Creamy Lemon Basil Spaghetti Squash with Shrimp ~ Whole 30
If any of you follow me on Instagram, then you know that I’m currently in the midst of Whole30. In fact, yesterday I hit the midway point! Just 15 more days to go, and honestly, I’m feeling great and enjoying the change. No dairy, no sugar, no grains, no legumes, no soy, no alcohol…..cutting all of that out after the gluttony of the holidays was a welcome change.
Today I won’t spend too much time going into all the details – I’m saving that for when I get to the end of this challenge- but for now, I do want to share one of our favorite recipe discoveries with you as several people have requested it after seeing it on my Instagram story a few days ago.
Credit for this particular recipe goes to PlateJoy, a menu planning service that I’ve been using for the past several months. With its dietary customization capabilities, I’ve been able to switch our profile to ensure I’m only receiving Whole30 recipes every week, and there have been some really great ones- particularly this dish.
If you’re cooking for your whole family, or a larger group of friends, this Creamy Lemon Basil Spaghetti Squash with Shrimp can easily be doubled to serve four to five people, as you only use half of the spaghetti squash for this two serving recipe. Even with half a spaghetti squash, we usually have a little of the squash left over as it makes quite a large serving. Hope you enjoy this as much as we do!
Creamy Lemon Basil Spaghetti Squash with Shrimp
Ingredients:
- 7 oz large shrimp (14-16 shrimp), peeled and deveined
- 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1 spaghetti squash (you’ll use only half)
- 1 lemon
- 1/2 avocado
- 1/3 cup chopped basil
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Heat coconut oil in pan on medium high heat. Sprinkle shrimp with salt & pepper, and add to pan.
- Cook the shrimp, stirring frequently, until they are pink and opaque. This typically takes about 5 minutes. Set aside.
- Slice spaghetti squash in half, scrape out seeds and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place facedown (flat side) on a plate and microwave 8-12 minutes, stirring and rotating at the 5 minute mark. Scrape the “noodles” out of the skin with a fork. (This step can be done ahead, with the squash stored in an airtight container in the fridge overnight.)
- Meanwhile, zest and juice the lemon. Peel avocado.
- Combine avocado, basil, 2 teaspoons lemon zest, juice of the lemon, dried oregano and olive oil in a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. Season with salt to taste.
- Top spaghetti squash with shrimp. Spoon sauce over and toss to coat.
This looks delicious. Excited to continue to follow this blog!
This looks delicious and I’m going to make it next week!
Well, I followed the recipe, and right off the bat, just cutting the squash in half and microwaving it doesn’t work. (yes, I removed the seeds). First off, there’s no “stirring” it at 5 minutes, it’s still to hard. Even after a full 13 minutes, it’s still too hard (and I have a 1300 watt microwave and it was on max power).
I looked up online how to cook spaghetti squash, and if you’re going to do it in a microwave, you need to put the halves face down in 1/2 cup of water. No mention of that in this recipe. I did that, and the squash came out great. You can also bake them for a couple hours intact (without halving them) and scoop out the seeds afterwards and the moisture remains inside. Either way is better than the recipe mentioned above.
Hi Chris, I’m so sorry! I actually did leave out the mention of turning the halves facedown. I’ve made spaghetti squash in the microwave so many times, I just automatically put them face down, not even thinking about doing it another way. I’ve adjusted the recipe above to add this information. That said, it isn’t necessary to add water, or at least it has never been for me. All I do is put the halves facedown, with no water and turns out fine. Thanks for pointing out my omission, and again, apologies!