Chocolate chili stuffed spaghetti squash mixed with baby spinach and feta cheese is an indulgent yet healthy dinner and makes for great leftovers!
At CrossFit, (those two words are becoming the “one time, at band camp” of my household and are now met with eye rolls from Ulysses the second they come out of my mouth) we have a cinderblock wall with the statement “cheaters are not welcome here” written across it in big letters.
I don’t purposely cheat (and I say purposely because sometimes after tens or even hundreds of double-unders I just lose count and might actually skip a few by accident, who knows) there.
What’s the point? It would just be cheating myself.
Today, however, I’m a cheater.
If you came looking for a delicious chocolate chili recipe well, guess what?
It already exists! You can choose from chocolate chile tacos or chocolate lamb chili – whichever you prefer.
Feel free to use a different meat than beef or lamb also. I happen to love venison lately with these venison meatballs being a recurring dinner in our house so a venison chili sounds fab too.
I enticed you with a long, drool worthy title and in reality the only thing I made was spaghetti squash.
While I love these creamy pesto spaghetti squash noodles stuffing one with some decadent chocolate chili isn’t too bad either.
Nor is this twice baked spaghetti squash recipe that uses artichokes, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and cheese as the stuffing.
But today we’re talking about chili in spaghetti squash!
I did mix it up with some spinach and feta cheese, but let’s be real here, baking a squash is not rocket science. Air frying spaghetti squash is even easier too.
Instead of spending most of the weekend prepping for the the end of the world like the rest of the northeastern United States, I spent it with two of my best girl friends from college.
And instead of spending Sunday afternoon when they left prepping for the blog, I spent it at a 1 year old’s birthday party.
And so, cheating was necessary.
Despite all efforts, I can’t really seem to get myself ahead lately.
In my ideal world I’d have at least a week’s worth of recipes and posts just waiting to be thrown up.
In reality, I make most of the stuff you see here as I eat it and write rambling stories to go along with it the night before because getting a week ahead seems to be impossible with a full time job and trying to maintain some sort of “balance” between real life and this virtual one.
All of which inevitably comes down to reading about baked squash stuffed with someone else’s chili today.
I’d say sorry but there’s really no reason to be.
It’s delicious and healthy.
It’s a fun way to eat chili. And it takes a great recipe and makes it even better (in my opinion at least).
If this is cheating, I’m ok with being a cheater every now and then.
Chocolate Chili Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
Ingredients
- 1 large spaghetti squash
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- salt & pepper
- 1 cup baby spinach chopped
- 2 tablespoons feta crumbled
- 2 cups chocolate chili
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Fill a rectangular (9×13 or similar) baking pan with about 1/2 inch of water.
- Slice spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds.
- Drizzle with olive oil and season heavily with salt & pepper.
- Bake for 50-55 minutes until fork tender.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes until the squash can be handled.
- Carefully remove flesh of the squash with a fork into a medium bowl keeping the squash halves intact.
- Add chopped spinach and toss to combine while squash is still hot to wilt the spinach. Season with more salt & pepper if necessary.
- Spoon squash/spinach mixture back into squash skin and top with 1 cup of the chili in each half.
- Sprinkle with feta cheese and serve.
Nutrition Facts
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition information can vary for a variety of reasons. For the most precise nutritional data use your preferred nutrition calculator based on the actual ingredients you used in the recipe.
Gina Matsoukas is the writer, founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients as much as possible. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
Amanda
Friday 17th of January 2014
This looks delicious! How do you think this would be if I used it to stuff acorn squash??
Well Fed cookbook
Friday 21st of December 2012
[...] guys remember this chocolate chili stuffed squash? Remember how I called myself a cheater since the chili recipe wasn’t mine and I basically gave [...]
KaraHadley
Tuesday 20th of November 2012
Who cares who made what?! That looks like a damn good dinner and I definitely need to get on the stuffing spaghetti squash wagon. Also, I absolutely fail at counting anything involving a jump rope so I definitely understand how you can lose track.
Sara @ sarasmiles
Wednesday 31st of October 2012
I have never thought to eat spaghetti squash "stuffed" so I still think the dish is quite creative on your end!
Runnergirlinthekitchen
Wednesday 31st of October 2012
Hi Gina, First time here and goes without saying you have a lovely space, with very interesting recipes! I am runner as well and recently completed my first half marathon , now focusing on loads of weight loss! Do drop by to the Runner Girls Kitchen and happy to follow you! Cheers Gauri a.k.a Runnergirilinthekitchen :)