Homemade Pumpkin Puree Recipe
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Don’t throw out your Halloween pumpkin! Turn it into a homemade pumpkin puree! Once you try fresh homemade pumpkin puree, you’ll never want to use one from the can!
Making your own pumpkin puree is really easy. All you need to do is cook the pumpkin, scoop out the pumpkin flesh and process it in a food processor or blender until it’s smooth like a puree!
There are several different ways to cook the pumpkin. My favorite way to do it (also the easiest!) is cooking whole pumpkin in the Instant Pot – simply pressure-cook it whole on High pressure for 25 minutes. If you don’t own an Instant Pot, you can bake whole pumpkin in the oven or you can cook it in the microwave!
To bake whole pumpkin in the oven, just pierce it in several places with a knife so it doesn’t explode and bake in pre-heated 350F oven for 1 hour.
To cook pumpkin in the microwave, cut it into quarters and microwave in a covered microwave-safe bowl on High for 15 minutes.
Once the pumpkin is cooked, cut it and scoop out and remove the seeds. Then separate the pumpkin flesh from the skin (the skin should come off very easily). Put pumpkin flesh in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. That’s all there is to making a pumpkin puree! It’s so good and fresh-tasting! Fresh always beats the canned stuff!
If you have too much pumpkin puree to use at once, you can always freeze it for later! To freeze pumpkin puree, just put it in a ziploc bag, squeeze the air out and put in a freezer. You can keep pumpkin puree in a freezer for up to 6 months. To thaw pumpkin puree, put it in a refrigerator to defrost overnight, or if you need to thaw it quickly, use the microwave Defrost setting.
Now once you’ve got your awesome homemade pumpkin puree, what are you going to make with it? Here some amazing recipes to use up your fresh pumpkin puree:
Best Ever Pumpkin Pie – so easy and foolproof, turns out perfect even if you never made pumpkin pie before!
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars – pumpkin and chocolate? Yes yes yes! They go sooo well together!
Easy Pumpkin Muffins – these pumpkin muffins are so huge and mouthwatering!
Easy Pumpkin Cheesecake – this pumpkin cheesecake is truly epic! Everyone loves it! Better than in any restaurant, I make this pumpkin cheesecake every Thanksgiving!
Homemade Pumpkin Puree
Ingredients
- 1 whole pumpkin
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Pierce the pumpkin with a knife in several places to allow the steam to escape.
- Put the pumkin in a baking dish. Put in the oven and bake for 1 hour.
- Remove baked pumpkin from the oven and cut in half. Scoop out the seeds and discard or reserve for another use. With a spoon, separate the pumpkin flesh from the skin.
- Put cooked pumpkin flesh in a food processor or blender and process until it's smooth and turns into a pumpkin puree.
Notes
Nutrition