So, we learned from one of our meal plan subscribers that she could get spaghetti squash pretty much year round, and we were instantly jealous! We love making all kinds of tasty spaghetti squash casseroles, like this BBQ chicken casserole, but we have a shorter period of time in the Pacific Northwest where they are in season and readily available. So you can imagine, we are THRILLED winter squash is back in season here!
Paleo-Friendly BBQ Sauce
Justin (being the sauce wizard in our house) created the delicious barbecue sauce we use in this recipe. He also created a fabulous post with 5 Easy Homemade Marinade Recipes that will totally rock your world and take your cooking up a notch. Make sure you check it out for simple and flavorful marinade and sauce inspiration!
Packed Full Of All The Things
If you’ve been looking for a new casserole to feed your family or just to have leftovers in the fridge, this BBQ chicken casserole will likely become a new favorite! It’s total comfort food, but made with clean, real food ingredients your body will appreciate. We’ve packed this casserole full of deliciousness, including spaghetti squash, green onions, bell pepper, garlic, chicken, sausage and our homemade BBQ sauce.
BBQ Chicken Casserole (Paleo, GF, Dairy-Free)
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 spaghetti squash, (medium sized)
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 3/4 lb pre-cooked sausages, sliced, (about 3 large sausages)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 green onions, diced, (both white and green parts)
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- 3 eggs
- 2 tbsp grass-fed butter or ghee, (or coconut oil for dairy free)
- Salt and pepper
For the BBQ sauce:
- 1/2 cup coconut aminos
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp chili powder
Equipment
- Baking Dish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° Fahrenheit and grease two medium baking sheets with oil. Cut spaghetti squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place the squash, cut side down on one of the baking sheets.
- Place the chicken on the other baking sheet and season on both sides with salt and pepper.
- Place the squash and the chicken in the oven to cook. Remove the chicken after it has cooked to an internal temperature of 165° Fahrenheit, about 20 minutes. Remove the squash when it is cooked (it will give a little when you press on the skin), about 30-40 minutes. Set aside to cool and keep the oven on at 400° for cooking the casserole.
- While the squash and chicken are cooking, whisk eggs together in a large bowl. Cut sausages, garlic, green onions and bell pepper as noted and place them in the bowl. Refrigerate.
- Grease a 9×13 baking sheet with butter or ghee.
- Prepare BBQ sauce by placing all of the sauce ingredients into a small bowl or jar and mixing well.
- Once the chicken has cooled a little, chop it into bite-sized pieces and add it to the bowl with the veggies. Once the squash has cooled a little, scoop out flesh of the squash with a fork into the bowl.
- Finally, add the BBQ sauce to the bowl and mix everything together well. Dump the mixture into the casserole dish and spread it out evenly.
- Place the casserole in the oven to cook for 30 minutes, until the eggs are cooked and set. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.
This is a terrific recipe! I am making it now to bring to a family in need. If they freeze it, what would be your instructions for re-heating?
This isn’t the best recipe to freeze due to the water content in the squash. If you choose to freeze it, I recommend thawing overnight in the fridge and reheating in the oven at 350° until warmed through. This will likely result in mushy noodles though.
Great recipe. I made this by replacing the maple syrup with date butter since Maple Syrup is not allowed on Whole30 and would be considered ‘added sugar’. It was an easy replacement and tasted great! Thank you for sharing!!
Sounds great, glad you enjoyed it!
This is outstanding! We make many chicken recipes, and this one is truly a winner! I followed instructions as written (including getting squash cut in half at the grocery store). We froze right after cooking and ate 2 weeks later. Absolutely delicious. Enjoyed by all – even the non GF/DF eaters!
Happy to hear that Kate! Thanks for coming back to leave a rating and review, we appreciate it 🙂
can I use frozen squash or spiraled squash…or what can I substitute when spaghetti squash is not in season?
I think a spiraled squash like butternut would work best. I’d worry that frozen spiraled squash would make the casserole watery. You could also do spiralized sweet potatoes. Either way, I don’t think you’d have to cook the spiralized noodles in advance, just throw everything together and bake.
What kind of sausages? It is not specific and choosing the right sausage could make or break the dish I’d think! Thanks!
We love Teton Waters Ranch or True Story Foods. Applegate has good options too that you can find in most stores. Hopefully this helps – enjoy!
I’d love to try this recipe, it looks good along with excellent reviews. I am hesitant to make this without any nutritional information. Perhaps I’ll walk on the wild side and try it without the info..👍🤓👍
Hi ! Looks fantastic! What kind of sausage did use? Thanks!
We love Teton Waters Ranch polish sausage or Pederson’s Farm kielbasa. They are both Whole30 compliant if you’re doing a Whole30! 🙂 We’d love to hear how it goes!
Is it possible to make it without eggs?
Yes, you can omit the eggs. The flavor still turns out great, it just doesn’t bind much without the eggs. Let us know how it goes if you try!
I absolutely LOVE this casserole! And it is even better as leftovers!! Comfort food at its best, super filling, and easy. I cook it for dinner and have ready to go lunch for the rest of the week. So delicious, thank you!!
Tried this recipe as part of our whole eating plan. Delicious! My husband really liked it and we will definitely be making again. I topped with cooked bacon prior to putting casserole in the oven.
How can you go wrong adding bacon? Thanks for the trying the recipe and leaving a review 🙂
Made this for dinner tonight. It took us slightly longer than 90 minutes from start to finish, but holy smokes this is delicious! We will definitely be putting this in the rotation, perfect for a Sunday meal prep for leftovers for the week!
We did overcook the squash so it was a bit mushy, but I could totally see us sneaking in some quinoa in it next time as well.
Amazing!! So happy to hear you and your family loved it so much! We’ve overcooked the squash a couple times too and it still tastes delicious, but the texture is even more amazing when the squash is just right! Hope you enjoy it again soon! Thank so much for trying our recipe and taking the time to come back and share! We appreciate it! 🙂
I read your article regarding difficulty in cutting the squash. You can roast it whole. 30 minutes on one side, flip it and bake for 30 more minutes at 400. When it comes out of the oven, you can easily cut through it and the seeds scoop right out.
Yes! That is another great option. It just takes longer to cook roasted whole, but definitely makes cutting through the skin easier. Thanks so much for sharing your tip! 🙂
We are thrilled too! 😉 Yay! Hope you love it, and enjoy the extra sausage! So much deliciousness! Thanks for stopping by again! 🙂
This sounds amazing! Can’t wait to give it a try.
Fantastic! Hope you enjoy it as much as we do! You’ll have to keep us posted! 🙂