How to Make Homemade Pumpkin Puree (and Freeze It)
It’s that time of year! With fall comes pumpkin this, pumpkin that. To be honest, we’re not huge fans of many pumpkin-flavored goodies – mostly because they’re too darn sweet or processed for my liking! But homemade pumpkin puree and related recipes on the other hand? Sign me up! Plus, the way we like to prepare our puree (roasting the pumpkins first) brings out the best of the pumpkin’s natural sweet flavors.
Read along to learn how to make your own homemade pumpkin puree. It’s incredibly easy to do, and exponentially more fresh and flavorful than the canned stuff you’ll buy in store! We’ll also talk about how to freeze pumpkin puree, and the numerous tasty ways you can use it. Make this now while pumpkins are in season, and enjoy pumpkin vibes for many months ahead!
But first, let’s cover a few frequently asked questions about pumpkin puree.
What is pumpkin puree?
It’s literally what it sounds like: pureed pumpkin flesh! Most folks are familiar with pumpkin puree that comes in a can. Today, we’re going to make homemade pumpkin puree using whole fresh pumpkins – and nothing else! It is more rich, thick, velvety, and flavorful than the stuff you’ll get at the grocery store.
That said, don’t confuse pumpkin puree with canned pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling has added sugar and spices, and has far more limited uses than pumpkin puree. For instance, you would NOT want to use a can of pumpkin pie filling in our savory pumpkin chili recipe! Pumpkin puree is more earthy, mild, and naturally semi-sweet.
Is pumpkin puree healthy (good for you)?
Yep, it sure is! Pumpkin puree is low in fat and calories, but packs a punch of nutrients – including fiber, vitamins, minerals, and tons of antioxidants. In fact, a cup of pumpkin puree provides more fiber than you’d get eating two slices of whole-grain bread. Ample fiber in a meal is good for digestive health and also leaves you feeling more satiated longer.
Pumpkin puree is especially high in Vitamin A, along with notable levels of vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, and many B vitamins. It’s high levels of beta carotene offer protection against cancer, heart disease and degenerative diseases! Just like pumpkin seeds, pumpkin flesh also contains a plethora of health-promoting minerals including iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, and copper.
What type of pumpkins can I use to make homemade pumpkin puree?
Many types! We personally prefer to use organic sugar pie or baking pumpkins. You know, the smallish orange ones you find in the produce department of the grocery store close to Thanksgiving? Full of thick, sweet flesh, sugar pie pumpkins will create the best-tasting homemade pumpkin puree. You can also make homemade pumpkin puree from Jack-o-lantern or other large decorative pumpkins, though the flesh is usually more stringy, watery, and less flavorful.
Note that ‘sugar’ or ‘pie’ pumpkins are fairly generic names for a number of ideal cooking pumpkin varieties, including Autumn Gold, Winter Luxury, Cinnamon Girl, Baby Pam, and New England Pie – to name just a few. Furthermore, the best baking pumpkins aren’t just round and orange! Some of the squatty, colorful, more unique-looking pumpkins are actually the best ones to make homemade pumpkin puree with – including Musquee de Provence, Cinderella, Jarrahdale, Lumina, Valenciano, and Fairy Tale pumpkins. Heck, you can even substitute most pumpkin puree recipes with butternut squash.
Finally, choose pumpkins that are fairly fresh and in good condition. It’s okay if they’ve been left out as decoration for a bit, as long as they are still firm and have no nasty blemishes or mold. Don’t let your edible Halloween decor go to waste! At least try to compost the ones that don’t make it to the kitchen.
A note about using Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins for puree:
Because these big pumpkins can be less flavorful and rich than others, I wouldn’t recommend using them for puree in a recipe where pumpkin is the star. Meaning, not in your precious Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. Yet that doesn’t mean they should go to waste! A little pumpkin puree made from jack-o-lanterns would be perfectly acceptable mixed in soup, sourdough, or even saved for your pets. Pumpkin puree is healthy for dogs, cats, and chickens alike.
Why roast the pumpkins instead of steam them?
There are few different ways you can soften and cook pumpkin before turning it into homemade pumpkin puree. Some recipes call for steaming pumpkin on the stovetop, while others toss it into a crock pot or Instant Pot. All those methods work! Yet we prefer to roast our pumpkins in the oven. By roasting food at 400°F or higher, a magical little thing called caramelization happens.
When food is exposed to high temperatures and begins to lightly brown, an oxidative reaction occurs that transforms the vegetal, earthy, or even slightly bitter flavors into increasingly sweet, nutty, and toasted caramel notes instead! The result is a wonderfully naturally-sweetened homemade pumpkin puree.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Wash your pumpkins of choice and carefully cut them in half.
