How to Make Homemade Pumpkin Puree

Canned pumpkin isn’t really pumpkin…

Most of the time. Sort of. It is usually a mix of different types of squash-mainly winter squash. MIND BLOWN yet? I was and still am.

Here’s the lowdown. All pumpkins are winter squash BUT all winter squash are NOT pumpkins. It’s really all about botanical-plant-things that I really do not understand or have any expertise in. I am far from an expert in that department so you can read all about it HERE!

After getting over the initial shock (that took 1.7 minutes) that the canned pumpkin I had bought for years may have not come from a nice ol’ round orange pumpkin- I decided to make my own.

Note: It really isn’t a big deal to me that the canned pumpkin isn’t from a nice bright orange round pumpkin because it tastes so darn good. It was just a little mind boggling to me since I always thought it came from them!

So, now that you know… call your mama, daddy, brother, sister, uncles, aunts, brother’s-wife’s-mama, sister’s-husband-mama, whoever- to break the tragic news. Call them and give them this little tid-bit of info that the orange pumpkin puree in the store isn’t really pumpkin at all…or some of it may be…or none of it may be. Whatever. Explain the science part to them if ya want. And if you get the science part then call me too ;).

***Wanna know what to do with the pumpkin seeds? Check out my post on How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds with the Secret Ingredient to the Best Tasting Pumpkin Seeds EVER (and three recipes)!

How to Make Homemade Pumpkin Puree 

Before you can get started you gotta get yourself some nice ‘ol pie pumpkins (or winter squash) ;).  I purchased two small pumpkins and it made 2.5 pints of puree.

You Will Need:

• 2 Pie Pumpkins
• Water- by the Tablespoon

1. Now grab those cute lil pumpkins and a very sharp knife. Or have your amazingly handsome bearded husband {that I refer to as Mountain Man} cut them for you. I chose the latter of course. Something about my Mountain Man workin’ doing man things really makes my skirt fly up. Oh, and while it’s gettin’ hot up in here, I just remembered. You need to start heating your oven to 350-degrees.

2. Cut the tops off of them. Forgive your handsome bearded husband when he doesn’t cut them straight and makes your lighting look blue.

3. Cut the pumpkins in half and then half again. You want to quarter them. Now lean over and give your hubs a kiss for cutting them for you- even if they aren’t perfectly straight. If you cut them yourself then kiss yourself- no judgement here.

4. Now it’s time to scoop those babies out! Using a spoon is the easiest way to do this. You are scraping out the “insides.” Put them in a separate bowl. You want to save them seeds to make a delicious, scrumptious, melt-in your mouth treat.

5. It’s time to get to baking, baby! Put those suckers on a baking sheet. We like to bake everything on our silicone baking mats (affiliate link). They are the best! NO having to put elbow grease into clean up time! Say whaaaat?!? Bake for 45min-1 hour. They will be fork-tender when done.

6. They will look nice, yummy, and roasted- like Mountain Man on a hot workin’ day.

7. Now use a spoon to scrape out the meat- like you would with an avocado. I scooped then scraped.

8. Put into blender or food processor. We used our Ninja blender. That thing really is like a ninja- it can transform ice cubes into snow ice stuff in 0.7 seconds. Besides the point, though. If your 1 year old is sleeping- you may have to take this out to your front porch to blend, but I wouldn’t know anything about that.

9. Add water if needed, one Tablespoon at a time. We ended up using 6ish Tablespoons. You may need more. You may need less. It all depends on what consistency you want your squash  pumpkin puree.

That’s it! So easy. So fun- especially if made with a Mountain Man.  

How to Make Homemade Pumpkin Puree

 

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Ingredients

• 2 Pie Pumpkins
• Water- by the Tablespoon

Instructions

1. Now grab those cute lil pumpkins and a very sharp knife. Or have your amazingly handsome bearded husband {that I refer to as Mountain Man} cut them for you. I chose the latter of course. Something about my mountain man workin' doing man things really makes my skirt fly up. Oh, also start heating your oven to 350-degrees.
2. Cut the tops off of them. Forgive your handsome bearded husband when he doesn't cut them straight and makes your lighting look blue.
3. Cut the pumpkins in half and then half again. You want to quarter them. Now lean over and give your hubs a kiss for cutting them for you- even if they aren't perfectly straight. If you cut them yourself then kiss yourself- no judgement here.
4. Now it's time to scoop those babies out! Using a spoon is the easiest way to do this. You are scraping out the "insides." Put them in a separate bowl. You want to save them seeds to make a delicious, scrumptious, melt-in your mouth treat.
5. It's time to get to baking, baby! Put those suckers on a baking sheet. We like to bake everything on our silicone baking mats (affiliate link). They are the best! NO having to put elbow grease into clean up time! Say whaaaat?!? Bake for 45min-1 hour. They will be fork-tender when done.
6. They will look nice, yummy, and roasted- like Mountain Man on a hot workin' day.
7. Now use a spoon to scrape out the meat- like you would with an avocado. I scooped then scraped.
8.  
9. Put into blender or food processor. We used our Ninja blender. That thing really is like a ninja- it can change ice cubes to snow in 0.7 seconds. Besides the point, though. If your 1 year old is sleeping- you may have to take this out to your front porch to blend, but I wouldn't know anything about that. 
10. Add water if needed, one Tablespoon at a time. We ended up using 6ish Tablespoons. You may need more. You may need less. It all depends on what consistency you want your squash  pumpkin puree. 

3.5.3208

Happy Homemade Pumpkin Puree Makin’!

Shared On: Front Porch Friday’s, Homemade Monday’s, Homestead Barn Hop, Simple Lives Thursday

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