These spaghetti squash latkes are spiced up with a little jalapeño and made a bit healthier with squash instead of potatoes.
Once upon a time I told you about my dad’s crazy “grew up in India but wasn’t Indian, mom from Italy in a family circus and dad from who knows where” background.
Crazy right? Well, it gets even better.
He was also raised Jewish by a pretty orthodox (from what I hear) grandfather, practiced until he left India at 18, then came to the states, met my mom and somehow they both not only convinced a priest to marry them in a Catholic church, but also allow my dad to take communion during the ceremony.
That’s like complete blasphemy now in 2012, so in 1979 it was even crazier.
He eventually converted to Catholicism when I was in 5th grade and I very vividly remember sitting through that Easter vigil 3 hour mass for his ceremony. To a 9 year old, it was the closet thing to physical torture that existed.
So he’s part Indian, but not really. Part Jewish, but not any more. And part Italian, part who the hell knows what else.
And yet with all that confusion as to religion and descent, we never even had a damn latke in my house once growing up.
The closest we got to any traditional Jewish food was a stale box of matzo in the pantry that really does nothing as far as bolstering the reputation of Jewish food.
What’s up with that, dad?
So for a girl who can’t even spell menorah without having to look it up or even begin to tell you the meaning behind it (I’m sure I learned it in ccd, but had we actually gotten graded in there, I probably would’ve come out with about a 23 as an average grade, religion just isn’t my thing),
I’m pretty proud of these spaghetti squash latkes.
They’re not traditional at all using spaghetti squash instead of potatoes (if you’re looking for a more traditional recipe, we love these potato pancakes), but that’s mainly because consuming an entire spaghetti squash by yourself goes a lot slower than you anticipated and are used to when there’s normally 2 people in a household.
And push was coming to shove with the shelf life remaining in that tupperware container.
You could totally cook spaghetti squash either in the oven or the air fryer for the purpose of making these latkes but using leftovers works just as well too.
So, I figured since tradition was already bucked, why not throw in some jalapeños to buck it up even more and make these spicy spaghetti squash latkes.
Crispy outsides with a hint of spice, perfect with some tart yogurt or apples on top depending on your mood.
Maybe I could just pretend to be Jewish for the food?
Spicy Spaghetti Squash Latkes
Ingredients
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 small jalapeno, seeds removed and diced
- 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 1/2 cup cooked spaghetti squash, squeezed of excess water
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons almond meal/flour
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
- coconut oil for frying
Instructions
- In a medium skillet over medium heat, saute the onion and jalapeno with the 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil until softened, about 3 minutes.
- In the meantime, combine the squash, egg, almond meal and parsley in a large bowl.
- Once onion & jalapeno mixture is done, add it to the large bowl with the squash and mix together.
- Using the same skillet over medium-high heat, add enough coconut oil for pan frying (about 2 tablespoons).
- Spoon about 2-3 tablespoons of the squash mixture into the skillet and fry until brown and crispy (about 3-4 minutes) on the bottom, flip and cook on the other side until crispy.
- Carefully transfer latke onto a paper towel lined cooling rack.
- Garnish with extra parsley and serve with yogurt, sour cream or apples.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
The first day I tried this is turned out great – crispy, perfect latkes. Delicious with applesauce and kefir. Today I added some cherry tomatoes and it was too wet and didn’t crisp up – very hard to flip them over! But still delicious served with with nectarines and kefir. I’ve got a bumper crop of spaghetti squash this year so I’m very grateful for this recipe.
I made this with banana peppers instead of jalapenos and oh my god they are so good. Everyone in my family loves them. As the only one in my family who is vegetarian, I’m always on the lookout for good recipes to try to pull them from the dark side (haha). I love spaghetti squash and this is just perfect!
Wow, I definitely just pasted the WRONG text. What I meant to say was, I love your paleo recipes but I dont understand how you prepared the squash. Can you help sista out and elaborate on the prep process?
Just tried this recipe! It came out fantastic. I added a little bit of nutmeg and added some red pepper flakes even though there was jalapeno. I love the combination of flavors. Truly a great recipe! Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
This is a seriously awesome idea! Yum! I love latkes(at least the way I make them which probably isn’t the way everyone else makes them…) but the idea of putting squash in them.. genius!
Wow, your dad wins for most interesting background :) Yes, the least he could have done was share some latkes with you, which are pretty much Jewish soul food! Love this version!