- Scoop out the guts and seeds. I highly recommend to save the seeds to roast later for a delicious, healthy snack! Check out our Crunchy Soaked and Roasted Pumpkin seeds recipe here.
- Lightly sprinkle a small pinch of salt over the exposed pumpkin flesh.
- Place the pumpkin halves face down (skin side up) on a baking sheet. We line ours with parchment paper for easy clean-up.
- Next, use a sharp knife to poke the back skin side of each pumpkin in a few places. The small slits allow steam to get in between the flesh and skin, and makes peeling them after roasting an absolute breeze! Plus, if you do it like my silly husband does (two slits for eyes and another for the mouth), it makes them look like super creepy shrunken pumpkin heads. The kids will love it! I know I do. 😂
- Roast the pumpkins on 400°F for approximately 40 to 45 minutes, until they are tender when poked with a fork or knife. Rotate trays halfway through to promote even cooking. Remember, a little browning is actually a good thing!
- Remove the pumpkins from the oven. If time allows, let them cool a bit so you can safely handle them before proceeding to the next step.
- Now, separate the pumpkin flesh from the skins. After poking and roasting face-down, the skin should peel right off the flesh! If needed, use a spoon to scoop the cooked pumpkin out, transferring it into a blender or food processor.
- Use a blender or food processor to turn the soft pumpkin flesh into homemade pumpkin puree. Blend until smooth.
Storing or Preserving Homemade Pumpkin Puree
Either use, refrigerate, or freeze your homemade pumpkin puree. When stored in the fridge, plan to use it within about a week. Pumpkin puree stays ‘good’ for up to a year in the freezer, though the texture and quality will be best if used within a few months. To freeze, we divvy up our homemade pumpkin puree into usable portions in freezer-safe containers – such as wide-mouth glass pint jars, or these BPA-free plastic freezer containers. Defrost in the fridge a day or two before you want to use it.
How to Use Homemade Pumpkin Puree
Now, what the heck do we do with this stuff? Homemade pumpkin puree can add a welcome boost of nutrients, mildly sweet flavor, and color to a number of meals. Of course, the obvious application is in sweet baked goods, such as pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, or pumpkin cookies. Get our healthy sourdough pumpkin spice bread recipe here! The batter can also be used to make sourdough pumpkin muffins.
Pumpkin puree can also be used to whip up some pumpkin waffles, pancakes, ice cream or other frozen desserts. Dollop some into your morning oatmeal or plain yogurt and granola with a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar. Sweets aside, I’ve also added pumpkin puree to a regular loaf of rustic homemade sourdough bread, and it turned out great! I think I added about a cup of pumpkin and reduced the water by 1/2 cup to compensate.
My personal favorites are the savory pumpkin dishes. Add homemade pumpkin puree to soup, stew, sauces, lentils, curry, and more! Check out our Roasted Pumpkin 3-Bean Chili for example. (I like to use part chunky cooked pumpkin and part puree in that recipe.) You could even use it as ravioli filling, or mixed with ricotta cheese and fresh herbs in pumpkin lasagna.
Easy as pie! Actually, way easier.
As you can see, making homemade pumpkin puree couldn’t get more simple – and I hope you picked up a few helpful tips in this tutorial! Please feel free to ask questions, come back for a review, and spread the love by sharing this article. Have a fabulous fall, and make the most out of pumpkin season!
Don’t miss these related recipes:
- Creamy Roasted Butternut Squash and Sage Soup (vegan)
- Crunchy Soaked and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
- Sweet Potato (Yam), Apple, and Fresh Cranberry Bake – a holiday time favorite!
- Creamy Roasted Sweet Potato and Carrot Soup (vegan)
- Sugar Pie Pumpkin 3-Bean Chili (vegan)
- Creamy Sweet Potato Leek Soup (vegan)
- Roasted Two-Bite Smashed Potatoes with Garlic and Herbs
How to Make Homemade Pumpkin Puree (and Freeze It)
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking sheet
- Blender, or food processor
Ingredients
- fresh whole pumpkins (Sugar Pie, Cinderella, or other baking pumpkins)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F
- Wash your pumpkins of choice and carefully cut them in half.
- Scoop out the guts, and save the seeds to roast separately.
- Lightly sprinkle a small pinch of salt over the exposed pumpkin flesh.
- Place the pumpkin halves face down (skin side up) on a baking sheet. We line ours with parchment paper for easy clean-up.
