by Texas Homesteader ~
There are several recipes I love that use pumpkin puree. So to provide that ingredient myself, I like to grow sugar pie pumpkins in my garden. But how do you make puree? Well I’m so glad you asked.
Note: Some links in this post will take you to other related articles for further information. But links preceded with * are affiliate links. If you click and buy something I could receive a tiny commission.)
Growing Pumpkin In A Three Sister’s Garden
I often plant the native American Indian’s symbiotic garden called the ‘Three Sisters Garden‘.
A 3 sisters garden garden is typically 3 specific plants that both help and are helped by each other:
Corn
Squash
Beans
Corn: The 3 Sisters Garden is started by planting corn – a staple in the native American’s diet. But it was also a heavy nitrogen feeder from the soil.
Beans: At the base of the corn plants they planted green beans to help replenish the nitrogen in the soil. The corn repaid the bean’s care by giving them a hearty stalk to climb upon to support the bean plant.
Squash: Then squash was planted between the corn plants. The squash benefited from the additional nitrogen from the beans as well. And the large leaves of the squash vine would cover the soil to protect other plants from the hot summer temps, preserving moisture and acting as a Living Mulch for the beans and corn.
All three plants benefiting AND being benefitted from each other. Love it!
Using Home-Grown Pumpkin Puree In Cooking
This year I planted heirloom Sugar-Pie Pumpkins for the squash requirement of my Three Sisters Garden. I like to use homemade pumpkin puree for my favorite homemade Pumpkin Granola.
Aaaahhhh… nothing quite says “Fall is finally HERE!” like pumpkin #amiright?
I have several pumpkins that are now ready to come off the vine so I’ll be cooking them up into pumpkin puree.
Option #1: Cooking Pumpkin In A Conventional Oven
Making homemade pumpkin puree is super simple.
To cook a fresh garden pumpkin in a conventional oven, simply:
Cut the pumpkin in half
Scoop out seeds and pulp
Place pumpkin cut-side down on a rimmed baking dish
Add a cup or two or water to help steam the pumpkin
Bake in 350ºF degrees until fork tender (about 45 minutes.)
Option #2: Cooking Fresh Pumpkin Outside
The steps for cooking your pumpkin in a solar oven instead of a conventional oven are much the same. But you’re cooking it outside in a solar oven instead.
You still cut the pumpkin in half, (into even smaller pieces if your cooking pot won’t hold two full halves of pumpkin) and scoop out the seeds
Then you place your cut pumpkin flesh-side down in a pan and add just a touch of water.
Finally just place the lid on the pan to help the pumpkin steam as it’s cooking and place the covered pan into the *Solar Oven.
When I’m cooking pumpkin in my solar oven I wait at least until the glass is covered in steam before I check on the cooking progress. Usually the pumpkin is ready to puree at that point.
Making Pumpkin Puree
When the pumpkin is cooked soft it’s time to make it into pumpkin puree.
Cool the cooked pumpkin
Scrape the softened pumpkin flesh into a large bowl (compost the dark orange rind)
Allow the pumpkin to cool in the bowl & pour off excess liquid.
Use a blender (or stick blender) to puree the cooked pumpkin.
Really, that’s all there is to making your own homemade pumpkin puree. See? I told ya it was easy!
Can You Freeze Pumpkin Puree?
Freezing your excess pumpkin puree is a simple way to preserve it for later use.
The easiest way I’ve found is to use a large *silicone muffin pan to freeze the puree in 1-cup increments.
That way the pumpkin puree is already measured out when you’re ready to use it. Plus the silicone makes it easy to pop these 1-cup frozen disks out.
Then I place those frozen pumpkin puree disks into a freezer bag, being sure to label the contents. I just pop that bag of frozen disks into the freezer until I have a recipe that uses pumpkin puree.
Frozen Pumpkin Puree For Homemade Granola
When I’m in the mood to make my granola I pull out 2 frozen disks of pumpkin puree to account fo the 2 cups of puree in my recipe.
I allow those frozen disks of puree to thaw in the fridge overnight. Then the next morning I use that pumpkin puree to make my pumpkin granola.
Can You Dehydrate Pumpkin Puree?
You sure can dehydrate your pumpkin puree! And it makes storage even easier!
I’ve become totally enamored with dehydrating pumpkin puree instead of freezing it. No more room taken up in the freezer or trying to get a chunk of pumpkin puree to thaw.
I simply measure out my dehydrated pumpkin puree and add hot water. It quickly rehydrates the Pumpkin puree!
And jars of dehydrated produce looks pretty in my pantry too.
So there ya go. Oven or solar oven cooking. Freezing or dehydrating. However you choose to go about it, making and using your own pumpkin puree is simple.
~TxH~
Links Included In This Post:
- Three Sisters Garden, A Symbiotic Planting Strategy
- Living Mulch Using Vining Plants
- *Solar Oven
- *silicone muffin pan
Other Pumpkin Articles
- Cooking Pumpkin Puree In A Solar Oven
- Dehydrating Fresh Pumpkin
- Rehydrating Dehydrated Pumpkin Puree
- Recipe: Pumpkin Granola
- Recipe: Easy Pumpkin Bread
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Visiting you from the Christian Blogger Community linky party! Thanks for the awesome post and chance to win seeds 🙂 I am a bit of a Pumpkin addict and while I’ve attempted to puree myself in the past – I never thought of freezing them in one cup increments! I actually pureed and put them in freezer bags last time, which was a bit harder once it stuck to the bag :/ Going to try this again this year but with your muffin tin tip! Have a blessed day and good luck to all who enter 🙂
The silicon muffin pan makes removing the frozen disks super easy, Heather. I’d think a standard metal one would not be as easy since it doesn’t flex. Freezing them in a silicon muffin pan and popping the frozen disks into a freezer bag works well for me. ~TxH~
I’m a huge fan of all things pumpkin!! Would love to try your Sugar-Pie pumpkins on our homestead next year! Thanks! (Nice to have “met” you at the Christian Blogger Link up.)
