It’s easy and inexpensive to make and freeze your own homemade pumpkin puree! With these simple step by step instructions you’ll have a stash of pumpkin puree in your freezer to use in soups, cakes, pies, muffins, and more!
Holla, it’s pumpkin season! 🎃🎃🎃
Since I write a food blog and I’ve been working ahead, I’ve actually been elbow deep in pumpkin spice for over a month already – I’m alllllllmost stick if it by now!
Just kidding… that’s not a thing.
Today I’m going to let you in on a little secret: it’s totally easy to make your own homemade pumpkin puree! If you don’t know how to cook a pumpkin, fear not! I’m going to break it down for you with step by step instructions that will make it easy as (pumpkin) pie.
What do you need to make homemade pumpkin puree?
- A big ol’ pumpkin. Or a small one. It’s up to you!
- A roasting pan big enough to fit your pumpkin into it once cut.
- A food processor to puree the roasted pumpkin.
- A strainer basket and cheesecloth (or similar) to drain the pumpkin.
- Some plastic food storage bags for freezing.
What kind of pumpkin is best for making pumpkin puree?
You’ve got options, my friends! This is a Muscat pumpkin, which is also referred to as a Fairytale pumpkin because it looks like the one Cinderella went to the ball in.
The canned pumpkin puree that you buy at the store is typically sugar pumpkin, which is great for pumpkin pies. Check at your farmer’s market or produce stand for different kinds of pumpkin. I’ve roasted and pureed blue Hubbard and Hokkaido pumpkins too, with delicious results.
I routinely cook my Halloween pumpkins as well (even after they’re already carved!) though it should be noted that these are not as sweet or flavourful as other varietals.
How to cook a pumpkin
First, Cut your pumpkin in half. If it’s really big it may help to take the ends off first, but this one I just chopped right in half. Now roll up your sleeves so you can scoop out the stringy guts and the seeds.
Save this gunk in a bowl to sort through later if you want to roast the seeds.There’s so much good nutrition in pumpkin seeds, and they’re delicious to boot! I use my ice cream scoop to scrape out the insides, but any large spoon will do.
Now place the cut pumpkin halves cut side down in a large roasting pan. If your pumpkin is really big you may need to cut it into quarters, or you may need more than one pan.
This pumpkin fit into my roasting pan snug as a bug in a rug!
Roast your pumpkin in a 400°F / 200°C oven, for about an hour, or until the pumpkin has collapsed, and the skin is blistered and pulling away from the flesh.
There will probably be some liquid in the bottom of your pan; the amount will vary depending on how long it has been since your pumpkin left the pumpkin patch. A very fresh pumpkin can hold an amazing amount of liquid.
Once your pumpkin has cooled sufficiently so that you can handle it, peel the skin off of the flesh. The skin should come off quite easily; I normally start at the edge or by pulling up on a blistered section, and it will come off in strips.
Transfer the roasted pumpkin flesh into a food processor and puree until smooth. You will likely have to do this in batches, depending on the size of your pumpkin.
In order for your roasted pumpkin purée to have the same consistency as canned pumpkin would, you need to let it drain for a few hours.
Line a colander with cheesecloth, set it over a large bowl, and let it sit for 2-3 hours. All that liquid that drains out is nutritional gold, so don’t throw it out! At the very least I use it to water my plants, or if I’m more organized I’ll put it in my smoothies or in a soup.
Once drained, portion your pumpkin purée into 1 or 2-cup servings and stash in the freezer for baking, smoothies, soups, or anything else you’d normally used canned pumpkin for. I use freezer bags for this part, but you can use jars if you leave enough head space in them.
Pro tips / recipe notes:
- How much pumpkin puree will one cooked pumpkin yield? This will totally depend on the size of the pumpkin you started with. This beauty yielded about 8 cups of purée once it was drained.
- How long will homemade pumpkin puree last in the freezer? According to food safety guidelines, you can freeze homemade pumpkin puree for 3-6 months.
- Can I can my pumpkin puree? Pumpkin isn’t acidic enough to safely can in a water bath canner. Botulism is not your friend. Trust me, just freeze it.
- However, if you’ve got a high pressure canner at home that can reach the extreme temperatures necessary to ensure safety, you can can pumpkin chunks, but not pumpkin puree. My girl Sarah at Sustainable Cooks has a post that will show you how to safely can pumpkin.
- Can I cook my Halloween Pumpkin? Yes! Please do! Note that Halloween pumpkins aren’t as flavourful or sweet as, say, a sugar pumpkin, but you can still use the puree in muffins, pies, etc.