- Use a sharp knife to carefully poke the back skin side of each pumpkin in a few places. The small slits allow steam to get in between the flesh and skin, and makes peeling them after roasting an absolute breeze!
- Roast the pumpkins on 400F for approximately 40 to 45 minutes, until they are tender when poked with a fork. Rotate trays halfway through to promote even cooking.
- Once the pumpkins are cool enough to safely handle, peel off the skin and/or scoop out the flesh.
- Place peeled pumpkin flesh in a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth.
- Either use, refrigerate, or freeze your homemade pumpkin puree. Use within one week when stored in the fridge. Pumpkin puree is good for up to a year in the freezer, though the texture and quality will be best if used within a few months.
- To freeze, we divvy up our homemade pumpkin puree into usable portions in freezer-safe containers. When freezing in glass jars, be sure to choose freezer-safe wide mouth jars (no shoulders!), use pint size or smaller, and heed the "fill line" – leaving at least a half inch of head space. Defrost in the fridge a day or two before you want to use it.
13 Comments
Don Stacato
I prefer ‘real’ pumpkin, so I mash lightly rather than puree.
Love the recipes and ideas.
Mary
Looking for a really good-tasting, smooth pumpkin soup recipe.
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Mary, check out our butternut squash soup recipe, should work well using pumpkin instead!
Ronit Pitrone
Can this purée be canned?
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Ronit, no it cannot be canned. Here is an article from the National Center for Home Preservation, if you want to can pumpkin or other hard squash, it is recommended to do so with cubed squash, not pureed. Hope that helps and good luck!
lori hurwitz
thanks for the reply Aaron! 🙂 just a quick report back… the long island cheese pumpkin roasted up wonderfully, and it has a very distinct flavor from the red kuri squash and winter luxury pumpkin i also roasted. it is quite a bit sweeter, and also really, really wet. once i roasted and pureed it i put it in cheesecloth in a colander in a big bowl, and i was amazed at how much liquid drained off! i will definitely use it for sweet applications (pie, bread, waffles, pancakes, etc.), but i probably won’t use it for more savory oriented dishes. it’s a beautiful bright orange color, and the puree is super silky even after several hours of draining off the excess liquid. definitely worth a try if you can find it… i am saving seeds to try to grow my own next year. 🙂
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Wow, very interesting and thanks for the report! You have some interesting pumpkins there and we hope to grow some red or blue kuri squash next summer but we may have to look into Long Island Cheese as well, thanks again for sharing.
lori hurwitz
i was lucky enough to go to an amazing pumpkin/squash farm near my house and i got many different varieties to roast and use as puree for various things. appropos of Alicia’s question, i am roasting some long island cheese pumpkins as i write this and will report back on how they taste. 🙂
appropos of Mary’s question, do you ever freeze cooked pumpkin in chunks for use later in a recipe where you want full pieces rather than puree? like if i wanted to make a pumpkin curry or something… should i just cut the raw pumpkin in to pieces and freeze it until i am ready to make the curry? or can i roast pieces and then freeze them for later use?
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Lori, glad to hear you have a pumpkin farm nearby to check out, that is always fun! As far as freezing the pumpkin, you can either freeze them raw or roast them before freezing, really whatever works best for you. Roasting them beforehand will bring out a bit more flavor but you have to be cautious to not roast them too long or else they won’t hold up as well for you when you use them in other dishes. If you freeze some pumpkin chunks raw, freeze them on a baking sheet with parchment so the pieces aren’t touching each other. That way, once they are frozen, each piece stays separate from the rest and they don’t all stick together. Once frozen, put the pumpkin chunks in a freezer bag or container for long term storage. Hope that helps and good luck!
Mary
How do you freeze the pumpkins chunks? Or do they have to be canned? And do you have a recipe for pumpkin soup?
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Mary, we blend the pumpkin into a puree and freeze it that way in mason jars. We have a pumpkin chili recipe as well as a butternut squash soup recipe where you can substitute pumpkin for the butternut squash if you would like. Hope that helps and good luck!
alicia r aubuchon
Great post! Just wondering if you have ever tried the Long Island Cheese Pumpkin variety? There is an elderly lady at my local farmer’s market who grows Baker Creek seeds exclusively, and she always has such a lovely selection all summer. This year was the first time I tried the Long Island pumpkin, roasted it along with some Sugar Pies and wow! It was so much brigher orange and sweeter than the Sugar Pies!
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Alicia, we have heard of that variety but have yet to try it specifically but we will have to look for it in the future.