This is such a nice offer!! I love heriloom plants! It’s amazing how God designed things to reproduce after their kind. I think my favorite plant is tomatoes. They’re so versatile.
I’m a big fan of tomatoes too. It’s hard to beat a home-grown tomato fresh from the garden. ~TxH~
For fresh eating, swiss chard has always been my ‘have to plant’ veggie. As I age, I need something I can enjoy all year so I try to get in tomatoes and peppers…canned, dehydrated, frozen….you can do so much with them!
Hello, I just found your blog and am looking forward to catching up 🙂 Thank you for the opportunity to win some Sugar Pie Pumpkin seeds. I have not grown that variety yet, so far only Cinderella and Connecticut Fields pumpkins. I love to puree it and use it for the obvious :), in chili and stuffed shells and we have used it for our dog when she needed to lose weight 🙂
One of our favorite things are zucchini and yellow squash, but we love many more other vegetables that we grow. The last few years we haven’t had good results with pumpkins, but we were planning to get new seed and try again next year.
I love making pumpkin puree! Thanks for the great tip about freezing! So much better than how I do it! #sustainablesundays
Just pulled a couple of 1-cup frozen disks from the freezer, thawed and whipped up my favorite pumpkin granola yesterday. 🙂 ~TxH~
I’m a sucker for roasted pumpkin seeds. I look forward to trying something new….actually using the pumpkin for purée!
Thanks!
Michelle
Yummy, I think I need make me some of this pumpkin puree and I’m really intrigued by your solar oven. I’d love to know more
Michelle, I really enjoy my solar oven. Although I can and do cook with it in the winter months, it’s a lifesaver during the summer months. My conventional oven pumps so much heat into my kitchen that I really hate to fire it up in the summer months – solar oven to the rescue! ~TxH~
This is the awesome. Your pumpkins look big. Are you using the big ones our the pie size pumpkins? I love this idea and how you freeze it afterward. Awesome and I am pinning to do this for sure. I use a lot of pumpkin through out the year. Thank you for sharing your tips and for the seeds. Woo Hoo!
These are not the larger jack-o-lantern sized pumpkins, but they’re pretty large for the smaller pie-pumpkins you typically see. T’was a great year in the garden this year. 🙂 ~TxH~
Never tasted a sugar pie pumpkin, although my daughter-in-law and I always get pumpkins and make our own puree for pie. Never thought of freezing it. Definitely going to try it.
There’s a distinct difference in jack-o-lantern type pumpkins and pie pumpkins, Carla. The smaller pie pumpkins are much more intensely flavored. This heirloom Sugar-Pie Pumpkin is the only kind I plant in my garden and I plant them every year. When I harvest them I enjoy them inside as decorations for a short while and then cook, puree and freeze them to use all winter long. ~TxH~
This is exactly how I make my pumpkin puree – but I’ve never tasted a sugar pie pumpkin. Are they really that much different? Would love to win the seeds so I could taste and see. Thanks for offering them.
I think different varieties of pumpkins may be slightly different flavored Samantha, but I find this Sugar Pie Pumpkin to be a little stronger pumpkin flavored than others I’ve tried. It’s the only one I plant, and I plant ’em every year. ~TxH~
I’m really enjoying your posts. How will you save your seeds? Simply wash and let air dry? Obviously I haven’t done that part yet. I planted tomatillos this year. Wow are they happy! I’ve made different salsas and tried a fermented salsa that is a big hit as well.
The seeds were removed and washed Eileem. Then I spread them out to dry. It’s always worked well for me. I’ve planted tomatillos a couple of times & haven’t been successful, I’m jealous! Good luck with the contest! ~TxH~
I’m having a hard time picking my favorite vegetable to grow. I guess we use tomatoes for more things to eat so I’ll have to say them. But honestly, any vegetable is a joy to plant!
“…any vegetable is a joy to plant” – Love that Katy and so true! ~TxH~
Thank you for spreading seeds of the delicious sugar pumpkin.Hope to win.
Good morning! This is good info. I have a question for you. You have mentioned your solar oven several times in various posts, but I’m not sure if you’ve ever written a full post just about the solar oven. I am totally unfamiliar with those. Could you please direct me to the link if you have? If not, could you please tell us all about it? I’m intrigued!
There’s a live solar-cooking school coming here to the blog Miss B! It’s in the workings now with the solar oven manufacturer and will be hosted right here on the TMH Blog. Be sure you’re subscribed to the blog by clicking the email icon on the right-hand side bar under the FOLLOW US section. That way you’ll get an email each time a new blog post goes live & you won’t miss this solar cooking tutorial! ~TxH~
Ha! Great minds think alike, right? I do receive your posts in my Inbox, so I’m sure I’ll be notified when you post that one. I can hardly wait!
First, Thank you for this great giveaway opportunity. The other day I just took out some of my frozen puree which I done last year and made Chocolate chip, pumpkin oatmeal cookies.
My favorite veggie would have to be green beans and tomatoes.