Pumpkin Puree Made From Scratch

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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:

Recipes using pumpkin puree

• Pumpkin Spice Latte
• Pumpkin filled Ravioli
• Creamy Pumpkin Pasta
• Fall Pizza
• Pumpkin Pie

Homemade Pumpkin Puree

Learn how to make your own pumpkin puree in a few simple steps and using only one ingredient: pumpkin!

5 from 11 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 45 mins

Total Time 1 hr 15 mins

Course Condiment

Cuisine International

Servings 1 portion

Calories 354 kcal

Equipment

• Oven
• Food processor
• Spoon

Ingredients

  

0.5x1x2x3x4x

• 1 Pumpkin

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

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

Metric conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Your Notes

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Nutrition

Calories: 354kcalCarbohydrates: 88gProtein: 14gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 14mgPotassium: 4624mgFiber: 7gSugar: 38gVitamin A: 115777IUVitamin C: 122mgCalcium: 286mgIron: 11mg

Nutrition information is calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Keyword Easy, Fall, Homemade, Quick

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