Make Your Own

Homemade Pumpkin Puree!

I have this awesome produce guy, I will have to write a blog about him soon. But I mentioned to him a couple of weeks ago I wanted to make my own pumpkin puree. He showed me the variety of pumpkins he sells and told me which would be the best for puree. They were $3.50/pumpkin (which I had no clue if that was a good price or not but I was willing to pay that.) When I went back last week to get one, he told me to take whatever I needed. Can you tell I'm a loyal customer? Hah! I spend enough money there that I guess that was a bonus! Anyway I talked him into letting me pay $1.00 for this beauty:


I got 4 1/2 cups of puree from this pumpkin so I'm very happy with that! Now on to the procedure:


First of all, slice off the top of the pumpkin near the stem.



Next, cut the pumpkin in half.

Then, scoop out all the guts from the pumpkin. I prefer using an ice cream scoop because it works really well.

Next, cut the pumpkin into smaller sections and place on a baking sheet. Roast in a 350-degree oven for 45 minutes or until it is fork-tender.

This is what mine looked like when it was done - very juicy but I was able to drain it.

The skin dries up like this so it's easy to peel back.

Peel off all the skin from the pumpkin until you just have the pulp. Throw the pulp into your food processor or blender. Add water if your pumpkin wasn't as juicy as mine. Pulse the pumpkin until it's totally smooth. You can add water by the tablespoon if you need to, if yours is too thick. I didn't have that problem. Actually, when mine was pureed I poured it through a cheesecloth to get rid of some of the excess water.

I used part of mine right away and froze the rest.

When freezing:

Pour into freezer bags, squeeze out any excess air, and freeze flat in your freezer. I did mine in 1-2 cup increments for future recipes. Use within 8 months or so.


I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin but I'm learning to like it! I'll be making more pumpkin recipes in the future now!

(Coming up... pumpkin roll...)

Note: I got my original puree instructions from Pioneer Woman!