Easy, creamy healthy zoodle spaghetti is a low carb or keto friendly alternative to regular spaghetti, but tastes amazing! Zucchini noodles, butternut squash sauce (or tomato sauce), Italian sausage, cream cheese and feta. Versatile and so good!
If you are looking for a low calorie, low carb and easy to make creamy dish. This Creamy Healthy Zoodle spaghetti is a perfect fit. I personally did not miss the regular spaghetti in this dish at all. This is a great recipe to try if your garden has an abundance of zucchini in the summer, too. Plus you could freeze the zoodles and enjoy the dish all year long without going to the grocery store to pick-up expensive zoodles.
Ingredients in Creamy Healthy Zucchini Spaghetti
Zoodles, aka, zucchini noodles- you can make these at home yourself for healthy zoodle spaghetti OR buy them in the freezer section at the store for a super easy dinner. I’ll touch more on how to make your own zucchini noodles below.
Italian Sausage – 1/2 lb up to 1 lbs, depending on how much meat you like in your pasta sauce. I used Italian pork sausage, but feel free to use ground turkey or chicken too for a leaner protein. Pork sausage is quite fatty and high in calories- you could really lean this up with a lean ground beef or turkey.
pasta sauce- 1 large jar of pasta sauce. I used Sonoma butternut squash sauce. However tomato based sauce would work well, too! They can be used interchangeably.
Cream cheese: My family loves things creamy, add 2-4 oz of cream cheese to help dress the spaghetti zoodle dish up. I used light cream cheese to decrease fat- but regular will work as well.
Feta crumbles- I purchased athenos feta crumbles to sprinkle on top. If you don’t like the taste of Feta, mozzarella is fine or Parmesan.
How to make your own zoodles (zucchini noodles)
I made my own zucchini noodles because I have an abundance of zucchini in my garden. I have a kitchen aid attachment that makes zucchini noodles. This attaches right on to a kitchen aid mixer. If you do not have a mixer/don’t want to purchase an attachment, there are many affordable noodle making tools on Amazon.
Once I had enough noodles made, I sauté them in an oil like olive oil or beef tallow until they are soft, 5-10 minutes on medium high heat.
If you have an abundance of zucchini, it would be a great idea to make a large batch of zoodles and freeze them. If you freeze them, they will thaw watery- so be sure to absorb the extra liquid. Here is a good tutorial on how to freeze zucchini noodles from Clean Eating Kitchen.
How to make this easier: just buy zoodles in the freezer section at the grocery store if you wish!
If you are on a budget, making your own noodles is the way to go- you can make a lot of noodles for a fraction of the cost. For example, I looked up the price of 2-12 oz bags of zoodles at our local Fareway and it was $9 for two..on sale… You could purchase a few lbs of fresh zucchini for half that cost.
How to make creamy healthy zoodle spaghetti:
- Spiralize your zucchini into noodles as mentioned above. Or, purchase from the grocery store and prepare as the package instructs. With fresh zucchini noodles, you will sauté them on medium high heat in olive oil or tallow for about 5-10 minutes until softened. You could add seasoning such as garlic, or Italian seasoning, but I did not.
- Next, you will remove the zoodles from the pan and set aside. Now, brown your Italian sausage in that same large pan.
- Once the sausage is browned, drain it and add the pasta sauce. Dice up the cream cheese and add that as well. Stir the mixture together and let it come to a gentle simmer so that the cream cheese melts and combines well.
- Once the sauce is ready, top the zoodles with the sauce and then top with Feta crumbles.
- ENJOY!
Healthy Spaghetti Zoodles Substitutions and Variations
Zoodles: these can be fresh zucchini noodles OR store bought in the freezer section. You can also just use plain old spaghetti noodles- I do half and half as my kids are not usually fans of zoodles. You can find the zucchini noodles in your grocery store freezer section.
Meat: if you don’t like pork Italian sausage, substitute with ground beef, ground turkey or ground chicken. You can always add your own Italian seasoning, to taste, instead of purchasing already seasoned meat. Go vegetarian for the night and leave the meat out (don’t recommend, big meat eater here!).
Cream Cheese: I added about 4 oz to my dish personally, to lighten it up you can go without OR use 2 oz. Feel free to use a light cream cheese too. I think 1/4-1/2 cup of sour cream could be substituted for cream cheese- you may also try subbing half the sour cream for plain Greek yogurt to add more protein. Another great option would be blending 1/2 cup cottage cheese and adding to the sauce for a creamy taste.
Cheese: I loved the Feta, but if your family does not like Feta- just use Mozzarella like a normal spaghetti bake. Feel free to add 1/4 cup of shredded parmesan to the dish, too.
Additions: I think this would taste AMAZING with some sauteed pears on top or on the side. This is a very flexible recipe but I would peel and dice 2-3 pears, sautéed in a cinnamon/maple syrup mixture until softened. Sprinkle over the feta. There are a lot of pear recipes out there to look up, though!
Creamy Healthy Zoodle Spaghetti FAQs
Maybe. I have not tried it, yet. If you were to try and prep as a freezer meal- make sure to remove as much liquid from the noodles as possible prior. Then assemble as a casserole bake. Thaw and warm in the oven with hopes that it crisps up the noodles. My worry would be that the noodles may be soggy.
I think a side of spiced, roasted or sauteed pears would taste amazing. Plus, it would be a healthier dessert option to pair with this healthy dish.
Absolutely- use them interchangeably. You could also make your own butternut squash sauce.
I have used regular spaghetti noodles to give to my kids when they are eating this, so yes!
this largely depends on the size of the zucchini, however a good rule of thumb would be 2-3 cups of zoodles per medium sized zucchini. If wondering how many zucchini to get for this recipe-eer on the side of caution and purchase an extra. Worst case scenario you have extra zucchini to freeze or air dice up and eat in airfryer!
More Italian Recipes to Try
Try our Italian Beef Pasta Recipe– this could also definitely use zucchini noodles instead if you’d like!
Another Italian recipe to try are our freezer friendly, individual muffin tin lasagna recipe.
Health-Conscious Recipes
In the fall, I like to make a batch of healthy pumpkin chili.
A great healthy snack is our Healthy Snickerdoodle Hummus Recipe.
Healthy Sheet Pan Beef and Broccoli is another healthy option for a quick weeknight!
Lastly, check out our healthy crockpot chicken burrito bowls
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Creamy Healthy Spaghetti Zoodles
Equipment
- 1 zucchini spiralizer (if making homemade zoodles)
- Large skillet
- general cooking utensils
Ingredients
- 6 cups zucchini noodles 2-3 medium sized zucchini
- 1/2-1 lb browned Italian sausage amount depends on how much meat you want in sauce. Can sub with ground turkey, beef or chicken.
- 25 Oz jar pasta sauce I used butternut sauce, can use tomato sauce too
- 2-4 oz light cream cheese varies on how creamy you’d like. Use regular if you wish
- 1 c Feta crumbled or mozzarella
Instructions
- Make zucchini noodles OR prepare noodles per package instructions if homemade.
- Sauté homemade noodles in a large skillet with a bit of oil. Cooke for 5-10 minutes on medium high heat until noodles are softened. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Brown Italian sausage over medium high heat in same large skillet. Drain.
- Add the large jar of pasta sauce to the meat mixture. Dice up cream cheese and add that as well.
- give the sauce mixture a good stir and let it come to a simmer on medium heat until cream cheese is melted.
- Once cream cheese is well melted in the pasta sauce-Top the zoodles with the pasta sauce and sprinkle feta on top. Enjoy!
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