The easy way is to buy a can of pumpkin puree, no work, no hassle. Did you know that making your own pumpkin puree is very easy, fills your kitchen with a nice seasonal aroma and creates a more flavorful puree.
The sugar pumpkin, also called pie pumpkin is the pumpkin variety that’s the best for making puree. This pumpkin does not feature any deep ribbing or stripes that separate the pumpkin into sections. The sugar pumpkins are ideal for making puree as they have a relatively thin skin and the small ones have less fibrous strings inside.
Key Ingredients in This Recipe
- Sugar pumpkin – I used a small pumpkin of a little over 2 pounds and made 21/4 cups of pumpkin puree.
- Salt – optional.
How to Make Pumpkin Puree
Before you start cutting the pumpkin, give it a quick rinse and dry them. Pumpkins grow on a vine and rest on the ground in the dirt, and therefore may have dirt on them when you bring them home.
Step 1 – Cut the pumpkin in half. There are a few ways of doing this.
- Place your knife close to the stem of the pumpkin and cut down to the bottom. Don’t try to cut through the stem, this is too hard and thus dangerous. Make the second cut on the other side of the stem in the same way, cutting down to the bottom. No pumpkin goes to waste.
- Cut off the top of the pumpkin and then cut the pumpkin in half.
- Cut, with you knife on a slight angle, in a circular motion around the stem, and pull out the stem. Then cut the pumpkin in half.
Step 2 – After you made the cuts in both sides of the stem all the way through, you can ‘break’ the pumpkin in half, with you hands.
Step 3 – Scoop the seeds and the strings out of the pumpkin and sprinkle the pumpkin halves with salt.
If you feel wrong about throwing away the pumpkin seeds, roast them and snack away.
Step 4 – Place the pumpkin halves, cut side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and cook them in an oven of 400 degrees F. Cooking time 40 minutes (for my 2 lbs. pumpkin), but can be more if your pumpkin is larger.
Step 5 – Pumpkin is done when you can easily insert a knife or fork through the skin.
Step 6 – Scoop the flesh out of the pumpkin halves, straight into a food processor.
Step 7 – Process the pumpkin flesh for a few minutes and your beautiful, vibrant pumpkin puree is ready to be used.
Recipes with Pumpkin Puree to Try
How to Make Pumpkin Puree
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sugar pumpkin
- salt optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Give the pumpkin a quick rinse and dry them. (NOTE 1)
- Cut the pumpkin in half by placing your knife close to the stem of the pumpkin and cutting down to the bottom. Don’t try to cut through the stem, this is too hard and thus dangerous. Make the second cut on the other side of the stem, again cutting down to the bottom. No pumpkin goes to waste. (NOTE 2)
- After you made the cuts in both sides of the stem all the way through, you can ‘break’ the pumpkin in half, with you hands.
- Scoop the seeds and the strings out of the pumpkin and sprinkle the pumpkin halves with salt. (NOTE 3)
- Place the pumpkin halves, cut side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and cook in an oven of 400 degrees F. Cooking time 40 minutes (for my 2 lbs. pumpkin), but can be more if your pumpkin is larger.
- Pumpkin is done when you can easily insert a knife or fork through the skin.
- Scoop the flesh out of the pumpkin halves, straight into a food processor and pulse until smooth. This will only take a few minutes.
- Your beautiful, vibrant pumpkin puree is ready to be used.
Notes
- Pumpkins grow on a vine and rest on the ground in the dirt, and therefore may have dirt on them when you bring them home.
- Other ways of cutting a pumpkin in half:
- Cut off the top of the pumpkin and then cut the pumpkin in half. This way you will cut off a tiny bit of the pumpkin.
- Cut, with you knife on a slight angle, in a circular motion around the stem, and pull out the stem. Then cut the pumpkin in half.
- If you feel wrong about throwing away the pumpkin seeds, roast them and snack away.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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