Canned pumpkin recipes are being browsed and pulled out of recipe boxes and off cookbook shelves already.
Can you hear the printing of web recipes and the note-taking on index cards? I still use the ones my family has passed down to me.
Simple ingredients like canned pumpkin puree are available year round, but we home cooks are getting serious about our holiday season full of savory dishes and sweet recipes.
Canned pumpkin puree is one of the most versatile canned ingredients you can have in your cupboard. It doesn’t have to sit there for a year until the season of pumpkin is back again.
If you don’t know what to do with pumpkin puree, there are loads of recipes you can try.
Be sure when using canned pumpkin you don’t accidentally purchase and use canned pumpkin pie mix.
Canned pumpkin is pureed pumpkin with nothing else added, but pumpkin pie mix has spices and sugar added so that it’s ready to dump into a pie crust.
If you want to try any of these canned pumpkin recipes, you can use your own pumpkin puree as a one-to-one substitute.
Freshly cooked pumpkin works well, too. Mash the fresh pumpkin puree thoroughly in a large bowl or put it in a food processor to make your own fresh pumpkin puree.
In some recipes, you may also be able to substitute other cooked winter squash in place of pumpkin if you don’t happen to have any cans on hand.
We’re sharing our favorite canned pumpkin recipes to show there are many things you can do with this ingredient besides baking just traditional desserts like homemade pumpkin pie.
Toasted pumpkin seeds and pumpkin spice make fall fun, but there is a savory pumpkin recipe or two to enjoy here, too.
Pumpkin dishes may be the best part of fall flavor treats— Thanksgiving dessert and beyond—so enjoy!
1. 5-Minute Pumpkin Soup
Authentic, from-scratch pumpkin soup can take hours to make. You have to carve up the pumpkin, remove the seeds, and much more.
With recipes with canned pumpkin, you can skip the hard parts!
This pumpkin soup uses luscious heavy cream and cooks up in five minutes.
🥫🥣 Even more: 13 Glorious Pumpkin Soups here. 🥫🥣
2. Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Time to get your pumpkin fix.
Pumpkin blends well with cream cheese because they both have vibrant flavors.
These coffee shop quality pumpkin cream cheese muffins are perfect for any season as long as you have a sweet tooth. The mix of regular and brown sugar offers great depth of flavor.
3. Pumpkin Butter
Lots of great tips with this recipe: You can’t can it because of the low acidity, so it will spoil; you CAN cook this in a slow cooker instead of the stovetop. (I bet the aroma would be incredible!)
Pumpkin butter is also glorious as a spread or poured over cream cheese with crumbled bacon (just add crackers!)
If you’re looking for something to do with your can of pumpkin puree, pumpkin butter is an awesome ingredient you can add to several recipes.
Top your toast in the morning instead of dairy butter or slather it on muffins and biscuits as an afternoon snack.
4. Pumpkin Cookies
Another delicious pumpkin-based dessert, our tried-and-true pumpkin cookies will put a smile on your face.
We pat ourselves on the back pretty hard with this recipe because they are so easy to make.
While everyone is talking with their mouths full, just mention casually you slaved away all day over these easy Pumpkin Cookies, and that you NEVER give up classic family recipes. SO SORRY.
(Psst, it uses a box spice cake mix, NO EGGS, NO OIL, a heaping teaspoon pumpkin pie spice and canned pumpkin.)
We love this pumpkin cookie with the glaze, but you don’t have to use it.
🔥 Learn the secret to the warm fall spices in Pumpkin-Pie Spice Mix—make your own! 🔥
5. Pumpkin Hummus
Not every recipe using canned pumpkin needs to be sweet.
Use this recipe using pumpkin puree to make some savory hummus as well.
The sweet pumpkin will add an interesting flavor to the zesty lemon and tahini.
6. Pumpkin Banana Smoothie
Are you looking for a filling smoothie to start your day? You can’t go wrong with this pumpkin banana smoothie.
The banana and pumpkin have vital nutrients and arguably some health benefits that will get your day started on a positive note.
Add a dollop of peanut butter for extra richness or more honey or maple syrup if your bananas are a little underripe and it’s not sweet enough.
This is a great recipe for using up your leftover pumpkin puree, too.
7. Pumpkin Donuts
While I admit I’m hungry right now, these plump, pretty donuts will make a splendid addition to your Thanksgiving table.
Or for brunch the next day when your company comes back to eat on the leftovers.
These are baked “cake” donuts, not the yeasty rising kind, so they don’t need to be deep fried.
The cinnamon is a delicious addition of traditional fall flavor, while the maple glaze will give you some extra sweet dreams.
8. Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
“A super soft spiced sheet cake” is what the authors are calling this one. Not sure “bars” is the right word, since that gives an idea of a stiffer baked good that’s less moist.
These look so good, almost like a cream cheese-iced pumpkin brownie, if that’s a thing.
