If you’ve been drooling and sighing over those Pinterest pictures of Million Dollar Spaghetti? you’re in luck – because I’ve made adapted it for low carb. All of the gooey cheesy goodness, all of the rich meat sauce, all of the delicious satisfaction but only 6 net carbs per generous serving. It’s easy to make, budget friendly, and it freezes relatively well so you can make it once and have leftovers another time. Spiralized zucchini stands in for the pasta in this recipe but look for variations in the recipe notes below.
For this recipe you’ll need: zucchini, butter, Mozzarella cheese, cream cheese, whole milk ricotta, ground beef, marinara (look for lowest carb? version I used Bertolli with 8 carbs per 1/2 cup)
I don’t know about you but I spend a good amount of my non-existent free time drooling over food images on Pinterest. Sadly, the images that look the best to me are almost NEVER low carb. So, I save them to a secret board to try to recreate them with low carb ingredients. Sometimes it works beautifully and sometimes I end up with a mess. Luckily this time I ended up with a yummy low carb version of million dollar spaghetti made with zoodles.
I was worried that the zucchini noodles would get too mushy so I just blanched them for a minute in boiling water then plunged them into ice water to stop the cooking. It worked well. Next time I am going to try making the casserole without cooking the zoodles in any way to see if the oven gets them done enough.
Y’all, this came out so creamy and yummy that I was practically swooning when I tried it.
Recipe Notes
This dish is absolutely perfect as is but here are some variations that are good – plus just some tips you’ll want to know. As always, when using the variations remember to change the nutrition information and always watch for extra carbs.
Variations
- Try Cheddar in place of the Mozzarella and use taco meat and enchilada sauce instead of the ground beef and marinara.
- Add slices of pepperoni on top of the cheese layer.
- Use ground turkey instead of beef.
- Stir in some Gorgonzola to the cheese sauce.
- Use another firm vegetable instead of zucchini for spiralizing – Turnip? Jicima? Broccoli stems?
- Steamed cauliflower can be used in place of the zoodles.
Tips
This casserole was so easy to make but there are a couple of things that made it even better.
- The zucchini releases a lot of water during baking. To counteract this if you have time salt the zoodles and let them sit in a colander to drain for an hour. Rinse the salt off well before using.
- Pat the zucchini dry with paper towels before adding to the casserole pan.
- Use spaghetti squash in place of the zoodles.
- I liked the fat content of using 80/20 beef but you can use 90/10 if you want.
- The cooking is just for heating purposes since everything is cooked before it goes into the casserole. To keep the zucchini from overcooking you can forego the oven and heat it in the microwave.
This is not a beautiful dish but it IS a delicious one!
You May Need…
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I got a spiralizer attachment for my Kitchen Aid for Christmas and I have to tell you I LOVE IT. It is definitely a change from buying pre-zoodled zoodles and I was never able to get the manual ones to work.
Low Carb? Million Dollar Spaghetti Recipe
Don’t wait too long to give this recipe a try then come back and let me know what you think! I absolutely am addicted to it! Check out my ultimate Chicken Tetrazzini, too! If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars.
Low Carb Million Dollar Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1 pound zucchini , spiralized
- 4 tablespoons butter at room temperature
- 1 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 4 ounces cream cheese , softened
- 1/4 cup whole milk ricotta
- 1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 cup marinara
Instructions
- Use 2 tablespoons butter to grease the bottom of a 2 quart baking dish. Set aside.
- Drop zucchini noodles into a pan of boiling water.
- Cover and set the timer for 1 minutes.
- Drain and plunge into ice water to stop cooking. Set aside.
- Mix the cream cheese, ricotta, and sour cream together until well blended.
- Stir in 3/4 cup of the Mozzarella and the oregano.
- Brown the ground beef in a frying pan until cooked through.
- Mix the marinara in with the cooked ground beef.
- Place half the drained zucchini in the bottom of the 2 quart baking dish.
- Cover with the cheese mixture.
- Add the remaining zucchini and dot with the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.
- Top with the meat mixture then sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup Mozzarella.
- Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.
Nutrition
If you like this Million Dollar Spaghetti Recipe you may also like…
Click on the image to see the recipe. From left to right (all low carb): Manicotti, Southern Chicken and Dumplings, Ramen
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I have a question – for the zucchini zoodles, could I use the frozen ones? If so, would I have to cook them longer?
Thanks, Cindy
Is this a 4 serving recipe?
I have made this recipe several times and everyone o have made it for loves it! I have always subbed spaghetti squash and it is so good! Thank you for this recipe.
I’m sorry if this is a dumb question, but are the nutrition facts for the whole dish or one serving?
One serving. 🙂
You have some great looking recipes. Can’t wait to try them all.
Thank you, Sharon!