Spaghetti squash is a medium-sized winter squash with an oblong shape, a creamy yellowish skin, and a relatively mild, neutral flavor. It’s characterized by the way its cooked flesh separates into long strands resembling noodles—hence, the name spaghetti squash.
The unique thing about spaghetti squash is the way its flesh can be shredded into long, noodle-like strands. This is possible because of the way the natural fibers in the flesh wrap themselves around the major axis of the fruit body, creating a “grain,” not unlike the grain produced by the bundles of muscle fibers in a piece of meat.