Nutmeg and cinnamon are the heroes here. I’d add a dash of cloves and ginger (as I would to literally every sweet pumpkin flavored thing, honestly).
I imagine that this is quite an easy homemade pumpkin dessert to whip up on a school night too.
9. Pumpkin Pasta Shells With Spinach And Walnuts
Sometimes the traditional red and white sauces for pasta can get boring.
Ever thought of adding a little pumpkin instead? Try this healthy pumpkin pasta to add an exciting twist to your noodles.
Combining it with spinach and walnuts makes a great vegetarian starter for any meal.
🎃 🥧 Check Out 25 Pumpkin Desserts At Their Finest 🥧 🎃
10. Pumpkin Donut Holes
Unlike the donuts mentioned above, these donut holes bake into a lovely bite-size treat.
They’ll remind you of the delicious “cake” donut holes sold at many donut shops.
You can use this recipe to make muffins or pumpkin scones, too.
11. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
I used to be such a purest. Chocolate chip cookies are supposed to just have chocolate chips and nothing else.
Then I started adding walnuts and those are my go-to. And now chocolate chips elevate every good thing into something better, I’m convinced.
So banana muffins? Yes, they need chips. Pumpkin cookies? Give them chocolate chips!
If you love chocolate chips and pumpkin, combine them and enjoy one of the easiest pumpkin desserts out there!
These report a chewy, not a cakey cookie. And no egg needed. It’s a Christmas miracle!
This recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies has everything you love about these classic cookies with the added pumpkin spice you didn’t know you were missing.
12. Thai Coconut Pumpkin Soup
I love Thai food. I so rarely make a real Thai dish because it often has an ingredient list a mile long, none of which I can get at the local grocery store.
So when I want to indulge I just order in. But I also know that I can throw together some onion, garlic, curry, coconut milk, and canned pumpkin with the best of ‘em.
I’d top my bowl with a skosh of fresh minced ginger and a squeeze of lemongrass paste and be so satisfied with this soup!
The eye-popping soup pics over at Just A Taste got me feeling in a soup mood, so I’ll be making this one soon.
You can make it traditionally with chicken stock or sub it out for a vegetarian alternative.
No one will question if you know what to do with canned pumpkin when you make this Thai pumpkin soup.
13. Pumpkin Baked Spiral Pasta
If the previous pumpkin pasta recipe didn’t ignite your taste buds, this one will.
As is, over at elavegan.com, they’re saying this is a vegan recipe.
The slow-baked pumpkin pasta has a delicious creamy sauce and is completely dairy, oil, and gluten-free.
This stuff looks like the cheesiest mac n cheese spirals ever, so I guess the rich gold pumpkin is enchanting us to believe.
14. Homemade Pumpkin Ravioli With Garlic Brown Butter
Another option for pumpkin-based pasta is this popular pumpkin ravioli. This classic ravioli bursts with pumpkin puree stuffing.
And we’re rolling out the brown butter again because it’s got such depth of flavor.
I Am Homesteader gives great steps to making your own ravs, using a ravioli maker. You won’t get this meal done as fast as pulling out a frozen bag of raviolis, but if you’re cooking to impress, this is the way to make the pumpkin flavor shine.
Just like store-bought, you can make these and freeze them for up to six months, so triple a batch so you can enjoy them faster next time.
Cut the brown butter sauce if desired with some good quality olive oil on top.
🥫🥫 So Much Pumpkin, So Little Time! 25 Savory Must-Try Pumpkin Recipes 🎃 🎃
15. Pumpkin Cream Cheese French Toast
French toast and cinnamon are already friends.
Adding a pumpkin mixture only makes sense since it also combines well with cinnamon.
If you love french toast then you’ll enjoy this innovative twist on the classic dish. Oo and they are round! How did they do that? Fun.
Add fresh fruit as a sidecar, or your favorite bacon or sausage.
16. Pumpkin Casserole
If you’re looking for a pumpkin side dish that would add to or become one of the best fall dinner ideas that can easily feed a whole family, look no further.
Think 9×13 low-carb, flavorful casserole heaven, too. A nice replacement for, say, that Jiffy corn casserole that shows up every holiday. (No offense, Jiffy, I’m a huge fan, but that stuff could be dessert. It’s so rich.)
Low Carb Yum shares how to cook, cut and prep a fresh pumpkin for this recipe, but you can use canned too.
Out of the oven, it’s not particularly beautiful, but it’s a simple mix of eggs, parmesan, heavy cream, this fresh or can pumpkin, and she uses a remarkable amount of dried rosemary on top, with sage and thyme.
I bet this smells AMAZING while it bakes.
This savory pumpkin casserole can easily fill a sheet pan and is a great way to introduce people to vegetarian (NOT vegan, like even slightly not at all vegan), yet keto-friendly cuisine.
