If you love pumpkin recipes, a very good (and money-saving!) thing to learn is how to make homemade pumpkin puree.
Each fall, I make a big batch of it and I use it to make all of my favourite pumpkin recipes. As soon as I see those little sugar pumpkins (also called pie pumpkins) show up in the stores, it's homemade pumpkin puree time.
There are SO many things you can make with homemade pumpkin puree...from savoury dishes, to delicious desserts (like vegan gluten free pumpkin chocolate chip bread or gingerbread chocolate chip muffins, pumpkin cupcakes, or pumpkin pudding!)—the possibilities are endless.
Typically, you should be able to find sugar pumpkins starting in September.
Where I live in Canada, I'm only able to find them during the fall but perhaps they may be a bit easier for you to find at other times of the year where you live.
Homemade Pumpkin Puree vs Canned
Like most cases, the homemade stuff tastes so much better, and fresher, than the canned stuff. So when you see how easy it is to make, you'll never look back.
As you can see in my pictures, the colour of the puree will be paler than the canned stuff, which tends to be more on the dark orange side. This is because the pumpkins used for cans is a different sugar pumpkin variety (usually Dickinson pumpkins).
Tips
- You MUST use sugar/pie pumpkins to make puree for recipes and not use carving pumpkins (the larger kind used to carve a jack o' lanterns). I haven't tried it myself, but I've read in multiple places that carving pumpkins produce bland, stringy puree. Not good.
- After scooping out the insides, save them so you can roast the seeds. Click to learn how to roast pumpkin seeds.
- Your puree will be a little runnier than the canned stuff which is more "packed." This will not affect your recipes but if you prefer for yours to be less runny, line a colander with a cheesecloth and put your finished puree in. Place the colander over a large bowl and let it sit for a while so some of the extra moisture drains out.
Here's how to make your own homemade pumpkin puree:
Snap off the stems and cut each pumpkin in half. Be careful when doing these steps!
Slice off the top or bottom to create a flat and more stable surface to cut the pumpkins. I always do two pumpkins at a time because of the size of my baking sheet. Feel free to do more if you have the space.
Scoop out the insides with a spoon or ice cream scoop and save the seeds for roasting!
Place the halves on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 350°F for 1 hour or until a fork slides through easily.
Be sure that your sheet has raised edges because the pumpkins release a lot of moisture while baking.
When you take them out of the oven, the skin will be wrinkled, that's a sign that they are ready. To be 100% sure, stick a fork in them and it should slide through easily.
Let them sit for a while to cool off.
When cool, flip over and scoop out the insides.
Place the insides into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.
Depending on the size of your pumpkins and how many you bake, the amount of pumpkin puree you end up with will vary.
My two pumpkins (shown at the top of this post) gave me 5 ¼ cups.
How to Store Homemade Pumpkin Puree
If you will be using up your puree quickly, store in glass jars in the fridge. It will last about a week and half.
If you want to store in the freezer for later use, separate your puree into 1 cup portions and freeze in air-tight freezer-safe containers or freezer bags. It will keep for 6-8 months so you can enjoy pumpkin desserts for months to come!
Now that you know how to make homemade pumpkin puree and you have a fresh batch waiting to be used, you're going to need recipes to make!
Some Pumpkin Puree Recipes to try:
- Vegan Gluten Free Pumpkin Spice Muffins
- Pumpkin Spice Mini Muffins
- Vegan Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins
- Vegan Gluten Free Pumpkin Spice Waffles
- Vegan Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread
- Quick and Easy Vegan Pumpkin Pie
- Easy Vegan Gluten Free Gingerbread Waffles
- Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Muffins
How to Make Homemade Pumpkin Puree
Ingredients:
- 2 sugar/pie pumpkins
Instructions:
- Snap or cut off the stems and cut each pumpkin in half. Be careful when doing these steps! To make it a little safer, slice off the top or bottom of each pumpkin to create a flat and more stable surface to cut the pumpkins).
- Scoop out the insides with a spoon or ice cream scoop and save the seeds for roasting.
- Place the halves on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake at 350º for about an hour or until a fork slides through easily.
