Pumpkins can be an excellent addition to your autumn menu. In this article, you will find the top 10 healthy pumpkin recipes for any acquired taste!
Pumpkin cream soup
On cool autumn days, a nice warm meal usually hits the spot. This is exactly what pumpkin cream soup is for!
For cooking this dish you will need the following ingredients:
- 1 kg of pumpkin
- 1–1.5 liters of water
- Vegetable oil
- 1 large onion
- Spices (ground coriander, a mixture of peppers, salt)
- 100 ml of heavy cream
- Pumpkin seeds
Cut the onion into cubes and fry until golden brown in a well-heated saucepan. Add medium-sized pumpkin cubes, peeled and without seeds, to the onion.
Add seasoning with spices to the saucepan along with the onion and pumpkin. Pour water into your saucepan and bring to a boil for 15-20 minutes, until the pumpkin becomes soft.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and grind all the ingredients until smooth using a hand blender.
Add cream into the pureed soup and mix thoroughly – this ingredient will give a softer taste. You can use cream cheese instead of cream.
When serving this creamy soup you can garnish the soup with fried pumpkin seeds.
A good addition to this dish will be crispy toast, bread, or croutons.
Porridge with pumpkin and rice
For pumpkin porridge you will need:
- 500-700 grams of peeled and diced pumpkin
- 1/5 glass of water
- 1.5 glass milk
- 1/5 glass of rice
- 1/3 glass sugar
- A pinch of salt and butter
Add your pumpkin cubes into a saucepan, fill with water, and put on the stove. Bring to a boil after adding salt, sugar, and milk for 10 minutes.
Pour your rice and stir into the saucepan in an even layer. Cover with a lid and cook over low heat until the rice is cooked. Add the butter, mix thoroughly and remove from the stove.
While stirring, the pumpkin can be crushed or left in chunks. If desired, add cinnamon, dried fruits, or nuts to the porridge. Many people prefer to replace rice with millet – it turns out no less tasty and healthy.
Roast with pumpkin
Pumpkin goes well with meat and other vegetables, so it is a great addition to this hot meal.
Take pumpkin, potatoes, onions, and mushrooms for your required number of servings. Pumpkins and potatoes should be roughly equal, and mushrooms and onions complement them. You can serve meat, such as pork or turkey.
Cut the pumpkin pulp, potatoes, and meat into equal cubes and fry separately in a pan.
Fry the onion and mushrooms separately. Then combine all the ingredients in a cooking container. During frying, the ingredients will release juices so you can add the required amount of water and stew for 40 minutes.
When serving, sprinkle the roast with chopped herbs and garlic. The easiest way to cook this dish is in a slow cooker! First, you need to use all the ingredients listed, set the time, and wait for your slow cooker to produce a tasty hot meal.
You can also bake such a roast in pots in the oven, covered with a lid or foil – in this case, the meat and vegetables are laid out in layers.
But the most effective way of cooking and serving is in the pumpkin itself. A medium-sized pumpkin should do the trick, preferably with a long stalk, which is handy to use for the lid. Cut the top of the pumpkin to create an opening. Carefully clean the pulp, brush the flesh with oil, stuff with vegetables and meat, put the top of the pumpkin back on, and put it into the oven for around 45 – 50 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (176 Celsius).
Pumpkin Cake
Pumpkin is also great for baking! you will need the following:
- 250 grams of pumpkin puree
- 300 g sugar
- 250-300 g flour
- 100 ml vegetable oil
- two eggs
- 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
- Ground spice mix
- one orange
- A handful of walnuts
Cut the pumpkin in half removing the seeds, dice it into cubes and bake in the oven until it becomes soft. Mash some potatoes with a blender, knead thoroughly with a fork, or grind through a sieve.
Put the puree in a bowl and cover with cinnamon, cardamom, ground ginger, and nutmeg. For a warming flavor, use spices. Add sugar to the pumpkin-spice mixture.
Mix all ingredients thoroughly and pour in the vegetable oil and mix again.
Add two eggs, you can pre-beat them a little in a separate container.
Little by little add flour mixed with baking powder, bring the dough to the consistency of thick sour cream.
Pour coarsely chopped nuts and grated orange zest into the dough, mix thoroughly again. Pour the mix into a baking tray and bake in a 180 °C preheated oven for 45 -50 minutes.
