Veggies are the star of this creamy healthy enchilada casserole with chicken and spaghetti! Eat as is or use to fill tortillas for a tasty handheld version!
Are you familiar with food guides such as the USDA’s Choose My Plate, The Plate Method from the Canadian Diabetes Association, or Canada’s Food Guide? In theory, I’m totally onboard with these concepts. The main idea is to fill half your plate with veggies, a quarter with a meat or alternative, and the other quarter with a grain or starch alternative.
This is fine if you are a traditional meat and potatoes type of person and eat segmented meals.
I am not.
As you can see from browsing the recipes on Smart Nutrition, I’m more of a casserole, stew, soup, one pot type of girl.
For the most part, I wouldn’t worry too much about whether half your stew is made up of veggies or not. Try to choose recipes that are primarily plant-based and you’ll be fine. But if you want to check out how some of your go-to favourite recipes compare for food groups, check out EaTracker. On this website, you can enter in the ingredients for your recipes and the software will analyze how many servings of each food group are in each portion.
As an example, here’s the data for this Creamy Enchilada Casserole with Spaghetti Squash:
- Fruits and Veggies: 1.5
- Grains and Alternatives: 0
- Dairy and Alternatives: 0.4
- Meat and Alternatives: 0.6
Neat, eh? Or is that just nerdy fun for a Dietitian?
Why This Enchilada Casserole with Chicken is a Smart Choice
Surveys consistently show that most people do not consume enough fruits and vegetables. This survey from Stats Canada conducted in 2014 reveals that less than 40% of the population across all ages and genders eat a minimum of 5 servings a day! In my province only 31% of people make the minimum.
This recipe swaps out tortillas (a grain choice) for spaghetti squash (a veggie choice). This instantly boosts your total veggie intake for the day!
I’m definitely not anti-grain though! Use the leftovers to fill tortilla wraps for a convenient lunch!
If you give this recipe a go, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, or snap a photo and tag it with #smartnutritionrecipes on Instagram! I’d love to see your creations! Knowing someone has enjoyed one of my recipes always makes my day brighter.
Creamy Enchilada Casserole with Spaghetti Squash
Ingredients
- 1 medium-large spaghetti squash
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 cup cream cheese softened
- 1 cup salsa
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp chili powder
- ¾ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp cumin
- 1 red pepper chopped
- 1 ½ cups of cooked black beans OR 1 can of black beans drained and rinsed
- 2 cups of cooked and diced chicken I used a rotisserie chicken
- 1 cup frozen corn defrosted
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Slice the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and stringy bits.
- Place cut side down in a 9×13 pan. Fill to about ½ inch with water. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a knife can easily slide all the way through. Using a fork, scrape out the strands from the peel.
- Heat the oil over medium low in a frying pan. Add the onion. Saute until soft. Add the garlic and saute another minute.
- These two steps can be done a day ahead so that the recipe comes together faster.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the softened cream cheese, salsa, eggs, chili powder, salt, and cumin.
- Add in the red pepper, black beans, diced chicken, corn, onion mixture, and spaghetti squash strands.
- Spread even in the 9×13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Remove and sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Turn oven to broil and bake for another 5 minutes, or until the cheese bubbles and starts to turn brown.
Nutrition
Love spaghetti squash? Here’s another recipe!
It’s easier to scrape out the seeds and membrane using a metal ice cream scoop
Ooo, I like this tip! I’m going to have to give it a try next time. Thanks.
This was sooooo good. The whole family loved it and the leftovers were also great the next day.
Awesome! So glad your family loved the recipe!
Such a great way to get more veggies into my kids!
Glad your family enjoyed it!
I made this and it was delicious! I substituted the corn with broccoli. Can it be frozen?
I have not tried it frozen, but I believe that would do very well frozen, so glad you enjoyed it!
I used cottage cheese and it was great!
I should mention I use my vitamix for everything so – I blended the cottage cheese with the salsa and spices and eggs after chopping the onion in my vitamix. Figured it was dirty already. Then I used the tamper to mix the rest of the ingredients so I saved using a big bowl.
So far I’ve just tasted one bite and it’s so similar to one I used to make with tortillas. There’s no recognition of spaghetti squash to me which is great because I don’t generally like it!
This recipe is so great!
Loved everything about this recipe! I will try Greek yogurt next time, per one of the comments, just to save calories.
I’m trying to go as low carb as possible, and I’m thinking the corn might be adding to the carb count. Any suggestions about that issue?
You could just skip the corn.
Yum! Light cheese on top, didn’t feel it needed much. Super sautéed the onion bell /pepper /garlic combo for added sweetness. Made without chicken, vegetarian style, so good! Teenagers added chicken and tomatoes to fill tortillas and loved it that way also. (They don’t know it’s squash!) Awesome!! Thank you! Looking forward to making again.
Yum! Love those changes!
Made this for the first time this evening. So good!! Thanks for sharing!
Awesome! Thanks for commenting!
I used half cream cheese and half Greek yogurt and I added a few more spices. We enjoyed it and leftovers made delicious burrito filling. Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks for the feedback and suggested modifications! Great idea for using it as burrito filling: genius!
I substituted fat free plain yogurt because I don’t care for cream cheese, not that I like yogurt either! However; by doing so I lowered my calories in the recipe and I do weight watchers so this took out unneeded points. I was a bit nervous because like I said, “I don’t care for yogurt either” but you did not taste the yogurt in this recipe. The recipe is very delicious!!
It’s always so good to hear about substitutions that work! Thanks for sharing!