This creamy, flavorful spaghetti squash soup creates naturally gluten free noodles that pair with swiss chard, carrots, and celery in an herby tomato-based broth. Packed with nutritious vegetables and Italian-inspired flavor, this is a great soup for the fall and winter.
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🥗 Why We Love This Recipe
- Great way to use spaghetti squash: We love spaghetti squash, and think it's an underutilized ingredient. This soup is an awesome way to get the most out of your spaghetti squash, as the roasted spaghetti squash in this recipe becomes noodles in our soup.
- Packed with vegetables: This spaghetti squash soup is packed with nutritious vegetables like swiss chard, tomatoes, onion, celery, carrot, and of course, spaghetti squash.
- Creamy, flavorful broth: We cook the broth while the spaghetti squash is roasting, then purée the broth so it makes for a creamy, delicious base for the spaghetti squash noodles.
- Naturally vegan and gluten free: This spaghetti squash soup is easy to make without any gluten or dairy, making it a great choice for the whole family.
🍲 Ingredients
Here's what you'll need to make this spaghetti squash soup:
📋 Ingredient Notes
- Spaghetti squash: This is the key to the soup, as spaghetti squash has a stringy texture (hence the name) that creates "noodles" for this soup. We wouldn't recommend substituting for another type of squash. You'll have to roast the squash before adding to the soup, but luckily you can get the broth going while the squash is in the oven to speed things up.
- Swiss chard: Feel free to substitute with lacinato kale, spinach, collard greens or another leafy green of choice.
- Italian seasoning: This dried herb blend makes it easy to add flavor to this spaghetti squash soup without having to open and measure several different dried herbs. If you don't have any of the blend, you can also use 1 tablespoon total of a mixture of dried basil, parsley and oregano instead.
- Tomatoes: Crushed or diced tomatoes are both fine in this soup since the broth is pureed. Don't skip the tomato paste – it adds an extra rich, concentrated tomato flavor.
- Parmesan: To keep this spaghetti squash soup vegan, we used dairy free parmesan; feel free to use regular parmesan if preferred.
- Flour: A small amount of flour helps thicken up the broth for a super creamy soup without added dairy like heavy cream. We used gluten free all purpose flour, but of course regular all purpose flour works, too. If you would prefer a thinner broth, you can leave it out.
🔪 Step-by-step Instructions
Prep: Preheat oven to 400˚F / 205˚C. Slice the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise, then scoop out the seeds with a spoon.
(1) Brush each half of the spaghetti squash with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
(2) Place the squash cut side down on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, and use a fork to poke some holes in the back of the squash (this helps release steam in the oven).
(3) Roast the squash for 30 minutes or until the squash is fork tender. Remove from the oven, let cool for a few minutes, then flip and use two forks to pull the squash away from the skin. Set your spaghetti squash "noodles" aside.
(4) While the squash is roasting, add ¼ cup of olive oil to a large pot over medium heat. Once the oil is heated, add the onions and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes, then stir in the carrots and celery and cook for another 5 minutes.
(5) Stir in tomato paste, Italian herbs, salt, and pepper, then stir in the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes.
(6) Add the broth and tomatoes and bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
(7) After 20 minutes, transfer the soup to a heat safe blender, add lemon juice, and blend until smooth.
(8) Pour the soup back into the pot and stir in the Swiss chard, parsley, spaghetti squash “noodles”, and parmesan. Cook for 8-10 minutes on medium low heat just until the greens have wilted.
💭 Expert Tips and FAQs
- You can still make this soup without a blender. We tried this spaghetti squash soup both with a blended broth and an unblended broth. It's delicious both ways, although we love the creaminess of the blended broth. If you don't have a blender or would prefer to skip this step, simply add the squash, swiss chard, parsley and parmesan straight to the soup.
- Add a protein: This spaghetti squash soup works well with sausage added in at the end, so feel free to add in your favorite vegan sausage or regular Italian sausage for your meat-eating friends and family.
- Leafy green of choice: We chose Swiss chard because it holds up well to a heavier broth, but feel free to use with another green of choice, like kale or spinach.
- Storage: store leftovers in an airtight container for up to a week. Reheat in the microwave or on stovetop.
- Freezer: let the soup cool completely before transferring to a freezer safe container. You can freeze for up to 6 months. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight, then heat in a pot over low until fully warmed.
- What to serve with vegan spaghetti squash soup: you can't go wrong with a crusty baguette or sourdough! We also like serving ours with a simple salad or sandwich, like this Italian Chopped Salad or this Chickpea "Tuna" Melt.
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Print📖 Recipe
Italian Spaghetti Squash Soup
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This creamy, flavorful spaghetti squash soup creates naturally gluten free noodles that pair with swiss chard, carrots, and celery in an herby tomato-based broth. Packed with nutritious vegetables and Italian-inspired flavor, this is a great soup for the fall and winter.
