How to Make Pumpkin Puree

Learn how to make pumpkin puree at home from scratch with this beyond easy method for turning your jack o lanterns and festive fall decor into a tasty preserved baking ingredient you’ll use all winter long!

Pumpkins are THE vegetable of fall. Tins of pumpkin puree can be purchased from the grocery store. BUT It’s super easy to make your own, for the fraction of the cost. PLUS homemade pumpkin puree tastes much better! Once you’ve learned how to make homemade pumpkin puree this you’ll never by those tins again!

Be smart and use your pumpkins from the pumpkin patch and even your Jack-O-Lanterns to make your own pumpkin puree for baking this fall. It’s simple, easy and super rewarding when it comes to baking from scratch. Follow our step by step guide and make your own this year.

HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN PUREE

Don’t forget to save the seeds for planting next year or make your own roasted pumpkin seeds for a healthy crunchy snack.

Save your pumpkin seeds when pureeing your pumpkins or carving them for Halloween. This year, the kids and my husband carved their pumpkins in the kitchen as I roasted the rest in the oven to make puree.

I bring the pumpkins in after the trick or treating is over and finish off making puree for the year.

Don’t let your pumpkins sit out in the cold. When the temperature drops below freezing, thawed pumpkins aren’t good enough to be pureed. It’s not the same.

Also don’t use Jack-O-Lanterns with melted wax for obvious reasons. Try using a battery operated tea light from the dollar store instead.

HOMEMADE PUMPKIN PUREE

STEP ONE: PREPARE FRESH PUMPKIN

Wash the outside of the pumpkin well.

Cut pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and guts. Rinse the seeds and place in a separate bowl for roasting pumpkin seeds and saving seeds for next years garden. Any seeds and guts you don’t save, feed to your chickens or cows.

RELATED POSTS:

HOW TO ROAST PUMPKIN SEEDS

HOW TO SAVE SEEDS

WHY FEED CHICKENS PUMPKINS

STEP TWO: BAKE IN THE OVEN

Line a rimmed cookie sheet with tinfoil or parchment paper and bake the pumpkin halves, flesh down, for 1 hour or until quite tender.

STEP THREE: REMOVE PUMPKIN SKIN

Remove the pumpkin halves from the oven and let cool.

Skins will peel aways from the pumpkin, remove the skins and transfer the skinned pumpkin to a large pot.

STEP FOUR: PUREE PUMPKIN

Using an immersion blender or food processor puree the pumpkin.

This is by far my favourite part! My immersion blender makes manual mashing or using the food processor a thing of the past. In just a matter of 1-2-3 the jobs done and it’s super quick and easy to clean up.

If you don’t have an immersion blender you can use a food processor as well or rely on your muscles and mash the pumpkin.

STEP FIVE: FREEZE PUMPKIN PUREE

“CAN YOU FREEZE PUMPKIN PUREE? “

YES! Fill medium sized freezer bags with 2 cups of pureed pumpkin to easily use for baking recipes later on. Make sure to label the bags with the year and the contents.

Lay flat on a cookie sheet to make freezing quick and easy. Once bags are frozen, organize by standing up the flat bags in a deep freeze basket organizer.

WHAT CAN YOU USE PUMPKIN PUREE FOR?

Pumpkin puree is one of my favourite baking and cooking ingredients to have on hand in the freezer for fall winter and spring meals.

Homemade pumpkin puree is very healthy for you. Rich in fibre and vitamin A, add puree to breakfast oatmeal, smoothies and lattes in the morning. Try adding pumpkin puree to soups, chilli, casserole and even in pasta sauces.

As for baking, nothing is better than the festive fall flavour of pumpkin spice everything! I’ve got some baking recipes ready for you to drool over below.

PUMPKIN PUREE RECIPES

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP OATMEAL COOKIES

SMORE BARS

ROASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS

PUMPKIN HANDPIES

Go ahead and share 🙂