Pumpkin Puree Made From Scratch
This homemade Pumpkin Puree is what you need for your pumpkin every cravings during fall! Learn how to make your own pumpkin puree in a few simple steps and using only one ingredient. Never run out of pumpkin puree again!
The moment the first leaves start changing colors pumpkin season has started! You will find pumpkin spice lattes in all coffee shops accompanied with many pumpkin flavored bakes and dishes. The pumpkin hype is insane!
I personally I am a huge fan of everything pumpkin and absolutely love sipping on a pumpkin spice latte. However, to make all those delicious drinks and dishes you need one important ingredient I can not really get here: pumpkin puree! As you know me this will not hold me back from making a ton of pumpkin recipes all fall long! Making pumpkin puree at home is actually not hard at all. You will find me make fresh puree every other week and freezing part of it to keep it fresh for the coming week.
In this post I will explain to you how to make homemade pumpkin puree so you will never run out or finally can try all the recipes and see what the fuss is all about if you struggle getting this delicious ingredient.
What makes this pumpkin puree so good?
You might ask yourself why make pumpkin puree yourself? Well there are several reasons:
- Availability: Unfortunately pumpkin puree is not available in every country. Making it yourself is nearly effortless and will need less time than trying to find a place you can order it for an over priced price.
- No food waste: Use up all the pumpkins you bulk bought during fall. I know I am not the only one that did (wink).
- From scratch: Honestly, homemade is always better than store-bought don’t you agree? Usually fresh made ingredients taste better and just the fact that you made something yourself is so satisfying.
- Easy: You can make it with barely any effort.
- 1 ingredient: Who doesn’t love an easy recipe with barely any ingredients? Well this one only needs pumpkin!
- Few steps: With only a few steps and barely any activ time this puree is made in no time.
Ingredients
- Pumpkin
Nope, there is nothing missing here. You really only need a pumpkin. The only question is what kind of pumpkin works well for pumpkin puree? So, here are some options:
- Sugar Pumpkin: Most commonly used, not available everywhere
- Hokkaido: text
- Butternut Squash: I know some countries differ between pumpkin and squash but for us they are all pumpkins. Butternut squash works very well for pumpkin puree. It is not that sweet but has a nice subtle flavor. However, it contains a lot of liquid. You will have to drain the excess liquid with a cheese cloth or other thin cloth. Do not throw away the pumpkin liquid! You can make a syrup for cocktails out of it (recipe coming) or use it in soups or smoothies.
Equipment
To make this recipe you will need:
- Oven
- Spoon
- Food Processor
How to make homemade pumpkin puree
Making pumpkin puree at home is super easy and only has a few steps.
Cut your pumpkin in half using a big sharp knife. Be carefully not to cut yourself. I usually stick the knife into the pumpkin on one side and make sure it cuts trough fully and then use that the cut the other side.
Next with a spoon remove all the seeds. Do not throw away the seeds tough! Food waste tip: Roast your pumpkin seeds in the oven. You can make them sweet or savory.
Place your pumpkin halves on a lined baking sheet.
Bake at 180 C / 350 F in the oven for about 45 minutes.
Let the pumpkin halves cool down.
Now comes the part you will need some patience for. With a spoon carefully remove the pumpkin flesh from the skin and transfer it to a food processor. You might have to work in batches depending on how big your food processor is. Make sure that you do not accidentally put any skin into the food processor. The skin is harder to mix and will leave unwanted junks in the puree.
Pulse your pumpkin till you get a smooth puree and the texture you are looking for.
After pureeing transfer everything to an air-tight container.
Alternative way to make it:
Are you sick of scraping the pumpkin flesh out of the skin? Sometimes your pumpkin can be a real pain and separating the flesh from the skin can get real messy. That is why I tested a different way for you.
This method works well with pumpkins that you can peel easily. Especially butternut squash works well with that method.
Simply peel your pumpkin before you bake it. Bake it the same way as above. The outside of the pumpkin will get dry and sometimes even have some black burn marks. That is ok tough. Just throw everything into the food processor and pulse. You might have some black specks if it burnt a bit but that is of no concern.