- Remove from the oven and let them sit to cool. When they have cooled off, flip them over and scoop out the insides with a spoon.
- Place the insides into a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth.
- Refrigerate your puree or separate it into 1 cup portions, place into freezer safe containers and freeze.
Recipe Notes:
- I always process two pumpkins at a time because that is the size of the baking sheet I bake them on. Feel free to do more if you have the space.
- Be sure that your baking sheet has raised edges because the pumpkins release a lot of moisture while baking.
- Depending on the size of your pumpkins and how many you bake, the amount of pumpkin puree you end up with will vary. The two pumpkins (shown above) gave me 5 ¼ cups or puree.
- Homemade pumpkin puree will keep in the refrigerator for about a week and a half.
- Homemade pumpkin puree will keep in the freezer for 6-8 months if it's stored in proper, freezer-safe packaging.
- Calorie count is for 1 cup of the finished puree and is only to be used as a rough guide. Click here to learn how nutrition info is determined on this website.
Vanessa L says
I have used many types of pumpkin following your instructions and they’ve always turned out great. I put them in my vitamix to purée it afterwards and have never had stringy purée.
Gwen Leron says
I'm glad to hear you have success with the recipe, Vanessa. And yes! A Vitamix will take care of smoothing out the purée if there is any stringiness 🙂
Becky says
Gwen and others here,
Has anyone tried baking the pumpkin at 375-F? I'm wondering because I often use that temp for other things and then I could bake the pumpkin at the same time.
Thank you for the inspiration to cook my pie-pumpkin. It's been in the house for days and I just didn't trust myself to do it justice.
Becky
Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says
Hi Becky! You can definitely bake them at 375, but the timing will need to be adjusted and they will finish quicker than the 1 hour listed in the recipe. Starting around the 35-40 minute mark, check on them by sticking a fork in the thickest parts and if the fork slides through, that is how you know it is done. Enjoy your pumpkins, I hope you have some nice baked things you plan on making with the puree 🙂
Sarah says
I used this guide for making pumpkin purée for my Slow Cooker Winter Vegan Chili! Very helpful, thank you so much for sharing.
Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says
You're very welcome, Sarah! Glad to hear it was helpful 🙂
Sib says
We get Cinderella pumpkins where I live and they make exceptional pies! The puree is a bit dryer than that of sugar pumpkins and just as delicious. I am told the blue ones are especially yummy, so I bought one to try out this year.
Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says
Hi Sib! I have never seen Cinderella pumpkins where I live (or the blue ones!), they sound perfect to make puree with, especially since thy are a bit drier. The only types I have seen are the carving pumpkins and sugar pumpkins. I will look out for them next fall! 🙂
Lauren says
If I drain some of the liquid off, how much would I use in pie? I'd love to try this for Thanksgiving dinner!
Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says
Hi Lauren! You would use the same amount that your the pie recipe calls for. You treat this puree the same as you would canned. I hope everything goes well, let me know if you have any other questions 🙂
peninggi badan says
sorry I'm from Indonesia with limited English language. I just want to ask "how long expired pumpkin flesh in a jar if not in coolcase?"
Gwen says
Hi there, the pumpkin will last for about a week in a jar in the fridge if you don't freeze it. If you do freeze it, it will last for many months.
Natalie says
Hi! I was wondering, how do you freeze your pumpkin batches? Do you freeze them in the little Mason jars, or do you use another container? Thank you!
Gwen says
Hi Natalie! To freeze the puree, I use use mason jars or pyrex containers. I wouldn't use any other type of glass other than these two (unless you can find something else that says "freezer safe") because they are thick and will be able to withstand freezing for long periods. Make sure you don't fill to much, leave a little space at the top. If you don't have pyrex or mason, you can also use freezer bags. Make sure that all the air is pressed out and the bag is pressed flat before freezing. It will make defrosting much easier. I hope this helps!
David says
So after we scrape out the guts to carve pumpkins can we just scrape the walls thinner and then bake that for an hour in a baking dish then drain it through cheese cloth and purée it? I have grated it before and used it in zucchini bread recipe with a little pumpkin pie spice added in came out good.
