What do you do with your canned pumpkin?

January 7, 2010 4:30 AM

Tell me how you use canned pumpkin.

I have lots of canned pumpkin I would like to use up and am looking for ways to do it that do not involve: pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread. Ideally I could find a quick and easy way to incorporate it into daily eating (e.g. mixing in with oatmeal). I love pumpkin, both savory and sweet and am open to any and all ideas of how to add it into my diet. I am trying to keep it moderately healthy, if possible, but I am happy to get any recipe that involves pumpkin.

Just to reiterate, please just uses for canned pumpkin. Fresh pumpkin is near impossible to find in my area so any recipes that include it won't be of much use to me. Thanks!

posted by triggerfinger to food & drink (39 answers total)

I like to mix it up various spicy curry powders for a quick snack. I also mix it up with cinnamon, nutmeg and various other spices and sugar and eat it. A dollop in oatmeal is great. In either form, it's great spread on bread or crackers.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 4:36 AM on January 7, 2010

Pumpkin pancakes - add some of the canned stuff to your regular recipe and cut back on the rest of the liquids. Add a bit of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and clove. They may take a bit longer to cook, but with some warm maple syrup they're ungodly OM NOM NOM.
posted by jquinby at 4:48 AM on January 7, 2010 [3 favorites]

Mix in with vanilla yogurt.
Make these cupcakes.
Make pasta with a pumpkin/gorgonzola sauce. I always just wing it, but you can find recipes online.
posted by KateHasQuestions at 4:52 AM on January 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

This is not, I repeat, this is not normal pumpkin pie; it is pumpkin chiffon pie, which is the most amazing dessert on this earth. When we make it at home for the holidays, I eat it for dessert with dinner, and as breakfast in the morning.
posted by ocherdraco at 4:55 AM on January 7, 2010

I *always* mix canned pumpkin or frozen winter squash into jarred or homemade marinara sauce when I make pasta, lasagna, etc. It makes the sauce much more complex and delicious.
posted by keener_sounds at 5:00 AM on January 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

Pumpkin waffles (I make them with chopped pecans as a second ingredient). Make a bunch of them and freeze them for quick breakfasts.

Pumpkin filled pasta. If you're not interested in making pasta from scratch, you can use wonton wrappers. Mix the pumpkin with some bread crumbs, herbs, maybe a little parmesan or asiago. Seal the wrappers with a little water on your fingertip. Freeze the pasta on a baking sheet so the individual "tortellini" don't stick together. Then put them in a big plastic freezer bag for longer-term storage. When you're ready to eat, just boil 'em up for a few minutes. Great with some good olive oil, a little cracked pepper, and some grated parmesan.

Make vegetarian lasagna with herbed pumpkin as one of the layers. Spinach mixed with ricotta is a good second layer. Use a garlicky white sauce instead of the usual tomato sauce. Mmmm.
posted by rhartong at 5:12 AM on January 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Pumpkin ravioli!
posted by charmcityblues at 5:14 AM on January 7, 2010

Soup.
Cheesecake.
Muffins.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:33 AM on January 7, 2010

Really simple soup recipe: (similar to this, but that's not where I learned it)
1 can pumpkin
1 can coconut milk
1 can veg or chicken broth
1-2 T honey
1-2 t red curry paste
fresh ginger to taste, or other spices you like

Mix it up and make it hot. Eat it. Anyone who didn't watch you cook it will be impressed.
posted by aimedwander at 5:47 AM on January 7, 2010 [6 favorites]

Fettuccine Creamy Pumpkin Sauce
posted by Morrigan at 5:51 AM on January 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Pumpkin risotto.

Pumpkin mashed potatoes with spinach and fennel.
posted by Jaltcoh at 5:52 AM on January 7, 2010 [3 favorites]

I ahve not made these Pumpkin-Cinnamon Rolls yet, but only for lack of time. All testimonials rate them as delicious.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:57 AM on January 7, 2010

I've tossed it into shakes to vary the flavor of regular protein powder.
posted by JV at 6:04 AM on January 7, 2010

Pumpkin Black Bean Turkey Chili. I've been making this with Thanksgiving turkey leftovers for a couple of years now. It's great! (although I significantly up the amount of spice -- gotta make it hot :)
posted by AwkwardPause at 6:09 AM on January 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

Not exactly healthy - altho I use the low/no/reduced fat versions but these cheesecake bars were a big hit at Thanksgiving.
posted by quodlibet at 6:15 AM on January 7, 2010

Pumpkin makes surprisingly good "hummus"---it's a great dip.

Here's one recipe (via for_serious).
posted by bonehead at 6:25 AM on January 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

Pumpkin marshmallows? They're fat-free, although not exactly healthy.

