Italian Zucchini Spaghetti Bake
Low-carb Italian zucchini and spaghetti bake with turkey sausage, mushrooms, and roasted peppers. It’s insanely flavorful and easy to make!
Zucchini Spaghetti Bake
Meals with extra veggies are my favorite. But I know personally how hard it is to make meals for your family that everyone will enjoy. Well, this zucchini spaghetti bake just has to be my favorite way.
It’s basically a spaghetti bake with spiralized zucchini noodles and turkey mushroom pepper sauce. It’s baked with mozzarella cheese until bubbly hot.
I love that it is a low-carb and family-friendly pasta bake that is easy to make and leftovers are easy to reheat.
How Do You Make Zucchini Noodles?
- There are a few ways you can make zucchini noodles. The first way is to use a vegetable spiralizer like this one.
- However, if you do not have a vegetable spiralizer you can simply use a vegetable peeler to cut the zucchini into long thin ribbons and then stack them together and use a knife to cut the ribbons into thin noodles.
- Another option would be to simply cut the zucchini into long strips/matchsticks. Here’s a really great video on more ways to cut the zucchini noodles.
How To Make Zucchini Spaghetti Bake
Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add a little bit of olive oil and cook the turkey sausage until no longer pink. Remove to a plate.
Add a few more tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and cook the onions, mushrooms, garlic, and Italian seasoning. Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 8-10 minutes.
In the meantime, cook the spaghetti in salted water according to package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water and drain the rest.
While the spaghetti is cooking, finish the pasta sauce: to the mushroom mixture, add cooked sausage, pasta sauce, and roasted peppers. Stir to combine. Then add reserved pasta water and 1 cup of cheese.
To assemble the zucchini bake: combine the spaghetti and zucchini noodles in a 9X9 baking dish. Spoon the sauce over the noodles and toss to combine.
Cover and bake in a 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese and bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Garnish with basil before serving.
How Long Do You Bake a Zucchini Spaghetti Bake?
For this specific recipe, you want to bake the zucchini bake for 30 minutes at a 350F oven covered and then 10 more minutes uncovered. Optional step – broil the zucchini bake for a few minutes for a pretty golden top.
Recipe Tips
- Use good quality turkey sausage that is seasoned well. It will add so much good flavor to the sauce.
- Use flavored tomato pasta sauce, such as tomato basil, garlic, etc.
- You can use your favorite type of spaghetti, such as whole wheat, gluten-free, chickpea, etc.
- Use a large vegetable blade to spiralize the zucchini vs. using a smaller blade. That way the zucchini noodles will be tender-crisp when done cooking vs. soggy.
- Let your zucchini spaghetti bake rest for 10-15 minutes before serving. So the excess moisture in the dish has time to settle down and thicken.
More Zucchini Recipes
- Tomato Basil Chicken with Zucchini Noodles
- Creamy Pesto Shrimp Zucchini Noodles
- Zucchini Lasagna Roll-Ups
- Zucchini Chicken Enchiladas
- Chicken Stuffed Zucchini
Italian Zucchini Spaghetti Bake
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 min
- Yield: 6-8 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
Low-carb Italian zucchini noodle and spaghetti bake with turkey sausage, mushrooms, and roasted peppers. It’s insanely flavorful and easy to make!
Ingredients
- 12 oz. turkey sausage, removed from casing
- 1 small onion, diced
- 8 oz. white mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 2 cups tomato pasta sauce, such as tomato basil
- 1 cup chopped roasted sweet peppers
- 6 oz. dry spaghetti
- 12 oz. zucchini (about 1 medium), spiralized
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- Olive oil
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
- Fresh chopped basil, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add few tablespoons of olive oil and cook the turkey sausage until no longer pink. It does not have to be fully cooked through. Remove to a plate.
- Add few more tablespoons of olive oil to the pan; add onions, mushrooms, garlic, and Italian seasoning. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook until the vegetables are tender and no moisture is left in the pan from the mushrooms, about 8-10 minutes.
- In the meantime, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and cook the spaghetti according to package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water and drain the rest.
- To the mushroom mixture, add cooked sausage, pasta sauce, and roasted peppers. Stir to combine. Then add reserved pasta water and 1 cup of cheese.
- To assemble: combine the spaghetti and zucchini noodles in a 9X9 baking dish. Spoon the sauce over the noodles and toss to combine. Cover and bake in a 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese and bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Garnish with basil before serving.
Notes
- Sausage: Italian sweet sausage made with pork can be substituted for the turkey sausage.
- Zucchini: Zucchini can also be julienned (cut into thin strips/matchsticks).
- For more flavor: For an added flavor boost, cook the mushrooms in half butter and half oil. It adds so much good flavor!
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 393
- Sugar: 9.5 g
- Sodium: 833.2 mg
- Fat: 16.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 35.8 g
- Protein: 26.5 g
- Cholesterol: 47.6 mg
Can it be made the day before and refrigerated and baked next day?
You may have a little water accumulation from veggies but other than that it should be okay to bake the next day.
I made this recipe as written for my family tonight and we all loved it! Thank you 🙂
Absolutely delicious! But it needs to be cooked in a 9 x 13 baking dish.
Made exactly as written just with some extra pasta and sauce. So delicious and easy to put together!
This was awesome! My 8 year old even ate it and said it was great (he never realized zoodles were mixed into the spaghetti noodles!
That’s so great! Thank you Matt.
This was phenomenal. I added a can of diced tomatoes. I made it for my Mom and Dad and they absolutely loved it.
Thank you Angela! So happy you enjoyed it.
Really enjoyed the combinations of flavors- I didn’t have roasted red peppers, but plain ol’ regular red peppers substituted nicely. What a delicious way to incorporate a whole lotta veggies!
Thank you Maggie! So glad to hear you enjoyed this bake.
I need to make this recipe tonight. Looks amazing!
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it.