Pumpkins are one of England’s seasonal vegetables. Let’s look more at creative plant-based recipe ideas, to use up leftover pumpkins. Whether you find them in our veg box, or they are on sale at the market or grocery. Try this vegan macaroni cheese with pumpkin (Rainbow Plant Life).
Before cooking, read up on food safety for people and pets. If baking pastry, keep fresh dough away from children and pets.
Nutmeg is often used with pumpkin, note this spice is unsafe near animal friends.
Pumpkins are a winter squash and are very tasty, if you buy the small ones. You can also roast and eat the seeds, which are high in zinc.
More popular in the USA and Canada (where pumpkin pie is the official Thanksgiving dessert), they are also delicious in soup and quickbreads.
The word comes from the German for ‘pepon’ which means ‘large melon’. They are quite bland and taste a bit like sweet potato, it’s mainly the other ingredients like spices that bring out their flavour.
Abel & Cole sells nice organic small pumpkins (packs of 2) which are more tasty than large pumpkins, which are more bred for carving. These are grown by a Welsh farmer just over the border, and nice in soup with a swirl of vegan double cream and freshly ground black pepper.
Pumpkins are a huge food waste issue, due to Halloween. These large (edible though tasteless) pumpkins are bred, leaving around 22 million to rot on landfills each year. Generating methane gas, instead of feeding hungry people.
How to Prepare a Fresh Pumpkin
Although canned pumpkin puree is good for desserts and baking, it’s best to use fresh pumpkin for savoury dishes. It’s pretty easy to prepare, as long as you have a good serrated knife to slice the pumpkin. Chop flesh into wedges, toss in oil and spices, and bake in the oven for around 30 to 40 minutes.
Scoop out the (rinsed) seeds, boil in salted water for 10 minutes, then roast with oil and spices in the oven for 10 minutes.
If you can’t find canned pumpkin puree (and don’t want to make from scratch) you can use cooked sweet potato (also make ‘pumpkin pie spice’ by blending sweet spices (cinnamon, ginger etc).
Some recipes online for pumpkin use Specoloos biscuits, but they are made with palm oil. You can make your own speculoos cookies with brown sugar, spices, sea salt and vegan butter (Flora has no palm oil).
All these recipes are plant-based, so suitable for all the family!
Pumpkin Breakfast Recipes
This pumpkin smoothie (The First Mess) includes warming spices of ginger and cardamom.
Pumpkin pancakes (Rainbow Plant Life) are made with wholewheat flour. So if paired with fresh fruits, make a delightful breakfast that’s healthier than cereal.
Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal (Ela Vegan) makes porridge far more interesting, by adding pumpkin and spices, and baking it into solid porridge! That’s actually how this Scottish breakfast started, when crofters’ wives would bake oats into a slab for their husbands to take to work.
Pumpkin Soup & Casserole Recipes
Pumpkin Soup (Ela Vegan) is sure to become a warming autumn staple, only takes 30 minutes. Made with creamy coconut milk and good veggie stock, it also contains plenty of spice.
Pumpkin Soup (Broke Bank Vegan) is a simple yet classic recipe. If you like sweet potato soups, you’ll love this.
Pumpkin Curry & Chilli Recipes
Pumpkin Tofu Curry (Rainbow Plant Life) is a great recipe to try out tofu, which absorbs flavours of what it’s cooked with. We like Tofoo (organic and made in Yorkshire!)
Pumpkin Chilli (Broke Bank Vegan) shows that chilli does not always have to be about red kidney beans. Serve with rice and a cold beer.
Oil-Free Pumpkin Chilli (Shane & Simple) is by a Deep South chef, who says he is does not think you should put pumpkin in coffee. So he makes chilli with it instead. This is also oil-free.
Pumpkin Beverage & Dessert Recipes
Pumpkin Spice Latte (Broke Bank Vegan) will save you pennies, as once you master this recipe, you can drink it at home in a mug, instead of hitting the chain coffee store.
No-bake Pumpkin Bars (Ela Vegan) don’t even require you to turn on the oven. A chocolate treat for those who can’t resist.
Baked Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake (Rainbow Nourishments) uses ready-made ginger cookies for the crust, and tops with a caramel pecan glaze.
Pumpkin Cookies (Rainbow Nourishments) are super-simple to make, with just a few ingredients. Sugary treats, to dunk in tea or coffee.
Pumpkin Marble Cake (Rainbow Nourishments) uses one main cake batter, then swirls pumpkin through one and chocolate through the other, for a fudgy treat.
Pumpkin Cake (Rainbow Nourishments) is simple to make, but looks demure with a maple cinnamon frosting.
Pumpkin Cupcakes (Rainbow Nourishments) are made in one bowl.
Pumpkin Sticky Toffee Pudding (School Night Vegan) recreates the world’s favourite pudding (made in Cumbria) by adding pumpkin puree and warm spices to the toffee sauce.
Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cookies (Ela Vegan) are super-simple to make, with an optional easy icing.
Pumpkin Cake with Cashew Frosting (Ela Vegan) is a lot more simple to make than it appears. Ideal when company’s arriving.
Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie (Ela Vegan) is ideal of you can’t have conventional pastry. The recipe uses a homemade gluten-free crust.