Ingredients
- 1 medium (2.5 lb or 1.1 kg) spaghetti squash
- ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
- 1 yellow onion, diced (~1 ½ cups)
- 1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced (2-3 large cloves)
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup thinly sliced celery
- 8 cups vegetable broth
- 2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour (gluten free or regular)
- 1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning blend
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 4 cups chopped Swiss chard
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- ⅓ cup vegan or regular grated parmesan, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400˚F / 205˚C. Slice the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise, then scoop out the seeds with a spoon.
- Brush each half of the spaghetti squash with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with some salt and pepper.
- Place the squash cut side down on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, and use a fork to poke some holes in the back of the squash (this helps release steam in the oven).
- Roast the squash for 30 minutes or until the squash is fork tender. Remove from the oven, let cool for a few minutes, then flip and use two forks to pull the squash away from the skin. Set your spaghetti squash "noodles" aside.
- While the squash is roasting, add ¼ cup of olive oil to a large pot over medium heat. Once the oil is heated, add the onions and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes, then stir in the carrots and celery and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Stir in tomato paste, Italian herbs, salt, and pepper, then stir in the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the broth and tomatoes and bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, transfer the soup to a heat safe blender, add lemon juice, and blend until smooth.
- Pour the soup back into the pot and stir in the Swiss chard, parsley, spaghetti squash “noodles”, and parmesan. Cook for 8-10 minutes on medium low heat just until the greens have wilted.
Notes
Swiss chard: Feel free to substitute with lacinato kale, spinach, collard greens or another leafy green of choice.
Italian seasoning: If you don't have any of the blend, you can also use 1 tablespoon total of a mixture of dried basil, parsley and oregano instead.
Flour: A small amount of flour helps thicken up the broth for a super creamy soup without added dairy. Gluten free or regular AP flour both work. If you would prefer a thinner broth, you can leave it out.
You can still make this soup without a blender. If you don't have a blender or would prefer to skip this step, simply add the squash, swiss chard, parsley and parmesan straight to the soup.
Storage: store leftovers in an airtight container for up to a week. Reheat in the microwave or on stovetop.
Freezer: let the soup cool completely before transferring to a freezer safe container. You can freeze for up to 6 months. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight, then heat in a pot over low until fully warmed.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Soups
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Bowl
- Calories: 305
- Sugar: 19.4 g
- Sodium: 1465.4 mg
- Fat: 15.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 40.6 g
- Fiber: 8.5 g
- Protein: 7.6 g
Penny M says
I love this soup recipe, its so versatile! I took fresh chicken stock and added leeks to it, then pureed them with the roasted squash, sauteed carrots, celery, onions and garlic. I wanted a thick soup without the "noodle" texture and it turned out extra rich and full of flavor. I used spinach since my store had no swiss chard. Instead of plain canned tomatoes, I put in a 24 oz bottle of Rao's tomato-basil sauce.
jarvis says
very easy; colourful; thick; flavourful; family hit; the only change i made was only using one container of chicken broth (900 ml). blended in vitamix. very filling.
Marsha says
Easy, clean, and delicious! I also use an immersion blender, which worked well. Had to use kale, but I don’t recommend that as it added a hint of bitterness. I will definitely make this again. Thank you!
Teresa Sterns says
Very good soup. I used an immersion blender right in my pot so as not to risk the potential transfer to blender mess.
I had half Napa cabbage and ½ box of spinach for the greens.
I doubled the tomato paste and used no flour.
It would be nice to serve with some fresh basil leaves on top.
Fed 3 of us with 2 ½ quarts leftover.
Lexi says
Really glad you enjoyed!
DrTebi says
I made this when suffering from a cold, it really helped, and was delicious at the same time 🙂
Thank you for posting this recipe.
Robbie says
I bought spaghetti squash accidentally and didn't want it to go to waste so I followed this recipe. I was nervous to cook with a new fruit, but this tasted great! As a previous comment mentioned, the recipe makes for a big batch. I'm just not sure how the squash noodles will hold overnight.
Lexi says
So glad you enjoyed!
Lauren says
I made this today and it was very good! I added some red pepper to make it a tiny bit spicy and I subbed the chard for kale.
Lexi says
So glad you enjoyed!
Ramona says
Do you think I could keep this warm in a crockpot for a potluck at work??
Lexi says
Definitely!
Barb says
This is insanely delicious! The spaghetti squash is such a delight!! Didn't have chard so I subbed kale and arugula. This makes a TON of soup, perfect for large families or a potluck. I'll cut it in half next time for just the three of us. Thank you! This will become a regular go-to for me!
Lexi says
So glad you enjoyed, thank you so much for your comment!
Nicole says
Everything I want in a soup! Super flavorful and so easy to eat a big bowl of it. I subbed kale for chard since that’s what I had on hand but it’d be great with any green and a sprinkle of salty cheese. I’m so excited to have leftovers!