These Pumpkin Recipes Will Have You Rethinking Fall Dining (2024)

FAQs

Are there any pumpkins you can't eat? ›

While all pumpkins are edible, some are great as food, and some are better suited for other purposes. The jack-o'-lantern pumpkin is a great example.

To complement pumpkin with sweet flavor pairings, consider using spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice and vanilla, or sweet ingredients like chocolate, maple, honey, cranberries or brown sugar. Create savory dishes by pairing pumpkin with spices like chilies, cajun, cayenne or pepper.

Canned pumpkin and pumpkin puree are the same thing, and you'll often see the terms used interchangeably in recipes and cookbooks. Unlike pumpkin pie mix, canned pumpkin does not have any spices, sugars, or other additives. In many cases, the only ingredient is pumpkin.

White fruited pumpkins are edible. White fruited varieties, such as 'Lumina,' have a white skin and orange flesh. They are chiefly grown for their unique “ghostly” appearance. However, the orange flesh is suitable for cooking.

Pumpkin is healthy and considered safe for most. But some people might experience allergies after eating pumpkin. It's mildly diuretic in nature and may harm people who take medicines such as lithium.

For cooking, you'll want to use sugar pumpkins (also called pie or sweet pumpkins), which are small and round. Long Island Cheese pumpkins, which are more oblong and can look like a wheel of cheese, are also good to eat. Field pumpkin types are larger, have watery, stringy flesh, and are best for decorating.

If you really want to go all out, you can even grate whole cinnamon sticks, ginger knobs, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice berries. It's definitely more work, but the intense spice flavors work wonders to enhance the dull flavor of canned pumpkin.

This large plant family includes over 900 species, including orange pumpkins, watermelons, and cucumbers. The genus Cucurbita (aka "squash") falls under this family, so yes, your traditional orange pumpkin is also a winter squash (not to be confused with soft-skinned summer squash, such as zucchini).

Libby's, the quintessential canned pumpkin brand, uses a proprietary strain of the Dickinson pumpkin variety in their product, which is also often called a Dickinson squash. On Libby's website, it states that their product is 100 percent pumpkin.

Feeding plain canned pumpkin gives a great boost to your dog's nutrition. Great for digestion. Due to its high soluble fiber content, pumpkin is very good for your dog's digestion. If you feed your dog some pumpkin, it will add bulk to their stool.

What happens if I use pumpkin pie filling instead of pumpkin puree? ›

Pumpkin pie filling shouldn't be used in place of pumpkin puree since the finished dish will be too sweet. You can always set the can aside to make a quick pumpkin pie another day.

Blue cheeses like gorgonzola team up well with the notes of dried fruit typical of pumpkin. Another excellent pairing is with a nice fresh goat's cheese since its acidulous notes offset the sweetness of pumpkin.

Pumpkin is notorious for pairing well with warm winter spices – as found in a variety of Moroccan-inspired cuisines. Try incorporating cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cumin and chilli with your pumpkin dishes for flavour-packed feasts.

At the same time, they ask “Are all varieties of pumpkins edible?” The plain and simple truth is – – Yes, all varieties of pumpkins are edible.

Pumpkins typically used for jack-o'-lanterns usually are larger, with stringier pulp and more watery flesh. However, you can still eat the jack-o-lantern variety with fairly good results. If you're buying a pumpkin specifically for eating, the smaller ones are usually the best.

It is very important to note, though, that once a pumpkin has been carved, it is considered a potentially hazardous or perishable food. If you are planning on making some of your own pumpkin puree, muffins or pie, purchase a few extra pie pumpkins for cooking and baking.

Now, you actually can cook with any kind of fresh pumpkin. But starting out with a pie pumpkin, or sugar pumpkin is going to help you end up with more pumpkin from less work. Pie pumpkins are smaller, often a little squatty-er in shape, and if you are fortunate, labeled as a baking, pie, or sugar pumpkin.