How to Roast Pumpkin

Have been roasting our homegrown pumpkins for years. Usually takes about 1.5 hours of baking since I do several at a time. After I purée them I let the purée drain through coffee filters to remove all the excess water….and there is a lot! I measure it out into 2 cups per freezer ziplock. I use the pumpkin for pies, breads, muffins, etc., and also add some to my homemade dog food.

Our dog LOVES roasted pumpkin, baked with coconut oil, and it’s very nutritious for him.

I added some dried rosemary, too!

The pumpkin is my friend because of these instructions! I allow things to intimidate me and pumpkin was one, not anymore. The pumpkin pie was so delicious and the pillowy pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies are a triumph! Thank you!

It’s in the oven now. Thank you for simple and easy to follow instructions.

Although it’s not quite over yet, autumn ended in my home today when I roasted the pie pumpkin that served as decor! It’s in the oven now (along with a just-put-in for the last 20 minutes tray of salt-soaked pumpkin seeds) and it smells great. I am going to make the puree this afternoon and use it as ravioli filling (with fried sage). MMmmmm, thank you!

worked great for pumpkin pie

My 19 year old grandson loves to cook / bake.. lives with us.. asked if we could baked pumpkin pies together.. from scratch.. so tonight we are baking the pumpkin halves.. drying the seeds.. they’ll get roasted next.. thank you

I use a long serrated bread knife.. slowly start and saw back and forth.. doesn’t slip like sharp straight blades knife.. I had several close calls years ago.. decided to try the bread knife.. much better..

Never baked a pumpkin before! This came out perfect!

Thank you❣️🤗 Turned out purrrrfect.

I found this recipe while looking up time and temperature for baking the pie pumpkin. Canned pumpkin pie filling has been hard to find in the grocery stores near us. I used to use pie pumpkins years ago; they made a prettier pie but I needed a refresher. Arthritis in my hands makes it tough to cut the pumpkins so I tried a suggestion I heard some time ago for acorn squash. Poked the pumpkins with a fork and put them in the microwave for 3-5 minutes based on their size. They were easier to cut.

Super easy! Thanks so much!

FYI folks, avoid a trip to the ER and do not try to cut a raw pumpkin. Roast the entire pumpkin for 30 mins on 350, wait for it to cool a little or use a oven glove, and then take the seeds out and stem off and continue cooking. A lot of people end up in the ER for cuts from bagels, pumpkins, and other hard things. lol.

Great recipe. Pumpkins cooked up quick and I puréed to use in pumpkin pie/tarts. Never used oil or salt before. What a difference in flavour. Thanks for sharing

Great! It really is that easy. I love baking with pumpkin and I add it to my dogs’ food. (so I didn’t add any flavouring) Thank you! Oh how I adore autumn <3

Much easier than I thought it’d be – my 3 1/2 pound pumpkin basically yielded 3 1/2 cups of puree so enough for a couple different recipes. I used about 2 cups in a curried pumpkin lentil soup and the rest in a big batch of pumpkin cookies. The only thing I changed was to leave out the salt because I knew this wouldn’t be for 100% savory recipes. Also got a full cup of pumpkin seeds to toast – a yummy bonus!

This was a great recipe and I was happy with how it turned out. I topped the pumpkin with Oregano before serving and it was amazing.

I use the roasted pumpkin for my dog’s food rather than squash. She loves it!

Thank you for this easy peasy recipe/instructions! In my 64 years (😳) I’ve never had the courage to make a pie crust but this part was so easy I’m gonna make that pie!👍

So great! Can’t wait to make this for pie. Thank you!

This recipe is as simple as it gets, & the end product puts canned pumpkin to shame. We made enuf for 1 pie now & frozen enuf for another pie at Thanksgiving. Actually there was enuf left over to just split it 3 ways w/a little dark brown sugar for a side dessert with the roast beef. The pumpkin taste was so sharp & flavorful that each of us only would take a dab of the puree on the spoon to make it last. MARVELOUS!

Great instructions, thank you. They came out perfect!!!

Thank you! This was a great tutorial and motivated me to try it with our left over Thanksgiving pumpkins. SO delicious and EASY! I used avocado oil and sprinkled with cayenne and cumin. YUM!!

Delicious recipe, and a great way to break in my new Vitamix! Thank you!!

I used the large, ‘decorative’ pumpkins you buy in the stores around Thanksgiving. I can see why using the “sugar” pumpkins are preferable. Much easier to cut ! But, your other tips helped guided my way. I did use parchment paper on my baking sheet, brushed it with oil ( I used EVOO), flipped it over, pierced the skins, baked for 40-45 minutes,etc. It turned out great! Thank you for your advice !

My wife had been making pumpkin for pies for years in the old way and when she started roasting it instead, it became a breeze. It also freed me fron my slicing, cleaning and chopping job.
She has kept it in the freezer and made pumpkin pie in mid year.
Just as good as Thanksgiving pie.
Andy & Kathy

This was very easy. Not sure why but roasting a pumpkin always seemed like so unappealing. I’m glad I finally tried it and will be doing it more.

Thanks! I used to grow a lot of sugar pumpkins. They keep well into late spring so I baked them often- but today, I couldn’t remember how!!! This was perfect. I love roasting the seeds as well. I just take off the pith, but I don’t wash the seeds at all- lots of flavor in that goop. I dehydrate them for a few hours at the lowest oven setting, then leave them over night with the oven off. Tomorrow I’ll toss them in some fat and seasoning and toast them quickly- only takes a few minutes. They will be good with my leftover pumpkin soup from tonight.

