Pumpkin Chipotle Spaghetti Squash with Homemade Meatballs

Pumpkin Chipotle Spaghetti Squash with Homemade Meatballs is hearty, healthy and made with seasonally fresh winter squash- the perfect meal for the cooler months ahead!

This post is sponsored by ALDI. All opinions are my own.

The leaves are changing and the temps are starting to actually cool down a bit here in the Midwest. It’s around this time of year that I grab no less than 10-15 squash every time I go to the grocery store. They are simple to prepare, filling and perfect for autumn soups and stews. Next to some organic grass fed beef they make a filling meal for our family of seven.

Spaghetti, butternut, acorn and pumpkin- no winter squash is safe from me! Cooler days beg for the heartier meals that they lend themselves to so well.

ALDI is my go to store for seasonal flavors- pumpkin, apple and maple. Their shelves are currently stocked with all things fall.

Why I love shopping at ALDI

Shopping at ALDI is fast and easy. I bring my laundry baskets along to load up all my groceries, and I’m in and out in less than 30 minutes. We have been to ALDI so many times, I don’t even need a list. I love that there aren’t a million options for every single product. They have just what I need.

I don’t know if your local store has carts with two toddler seats, but the moment our ALDI brought those in, I knew they had officially won me over. They also have high quality organic options for everything I like to buy. ALDI is my one stop shop.

Fall flavors reinvented

For this recipe I use the Specially Selected Pumpkin Chipotle Sauce. Sometimes I cook my own pasta sauce, but when I don’t have time to make it myself, I’m pretty picky about the ingredients. A lot of sauces have GMO canola oil and non-organic sugar. Sometimes I even see High Fructose Corn Syrup on the list. As an avid label reader, ALDI pasta sauces pass the test for me time and time again. Also, they are in glass jars, so I don’t have to worry about BPA and other chemicals found in plastic.

The Specially Selected Pumpkin Chipotle Sauce puts a new spin on traditional fall flavors, incorporating pumpkin with a little spice.

Squash on squash…that’s my kind of fall meal.

My kids love this dish so much. I had little hands coming to steal pumpkin pasta sauce covered meatballs before I was even done photographing them. This recipe is a sneaky way to get your kids to eat their veggies.

Pumpkin Chipotle Spaghetti Squash with Homemade Meatballs Ingredients

Serving size: 6

2 bottles Specially Selected Pumpkin Chipotle Sauce or Pumpkin and Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce

2 pounds SimplyNature Organic 100% Grass Fed Ground Beef

2 Grade A Organic Cage Free Brown Eggs

1 teaspoon SimplyNature Organic Italian Seasoning

1/2 teaspoon SimplyNature Organic Garlic Powder

Several grindings Stonemill Black Peppercorns

1 small white onion, diced

8 small organic mini sweet peppers, diced

3 tablespoons coconut flour

1 large spaghetti squash

2 tablespoons SimplyNature Organic Mediterranean Extra Virgin Olive Oil

A word about the ingredients

Specially Selected Pumpkin Chipotle Pasta Sauce- I love that the ingredients in this sauce are so minimal. There is nothing on the back that I can’t pronounce. It’s mostly just good old fashioned vegetables and spices.

SimplyNature Spices- These are my go-to spices. They are inexpensive and organic. As a family who cooks almost everything from scratch, we go through A LOT of spices. The quality and price are important to me.

SimplyNature Organic Grass-fed Ground Beef- If you could even see how much of this stuff I have purchased in the last two years! With five hungry kids, we are no longer a one pound of beef family. I can make our meat budget stretch reeaally far with this brand.

Organic Mini Peppers- Peppers are on the dirty dozen list, which means they should never be consumed if not organic. The mini organic peppers from ALDI are sweet and crunchy. They add a lot of flavor to my homemade meatballs.

Pumpkin Chipotle Spaghetti Squash with Homemade Meatballs Instructions

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

Total time: 1 hour

How to Roast Spaghetti Squash

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut a large spaghetti squash in half lengthwise.
3. Scoop the seeds out of the middle.
4. Place the spaghetti squash halves face down in a 9 by 13 glass dish.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until soft.

(Meanwhile, get the meatballs going, so they can bake at the same time.)

To Make the Meatballs

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the ground beef, eggs, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, black pepper, diced onion, diced peppers and coconut flour in a large bowl.
3. Roll the meat mixture into balls, approximately 2″ thick.
4. Line the meatballs up in a 9 by 13 glass dish.
5. Bake for 30 minutes.
6. Add the cooked meatballs and two jars of Specially Selected Pumpkin Chipotle Sauce to a large saucepan. Simmer on medium heat for an additional 15 minutes, while you’re waiting for the spaghetti squash to cook through.

I actually ended up doing one jar of Specially Selected Pumpkin Chipotle Sauce and one jar of Specially Selected Pumpkin and Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce. I wasn’t sure if my kids would complain of the chipotle being spicy. No one complained with the half and half ratio. In fact, they all lapped it right up!
When the spaghetti squash is cooked through, and soft, scoop it from the peel. It comes out in long strands that resemble noodles. This is how I get away with serving it to the kids as spaghetti. 😉

Add the squash back to the glass dish and toss it with the two tablespoons of 2 tablespoons SimplyNature Organic Mediterranean Extra Virgin Olive Oil and sprinkle with salt.

Plate it up

Add cooked spaghetti squash to a plate and top with pumpkin chipotle meatballs.

I grabbed a little fresh basil from the garden to add an extra little something something.

I can promise you one thing this fall. We will be making this recipe again and again and again. The kids loved it, a massive amount of veggies were consumed and it was simple to make. Need I say more?

Make sure to head to your local ALDI store to pick up a spaghetti squash, Simply Nature Spices and Specially Selected Pumpkin Chipotle Pasta Sauce to make this delicious autumn dish!

Print the recipe Pumpkin Chipotle Spaghetti Squash with Homemade Meatballs

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