up on thesix healthy types of noodlesdietitians totally think you should add to your cart this week.
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