I freeze three or four pumpkins worth in pint canning jars to have pumpkin all winter. Definitely lasts more than a month in the freezer!

Thank you for sharing this recipe. I too was having trouble cutting the pumpkin due to arthritis so I decided t0 get out my meat mallot tenderizer and after hammering in my knife with the mallot I simply hammered it downward then turned the pumpkin half over and did it the other way, easy peasy. I then did the same thing to cut the slits in. I hope this is helpful to someone else.

I have baked sugar pumpkins for years now, but never remember what method I like best. So, strolling thru recipes today, I came across yours. This is now the only recipe I will use! I forgot to salt the skins but the oil really helped the roasting process, and the pulp came out of the skin so easily. I am having to drain the pulp before I freeze it for Thanksgiving use, but that is normal.
Thanks!!

Used this to make the best pumpkin pie I’ve ever eaten!

Promised my family sourdough pumpkin chocolate chip waffles this morning but we were out of canned pumpkin. Remembered I had pie pumpkins out in the garden (first time growing them). Found this recipe for roasting pumpkins and it worked beautifully. Simple and relatively fast. Breakfast was a screaming success, thank you for sharing this recipe!!!

So Easy!!!

All of our local groceries were clear out of organic canned pumpkin! I put in on my dog’s food and my husband and my oatmeal every morning. What is going on their is none! So glad I found this recipe. Baking now!!!

Just made six pumpkins, five pie and one white. Came out perfect! GREAT RECIPE!

Just got my first Sugar Pumpkin for the year out of my garden. It roasted perfectly per your recipe. Thanks for sharing.

Did this today. Added Ginger and salt then cooked. After baked put the halves in a large soup bowl. I put butter and Cinnamon infused Maple syrup in mine and my wife had butter and ground white pepper in hers. At it all down to the skin.

My secret mac and cheese – cook up about 4 pounds of squash when it goes on sale (late fall, post Thanksgiving, 2/$1 pie pumpkins!), puree it, then freeze into ice cubes and use 2-3 in mac and cheese! Makes it seem more cheesy, adds veggies that my kid would otherwise HATE, and makes it a gorgeous texture and color! Thanks for helping me add to my repertoire of squashes!! Eat more veggies, they rock!

Dana, I love this recipe for its ease of preparation. I ran the pumpkin for a half minute in our blender and it is so smooth. The taste is delicious.

The seeds are still in the oven at 400 with some Worcester sauce for spice.

I love baking pumpkins this way!! My mother used to boil chunks until she discovered baking them! So much easier and so much less mess!! I always bake whatever pumpkin(s) we buy or are given. This year though I was a little hesitant as I went with my grands to a local pumpkin fundraiser. We laughed and took pictures with all our choice purchases! The sellers did not know if all the pumpkins were edible…so I googled it! My 37 pound, more pink than orange, pumpkin is just fine!! It was a little bear to cut in half, but that was because of how thick the flesh was!! My oh my!! Inside, the flesh was deep, bright orange!! (I’ve used yellow ones before, too.). I am so excited!! Apparently the exterior color is not the only indicator of inside beauty!
I’ll let you know about the taste!!
Thank you for your recipes!!!

I’m German and it’s basically impossible to find pumpkin puree in grocery stores here. I first tried recipes that cook the pumpkin to soften but they come out quite bland.
This recipe yields a puree with an amazing depth of flavour, and as a plus, the oven is already pre-heated to roast the seeds! I have only tried it with hokkaido pumpkins so far but made some amazing pie and cake. Would 100% recommend roasting over cooking.

Great!

If i buy squash , pumpkin or other hard surface vegetable i ask them at the store to cut it in half for me and they wrap them up in clear wrap same price also some8 cabbage if it’s a large head

Great recipe! I used the heirloom pumpkin and it came out great! Easy to follow and delicious! Looking forward to more great recipes!

I actually cheated on 1 step- instead of brushing it with oil, I used butter-flavored oil spray. It takes a lot less time & saved me from having to wash a brush.

I do the same thing for turkeys, and they brown quite nicely using the spray.

Great, simple recipe, thanks!

It isn’t the how to bake a pumpkins its the how to utilize and flavors that all of these recipes come with. The ideas are really what they are looking for.

This recipe sites 350 face down, which is absolutely perfect. But I have also roasted this face up at 325 with spices like cinnamon, ginger, baking cocoa, cloves, you name it. Any flavor that would compliment pumpkin for pie. Today, in mid-October I have an heirloom pumpkin I bought in the grocery store baking with ALL of those spices. I’ll mash it and freeze it to make Thanksgiving pie-baking easier. The house smells great. I may cook this pie before Thanksgiving based on how good it smells now! I know my method is not as minimalist as this calls but while minimalist is great for many things, I like to experiment too. And sometimes I love it as plain as it comes from the field. Pumpkin is a flavor canvass that you can paint on yourself.

You don’t have to use just the sugar or pie pumpkins. Many of the heirlooms have sweet, wonderful flesh. The more orange the pumpkin on the outside, the more orange your pie will be, but the long neck pumpkins will be light orange with a wonderful taste. Just experiment. You can roast them and save the roasted flesh in your freezer to use all year. Don’t let pumpkin season pass you by without stocking up for the year.

Just don’t use the jack-o-lantern types of pumpkins. They will produce a very stringy flesh that doesn’t have much flavor.

Followed the instructions, now baking in my oven, looking forward to using the blended flesh for pumpkin pie. Thank you Dana for the clear instructions on ‘how to’ roast a pumpkin!