When checking if your cake is ready use a toothpick to pierce the cake, it should remain dry. You can glaze your Pumpkin muffins with icing for a beautiful presentation. Take your orange and remove the zest, squeezing the juice out of it into a bowl and add powdered sugar to it – the more there is, the thicker the glaze. Spread a thick layer on the cake and let it set.
Candied pumpkin
Another pumpkin delicacy is candied pumpkin. This is not such a quick process however it is uncomplicated and the results are worth it.
For cooking Candied pumpkin you will need the following ingredients:
- 400g raw pumpkin
- 1 cup of sugar
- Half a glass of water
- Half lemon
- Cinnamon sticks
- Carnation
- Star anise stars and other favorite spices
- Icing sugar for dusting
Cut the pulp peeled from seeds and dice into medium cubes. Add the cubes into a saucepan, cut half a lemon into slices or squeeze the juice out of it, add sugar, and put in a cool place or refrigerator for several hours.
Place the pan without a lid on the stove and add water until it covers all the ingredients. Add the spices and bring to a boil over low heat.
After boiling for 5 minutes, remove from heat and cool well.
You need to repeat the procedure 3-4 times. It is crucial to let the contents of the pan cool down completely each time.
During the final boil, the syrup should thicken and the pumpkin cubes should become more transparent. Place the candied pumpkin onto a tray and keep separated.
Now you need to dry the candied pumpkin. This can be done naturally by leaving it to dry in a cool place overnight.
When checking if your candied fruits are ready, they should feel elastic with a soft middle. The top does not need to be too dry – it should remain a little sticky so it adheres well when rolling in the powdered sugar.
We recommend storing it in an airtight container. But the candied pumpkins are so tasty we doubt storing is necessary!
Pumpkin pancakes
These pancakes are no less delicious than any other type of pancake. And it’s easy to cook them.
For cooking the pumpkin pancake’s you will need:
- 200g raw pumpkin
- one egg
- 1 cup flour
- one glass of kefir
- one pinch of salt and baking soda
- A few tablespoons of sugar to taste
Mix the baking soda with the kefir and gradually introduce flour, stirring thoroughly – the dough should be thick enough.
Grate the pumpkins with a fine grater, mix with salt, sugar, eggs, and pour into the dough.
Fry the pancakes in a well-heated oiled frying pan for 2 minutes on each side.
Cottage cheese and pumpkin casserole
Why not add a new ingredient to your favorite dish?
You will need the following ingredients:
- 400 grams of pumpkin pulp
- 400 grams of cottage cheese
- two eggs
- three tablespoons flour
- three tablespoons of sugar
- A pinch of salt and vanilla sugar
- Butter for greasing the mold
- Dried fruits and chocolate optional
Bake the pumpkin pulp in the oven until softened and mix with the rest of the ingredients.
For a more delicate and homogeneous texture, it’s better to mix all the ingredients with a blender.
Add dried fruits (raisins, dried apricots, cranberries, and any other type of fruits) and grated chocolate if you desire.
Lubricate the mix with butter, spread the curd-pumpkin mass, and put it into the oven to bake.
Bake In the oven for 30-40 minutes at 180°C, until the top, is golden brown.
Salad with fried pumpkin and feta cheese
Pumpkin can also be used in salads and works well with feta cheese and a herb mix.
You will need the following ingredients:
- 200 grams of pumpkin
- 150 grams of lettuce leaves
- 100 grams feta cheese
- Vegetable oil for frying
- A pinch of salt and pepper
- Honey to taste
- A handful of pumpkin seeds
Cut the pumpkin pulp into medium cubes and fry in vegetable oil, adding honey. Fry in a well-heated skillet for only a few minutes – the cubes should brown on the outside, but remain firm and not soften.
Put a mix of lettuce leaves, feta cubes, and fried pumpkin in a bowl.
Season with vegetable oil, salt, and pepper, mix and garnish with pumpkin seeds.
You can also use arugula instead of lettuce leaves. When frying, you can add a little soy sauce to the honey.
Baked pumpkin with garlic and spices
Cut the pumpkin pulp into slices or large cubes. Prepare a dressing from vegetable oil, salt, spices, and chopped garlic.
Thoroughly coat each piece with the dressing and put it in a mold.
Bake for 20-30 minutes in an oven preheated to 200 °C.
Photo by Kate Hliznitsova