Other recipes like this:
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How to Make Vanilla Extract
How to Make Homemade Almond Milk
How to Make Homemade Nut Butter
Homemade Pumpkin Puree
How to make and freeze your own homemade pumpkin puree - it's easier than you think!
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 200°C / 400°F.
Cut your pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and stringy bits.
Place the pumpkin cut-side down into a roasting pan.
Place in the oven and roast until the skin has blistered and the pumpkin flesh is very soft.
Remove from the oven and let cool.
Peel the skin away from the pumpkin flesh, and transfer in batches to a food processor.
Puree until smooth.
Line a strainer with a cheese cloth (or similar) and strain the pumpkin over a bowl for 2-3 hours, until thick.
Transfer the puree into freezer bags in 1 or 2 cup portions.
Freeze for 3-6 months.
Recipe Notes
- How much pumpkin puree will one cooked pumpkin yield? This will totally depend on the size of the pumpkin you started with. This beauty yielded about 8 cups of purée once it was drained.
- How long will homemade pumpkin puree last in the freezer? According to food safety guidelines, you can freeze homemade pumpkin puree for 3-6 months.
- Can I can my pumpkin puree? Pumpkin isn’t acidic enough to safely can in a water bath canner. Botulism is not your friend. Trust me, just freeze it.
- Can I cook my Halloween Pumpkin? Yes! Please do! Note that Halloween pumpkins aren't as flavourful or sweet as, say, a sugar pumpkin, but you can still use the puree in muffins, pies, etc.
This recipe was originally published October, 2010. It was retested, rephotographed, and updated on October 2, 2018.
It doesn’t get any better than homemade, roasted pumpkin, and this puree looks like perfection! 🙂
It is pretty dang good!
This looks wonderful! I’ve yet to try roasting a pumpkin (a food blogger’s crime!) but I will definitely come back to this when I do. Maybe this thanksgiving for my pumpkin pie!
Definitely try it! It’s not hard, and the puree you get is sooooo good. Plus there’s so many things to do with it!
This post is amazing! I am so in awe of you for processing your own pumpkins – usually I just buy the canned puree and get real pumpkins for carving only. Definitely going to give this a try though!
Aww, thanks. But don’t be in awe, it’s actually really easy! If you can roast a squash, you can roast a pumpkin. Give it a try!
This looks wonderful and so easy! You really don’t need a sugar pumpkin in order to use your purée in food?
I’ve cooked many a jack’o’lantern in my day and used it in food. The flavour isn’t as sweet or rich as a sugar pumpkin, but it works just fine. I’ve used it in everything from pies to muffins to taquitos with no complaints!
Looks wonderful.. I always love to make my own pumpkin puree – Yesterday I just baked a big pumpkin and made few cups portions and froze them. Never bought pumpkin cans ye .as it doesn’t represent me:)
Looks wonderful.. I always love to make my own pumpkin puree – Yesterday I just baked a big pumpkin and made few cups portions and froze them. Never bought pumpkin cans yet as it doesn’t represent me:)
The cans are pretty convenient, but I much prefer to make my own puree. And I love having it stashed in the freezer!
So much better than buying from a can. Great, clear tips!! Thanks Katie 🙂
Thanks Emma! Glad you liked the post.
Thank you for this!!! I really hate canned food because few companies use BPA free cans. I roast squash all the time but had a fear of making my own pumpkin puree. Now that I know how simple it is, I don’t think I’ll use canned again, unless pumpkins are out of season. Don’t forget to roast the seeds! They are delicious. I’ll be posting the recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds next week on my blog.
It’s just a gigantic squash! Super easy to roast your own and stash it in the freezer. And yesssss, the seeds must be roasted. There’s so much great nutrition in pumpkin seeds. I usually just toss them in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast ’em till nice and crunchy.
I love making my own pumpkin and squash purée! It saves on packaging(even though the recycling in Germany is great, the tin cans still require energy to be produced, shipped, filled, and recycled again), and tastes even better than the canned versions, imo. I recently had some other Canadian immigrants over for a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner, and they were all wondering where I found the puréed pumpkin for my vegan pumpkin-pecan cheesecake, so I told then how east it was to make with a Hokkaido, which are so abundant in Germany. I just picked up a muscat and am excited to try half of it puréed and frozen for pumpkin spice smoothies!
This is such a great method and you make it look so easy!