Frozen pumpkin puree also serves as a good binder for smoothies.
posted by arianell at 6:25 AM on January 7, 2010

I give canned pumpkin to my dog everyday on top of her kibble. I know that you are looking for human recipes but if you end up not being able to use all of it and you have a dog....
posted by fieldtrip at 6:29 AM on January 7, 2010

This is an adapted Southern Living recipe for a dip that people always fall in love with:

Ingredients
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin pie filling or regular pumpkin (with plain pumpkin you will need to add additional pumpkin pie spices to taste as you mix the ingredients)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (optional)

Preparation
Beat cream cheese and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add pie filling, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ginger and additional pumpkin pie spice if needed, beating well. Cover and chill 8 hours.

Serve with gingersnaps, graham sticks, apples, etc.
posted by prettymightyflighty at 6:52 AM on January 7, 2010

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Not so healthy, but very delicious.
posted by something something at 6:58 AM on January 7, 2010

2nding fieldtrip: pumpkin is a GREAT source of fiber for dogs with not-so-firm bowel movements. And they LOVE the taste.
posted by QuakerMel at 7:11 AM on January 7, 2010

These pumpkin cookies are really good.
posted by waterlily at 7:21 AM on January 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

I put a can the blender when I make crepes.
posted by mearls at 7:33 AM on January 7, 2010

I'm assuming it's unsweetened, so this is a perennial favorite of mine. So. Friggin. Good.

Vegan Pumpkin Tortilla Soup.

Though I usually top mine with sour cream and cheddar so that takes the "vegan" out of it.
posted by Brittanie at 7:47 AM on January 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

I just made Spicy Enchiladas with Pumpkin Sauce last night, and it's one of my favorite recipes. It's super easy, especially if you use a rotisserie chicken for the meat (which I do).
posted by Salieri at 8:04 AM on January 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

Pumpkin in a pot pie rather than potato is great.

Pumpkin mole sauce.

Also, pumpkin, dried cranberries and yogurt.
posted by effluvia at 8:16 AM on January 7, 2010

If you have dogs, my vet always recommends a little bit of canned pumpkin when my dog seems blah and constipated. Seems to work on the constipation which makes the dog chipper again.

Supposedly has the same effect on humans for constipation. Maybe you can move a can to the medicine cabinet?
posted by WeekendJen at 8:19 AM on January 7, 2010

Pumpkin pie oatmeal. Who knew you could cook oatmeal by baking it with pumpkin?
posted by ottereroticist at 8:35 AM on January 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

It works for constipated cats, too, if you happen to have any of those around.
posted by Dr. Wu at 8:38 AM on January 7, 2010

Over Christmas break, my sister made a delicious pumpkin casserole.
posted by misha at 9:55 AM on January 7, 2010

Bread pudding with pumpkin, or make bread pudding using stale pumpkin bread.

I made a veggie lasagne with layers of mushroom stuffing, and a layer of butternut squash puree - pumpkin would substitute well.

Pumpkin and oatmeal sounds like a great idea. yumm.

Great thread.
posted by theora55 at 9:59 AM on January 7, 2010

This pumpkin turkey chili is awesome.
posted by doift at 10:04 AM on January 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

I used this recipe for Thai-style pumpkin chicken soup in my crockpot. It doesn't taste pumpkin-y at all (there's chicken broth, mango nectar and peanut butter in it too) and I put it over rice and ate it more like a curry.
posted by Bunglegirl at 10:20 AM on January 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

I also feed it to my dog daily.

(Squeamish people, skip this part)

Otherwise, I need to take her in to the vet monthly to have her anal glands expressed. It was getting expensive, and the vet recommended pumpkin. Apparently domesticated dogs don't have a very fibrous diet, thus the glands aren't expressed on their own like they would be in the wild.
posted by emilyd22222 at 10:40 AM on January 7, 2010

My kid and I love pumpkin as topping for breakfast foods like french toast, pancakes and crepes. Mix up a quick pumpkin-pie-like mix (might want to omit the eggs though) and spread on top of your breakfast foods.

Pumpkin-alfredo or -bechamel sauce is wonderful, I just had some the other night. The suggestion above for using pumpkin in lasagna is a personal favorite of mine.
posted by lekvar at 11:08 AM on January 7, 2010

Pumpkin ice cream. There are many recipes out there -- vegan, dairy, non-dairy, low fat, low sugar, low glycemic, soy, not soy, non-icecream maker, etc.
posted by sentient at 11:31 AM on January 7, 2010

1 can pumpkin + 1 box brownie mix = awesome.

You just stir it up, spray the pan with nonstick, and you get chocolate pumpkin brownies. They're really good.
posted by eleyna at 11:57 AM on January 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

Came in to suggest the (small) can of pumpkin plus a box of brownie mix but eleyna beat me to it. You don't add any of the other ingredients, so no eggs/oil/whatever. Just the mix and the pumpkin. It'll seem like there's not enough liquid but there totally is, and the brownies are super fudgey and delicious.
posted by meggan at 1:53 PM on January 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

Sorry, it looks as though the response I left a few days ago didn't take.

THANK YOU for all your replies, I never knew that pumpkin was so versatile. I will be trying pretty much all of these recipes in the coming weeks but can attest to the fact that pumpkin lasagna is AMAZING.

Thanks again!
posted by triggerfinger at 1:30 PM on January 13, 2010