Gwen says
Hi David, I have not tried doing this myself, so I'm not sure how it would turn out. I've always read and been told that carving pumpkins should not be used for puree but there are a few comments on this post from readers who have said they use always carving pumpkins for puree and it turns out great. I do love this idea though, it's a great way to cut down on food waste. If you do try it, I'd love to hear how it went!
Mary says
Thanks for the great post ! How do you roast the seeds ?
Gwen says
Hi Mary, see this step-by-step on how to roast pumpkin seeds 🙂 http://delightfuladventures.com/how-to-roast-pumpkin-seeds/
Odette Trahan says
Hi,
So today I made my puree and I'm so proud.
Since my oven is broken I used my toaster oven....yes, toaster oven lol I set it up at 350, removed the grill and placed one half of the pumpkin in a square pan which I sprayed with a bit of non stick cooking spray (no baking sheet so took a chance), covered my pumpkin with tin foil and put it in my oven and crossed my fingers. So 1h45 later (yup took 4 hours since I could only do it 1 half at a time) all was cooked and made my puree. Took way longer but who cares!lol result is the same. The 2 halves gave me 4 cups of puree so wow! so yay me!
The puree is so yummy! it's sweet! Now I'll prepare an all spice mix so I can make a pumpkin bread and a no bake pumpkin cream cheese cake which I'm dying for!
So happy I found your puree recipe because it is impossible to find in grocery stores.
Thank you so much!
Odette 😀
Gwen says
Odette! You were so determined! I'm so glad it turned out and that you like it (despite the toaster oven!) Now to make those delicious pumpkin recipes 🙂 Thanks for letting me know how it went and I'm glad you found my website so you could make the puree!
Merry Bevill says
Hello, This is a really nice post detailing how to make fresh pumpkin puree. I've been making it -almost-this way for nearly 30 years. Although I have used the little pumpkins, I almost never do. I use the larger pumpkins. The puree is not stringy and I can't tell any difference in taste. If you are interested, I also have a post about how I cook my pumpkins whole, using a solar oven instead of heating up my kitchen; and then how to mash the puree. Also I kick up the spices in my recipes just a little bit to compensate for the spices that were added to the canned pumpkin. Again, I love the post. Wishing every one lots of delicious pies, cookies, bread, and everything else pumpkin. ~ Merry |Sunshine On My Shoulder.
Gwen says
Hi Merry! That is very interesting to know! I have always read and been told that sugar/pie pumpkins were always the way to go. Glad to hear your input, thanks for sharing!
Darby Thomas says
I have used carving pumpkins in the past as well. I've never tried a pie pumpkin, as they're tough to come by in my area. I can't attest to the taste difference, but my puree looks the same as the photos above! 🙂
Gwen says
Good to know, Darby! Thanks for sharing that!
Carol-Ann Duggan says
Hi there from Ireland,
We only have pumpkins here for Halloween so they would be only the ones for making jack-o-lanterns. And we certainly don't have canned pumpkin. However we have an abundance of butternut squash. Would they be a good substitute for the purée? They are quite sweet.
Gwen says
Hi Carole-Ann!
I hope it's lovely where you are in Ireland today! It's quite frosty here this morning where I am in Canada 🙂
YES! I have pureed butternut squash before and used it in place of pumpkin (one year when I waited too long and pie pumpkins were all gone!) You definitely don't want to use the jack-o-lantern pumpkins, though. When you use butternut squash puree in your recipes, there is no taste difference at all. Best of luck! Let me know how things go!
Odette Trahan says
Oh thank you! since I'm a pumpkin any desert freak, I'll use butternut squash!?
Gwen says
Great, Odette! I love pumpkin desserts too 🙂
Tracy says
I've used butternut here in Australia. The canned pumpkin is very hard to find but I've made my own for American friends and they loved it. They'd never thought to use fresh rather than store bought.
Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says
This is good to know, Tracy. Thanks for sharing! The kind of pumpkins I use for this are only available for a short time once a year but we have butternut year-round!
Becca says
Finished my pumpkin puree and it turned out delicious 🙂
Gwen says
Isn't it great making it yourself, Becca? I don't think I can go back to the canned stuff...ever! 🙂