Trader Joe’s seems to be getting into the spirit of autumn with some seasonal frozen meals. We recently had a chance to try out the Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese, which we called “a creamy bit of goodness that will make you appreciate the change of season.” Today we decided to delve deeper into Trader Joe’s fall-inspired lineup and try the Cheesy Spaghetti Squash Casserole.
This frozen meal is a bit larger than your average single-serving meal. It’s not quite as large as one of Stouffer’s family-sized meals, but this is definitely intended to be more than one serving.
Of course, with a larger size comes a longer cook time. If you decide to use the microwave, this will take nine to eleven minutes, and if you want a crispier top, you’ll want to toss it into the oven for a few minutes more.
Since we couldn’t avoid a long cook time on this no matter what we did, we decided to just use the oven instructions. We preheated the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit, then covered the top of the dish with aluminum foil and tossed the whole thing in for about 55 minutes. After that, we removed the top and let it cook for about ten more minutes to make sure everything was cooked through. According to the box, the cheese should be bubbling and the breadcrumbs should be golden brown.
We’re not sure our breadcrumbs lived up to the golden brown expectation, but the cheese was definitely bubbling when we pulled this out of the oven.
First off, this was quite a bit runnier than we expected. It does thicken up as you let the meal cool, but even then it’s still going to be a bit runny.
But the flavor is incredible. There are some sweet undertones to this, which is due to the spaghetti squash. The squash also adds a bit of a green bean flavor as well.
Of course, this dish can mostly be described as creamy and cheesy. The Béchamel sauce and white cheddar cheese make a surreal combo. You’ll want to be careful when you’re splitting this up, because it’s quite easy for the sauce to all end up on one half. We promise you, if anyone gets the sauce-less half, they’ll be missing out.
And then all this comes topped with parmesan and crispy breadcrumbs, which are both a treat.
The package claims there are 2.5 servings inside, but it’s easier to just split this in two. We did a little bit of math for you to make this easier. One serving has 310 calories and 530 mg of sodium, and a whole box has 810 calories and 1,370 mg of sodium. So our recommended half-box has 405 calories and 685 mg of sodium. It’s not the most diet-friendly dish on the market, but it’s not all that bad.
The Trader Joe’s Cheesy Spaghetti Squash Casserole is very good. We recommend that you rush out to get this while you can, since it’s a seasonal item. Of course, you’ll want to bring a friend along, because otherwise you’ll be tempted to eat the entire thing on your own.
To learn more about the nutrition content or ingredients in this Trader Joe’s casserole, check out our package scan below.