This method definitely makes the separating easier. I personally like the scooping out method better tough as the skin protects the flesh from drying out which makes a better puree in my opinion.
Recipe Notes / FAQ
Storage:
Keep it in a airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days. If you want to keep it for a longer time I highly recommend to vacuum seal the puree in small portions and freeze it. That way you can take a bag out for the week when you need it and keep the rest fresh for the coming weeks.
You can also sterilize mason jars and seal vacuum seal them. I usually do that in the steamer by steaming it the jars after filling them with the lid on. the heat will close it tightly. That way you can keep it for a very long time in a cool spot like the garage or cellar or keep it even longer in the freezer.
Here are some common questions:
Fresh puree can absolutely go bad.
If you keep it in the fridge it will go bad after a few days.
This really is easy, you just need your common sense: if it smells and tastes weird throw it away! It will smell and taste very sour when it goes bad. Trust me you will know immediately when it is not good anymore.
It will be good for about 3-5 days.
Yes you absolutely can. Keep it in an air-tight container or vacuum seal it and keep it in the freezer. Once you want to use your puree simply let it thaw and use it. There might be some additional liquid from thawing, simply drain the liquid with a sieve or cheese cloth. Make sure to use the thawed puree within 3-5 days.
Recipes using pumpkin puree
- Pumpkin Spice Latte
- Pumpkin filled Ravioli
- Creamy Pumpkin Pasta
- Fall Pizza
- Pumpkin Pie
Homemade Pumpkin Puree
Equipment
- Oven
- Food processor
- Spoon
Ingredients
- 1 Pumpkin
Instructions
- Making pumpkin puree at home is super easy and only has a few steps.
- Cut your pumpkin in half using a big sharp knife. Be carefully not to cut yourself. I usually stick the knife into the pumpkin on one side and make sure it cuts trough fully and then use that the cut the other side.
- Next with a spoon remove all the seeds. Do not throw away the seeds tough! Food waste tip: Roast your pumpkin seeds in the oven. You can make them sweet or savory.
- Place your pumpkin halves on a lined baking sheet.
- Bake at 180 C / 350 F in the oven for about 45 minutes.
- Let the pumpkin halves cool down.
- Now comes the part you will need some patience for. With a spoon carefully remove the pumpkin flesh from the skin and transfer it to a food processor. You might have to work in batches depending on how big your food processor is. Make sure that you do not accidentally put any skin into the food processor. The skin is harder to mix and will leave unwanted junks in the puree.
- Pulse your pumpkin till you get a smooth puree and the texture you are looking for.
- After pureeing transfer everything fill into an air-tight container and keep in the fridge.
Notes
- Storage: Keep it in a airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days. If you want to keep it for a longer time I highly recommend to vacuum seal the puree in small portions and freeze it. That way you can take a bag out for the week when you need it and keep the rest fresh for the coming weeks.
- You can also sterilize mason jars and seal vacuum seal them. I usually do that in the steamer by steaming it the jars after filling them with the lid on. the heat will close it tightly. That way you can keep it for a very long time in a cool spot like the garage or cellar or keep it even longer in the freezer.
- Alternative method: Are you sick of scraping the pumpkin flesh out of the skin? Sometimes your pumpkin can be a real pain and separating the flesh from the skin can get real messy. That is why I tested a different way for you. You can find it in the post above
Your Notes
Nutrition
So easy – thanks!
There is nothing better than homemade pumpkin puree. I’m also anxiously awaiting the pumpkin liquid syrup for cocktails!!
Absolutely agree with you! The recipe for the syrup will be coming soon. I am working on the post just now 😀
Thank you for this pssst. My pumpkin puree turned out wonderfully!
I am so happy it turned out well. Thank you so much for taking the time and writing this comment 🙂
Girl I been sitting on a pumpkin for 2 months now this recipe is perfect to finally process it.
OMG yey! So excited! Enjoy all your fresh pumpkin puree! 😀