How to Cook a Spaghetti Squash in the Microwave

Spaghetti squash may be the most intimidating vegetable that there is. It took me a long time to fall in love with it because honestly, I thought it was a huge pain in the rear end. It is impossible to cut in half without nearly losing a finger. And It takes forever to cook in the oven. Ain’t nobody got time for that. But there are so many good recipes that involve this little yellow gourd, so I set out to crack the secret! After a lot of experimentation, here is what you need to do!

1. Peel off any stickers that are on your squash and then pop it into the microwave on high for 2-3 minutes (less if its a really small squash). This will soften it just enough that it won’t be so difficult to cut.
2. Carefully remove from the microwave and using a sharp knife, pierce the squash in the middle in the direction you are wanting to cut it. Be cautious as there will likely be a little steam coming out.
3. Hold the squash with one hand and cut it in half. You can go length-wise or width wise. Length-wise is best if you are doing a recipe where you fill the squash like a boat (aka- if there are a lot of things going into it). Based on the way the fibers run, cutting it width-wise (standing up like in the picture) will keep your “noodles” longer. This is usually how I cut it!
4. Using a spoon, scrape the seeds and gunk out. It makes it much easier if you scrape around the inside to loosen the fibers and then dump the seeds out, going back to get anything that remains.
5. Stick both halves back in the microwave for 4 minutes.
6. After 4 minutes, check and see if the squash is soft. If you have a smaller squash, it will likely be done. If it still feels a bit firm, keep heating it in one minute increments until fully done.
7. Allow your halves to cool for a few minutes, and be very careful removing them! 
8. Either scrape out the insides and make your dish, or loosen the “noodles” and fill them like bowls!