Take that decorative pumpkin and turn it into something edible and versatile. Making your own pumpkin puree at home is both cheap and easy.Cooking with pumpkin: How to make pumpkin puree out of a whole pumpkin. Save lots of money!

One of my favorite fall activities involves buying a large carving pumpkin and transforming it from decoration to pumpkin puree.

After the puree is made, I spend the day making various dishes out of it. 

When the pumpkin is roasted and pureed, you can use it just like you would use a can of pumpkin. Then you can make all sorts of tasty things out of it:

This year, I’m making my usual pumpkin pie and experimenting with pumpkin hummus.

An added bonus to my pumpkin purchase? Spicy roasted pumpkin seeds.

The Cost: 35 Cents Per Cup

I paid $3.49 for this large pumpkin. Once cooked and pureed, it yielded 11 cups of pumpkin, enough for several recipes.

One can of pumpkin in a grocery store can cost up to $2.00. Making your own puree only costs about $.35 a cup. The pumpkin puree can even be frozen for future use.

Pumpkins are in season and super cheap right now. If you’re going to buy pumpkins for carving, consider buying an extra one to cook with!

Pumpkins ready for roasting

Pumpkin, seeded and ready for roasting

Roasted pumpkin

Roasted pumpkin, ready for pureeing

How to make pumpkin puree

Pumpkin, pureed until smooth

How to make pumpkin puree from a whole pumpkin: Prepare a pumpkin and you will have enough pumpkin puree for all of pumpkin season!

How To Make Pumpkin Puree From A Whole Pumpkin

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

This pumpkin puree is more moist than canned pumpkin puree. To remove excess water, scoop the pumpkin into a paper towel or cheesecloth-lined colander to drain.

Ingredients

  • 1 large carving pumpkin

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400F. Cut pumpkin in half and remove seeds. Cut pumpkin halves into smaller chunks and place cut-side down on large roasting pans or cookie sheets with raised edges. For a pumpkin this size, I used two large pans. Pour about one cup of water into the roasting pan. Bake for about one hour, or until pumpkin is soft.
  2. Remove pans from the oven and allow pumpkin to cool. Scrape the pumpkin flesh off of the skin and transfer to a blender. Puree until smooth.
  3. To drain excess water, place pumpkin puree in a colander lined with cheesecloth or a paper towel, and allow it to drain for an hour or more.

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