While spaghetti can be an excellent source of complex carbohydrates without any sodium or cholesterol, it’s still a calorie-rich pasta that’s easy to overindulge in. But what if you could eat a vegetable that looked like, and even could taste like spaghetti? Well, you can!

They don’t call it “spaghetti squash” for nothing. When cooked, this type of winter squash can be shredded into something strikingly similar to spaghetti noodles, then paired with your favorite sauce (like your Mom’s homemade marinara). But whereas spaghetti delivers approximately 220 calories per cup, its veggie counterpart has only 42. Plus, it’s loaded with potassium, Vitamin A, and beta-carotene, which make up a huge part of your daily nutritional requirements.

Different recipes call for baking, boiling, steaming, or even microwaving spaghetti squash. Once it’s cooked, just remove the seeds and fibrous strings, then use a fork to scrape out the healthy strands of “spaghetti” to serve as a tasty and nutrient-packed pasta alternative.

But the $64,000 question is – does it really taste like spaghetti?

The “noodles” don’t have much taste on their own, so the addition of pasta sauce (or olive oil) and a sprinkle of Parmesan will definitely give it the look and taste of actual pasta.

To give it even more pizazz, you can also top it with anything you would put on spaghetti, like meatballs, shrimp and basil.

And even if you don’t think it makes the true noodle grade, it’s still quite delicious and another great way to slip some veggies into your diet!