17. Pumpkin Breakfast Casserole
If you’re looking for a meatless morning pumpkin sweet treat then you should try this pumpkin breakfast casserole. I mean, they describe it thus:
Think of this Pumpkin Breakfast Casserole as the love child of pumpkin pie and french toast.”
Weird visual, and yet when I saw the photo, I was kind of like okay, let’s have some of THIS. As a card-carrying FIEND for french toast, I’m checking this off my to-make list PRONTO.
They’re saying when done properly, it tastes a lot like bread pudding. Also good, all good.
As my daughter once told me, she’s not a huge fan of “wet bread” but I am all about it.
Let’s get cooking with canned pumpkin so I can add this to my list of favorite pumpkin recipes A-SAP.
18. Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Bake
Another delicious way to make a pumpkin breakfast happen in your life any time of year is some tasty pumpkin oatmeal…baked into a cake.
It’s not the classic bowl of goo that oatmeal usually is, but a delicious cake instead. The pumpkin adds a much-needed element to the dish.
The recipe touts this as being great for toddlers who aren’t using a spoon yet, but let’s just call it finger food, then call it good, with some hot tea.
19. Bacon Pumpkin Mock Souffle
For the love of bacon, I present to you this mock souffle recipe.
If you want a delicious pumpkin dish that’s marked as grain-free too, then try this one.
Don’t be confused by the souffle part though, this is one of those savory pumpkin recipes that is better served as dinner than a dessert.
20. Sweet Potato Pumpkin Casserole
This recipe has all the advantages of the pumpkin casserole I mentioned earlier with the added flavors of sweet potato.
It was only a few years ago when I had sweet potato casserole with the brown sugar and pecans rather than the super sweet version with marshmallows.
I’ve been in love with it ever since, honestly, and I will take this side dish slash dessert in any form, as long as it’s using nuts in or on top.
Foodtastic Mom’s tips include microwaving the sweet potatoes, or even using canned. (We like the air fryer for roasting our potatoes. You don’t heat up your whole house and you still get that beautiful golden crisp skin. We are such evangelists about air fryers, we are almost always giving them away.)
The sweet potato and pumpkin together will make this dish even more dense. Yum. I’m here for it.
21. Chicken Pumpkin Bake
While pumpkin is an excellent ingredient for vegetarian and vegan meals, it also pairs well with meat.
This recipe has a long dry ingredients list, but she’s using real food, lots of good spices, and a TON of canned pumpkin.
It looks like a baked casserole and Reluctant Entertainer is calling it a souffle, but she had me at herbed cream sauce.
This chicken and pumpkin blend looks like a hearty dinner for any meat lover and will give you a nice serving of veggies at the same time.
22. Vegan Pumpkin Risotto
If you love risotto, then you need to try this twist on the classic dish. I love how people say “don’t let risotto intimidate you” but it does require a lot of attention.
The pumpkin here makes for an even thicker and creamier sauce, and I can get behind thick and creamy sauce.
I admit I’ve never really been a huge fan of risotto, comfort food or not. I eat it when it’s offered to me, and the flavors are always fine, but it just sits heavy for me. This recipe is one I thought you might like because it is gorgeous.
The presentation is stunning, and I bet it is good…for risotto. So if you make this one, let me know what you think. Should I make it and give risotto another chance?
Try adding some chili flakes to make it spicy.
23. Pumpkin Flatbread
Wow, the pictures of the dough are just such a nice pale orange.
They bake up to layers of flavor, flatter than I was thinking before I read through. Flatbread for me is almost like a thin crust pizza, but these are rolled into almost tortilla-thickness.
She tells us to use pressed garlic (and I’d say use garlic powder in a pinch) instead of minced. And don’t use pumpkin pie filling, just the unsweetened puree.
Garlic and sugar are not two foods that mix, I’d say.
It also pairs well with Indian food, like curries and butter chicken, but I could see this flatbread, warm and fragrant alongside EVerything.
Why not use your canned pumpkin to make a pumpkin flatbread, perfect for dipping in soup or making a sandwich.
24. Brown Butter Pumpkin Galette With Caramelized Onions, Goat Cheese & Sage
Galette looks a lot like an oven-baked pumpkin pizza with bumpers but this one is cradling some of our favorite ingredients.
This pumpkin galette includes goat cheese and sage to add some character to the pumpkin spread.
I pored over every word and this home chef is on point: basics for Thanksgiving dinner but get creative for the appetizer table.
I’m adding this galette to my list, especially because I LOVE sage and can never seem to think of using it in everyday recipes.
This recipe calls for making a pâte brisée, but I’m going to throw down and unroll a Pillsbury pie crust, y’all. I mean, come on.
I’m looking at this wondering why I don’t make more galettes. This looks perfect for a side dish when you’re unsure what to make.
25. Easy Pumpkin Bread
Forget cornbread and banana bread. And move over Starbucks.
Pumpkin Bread made from scratch will fill the house with the scent of warm, aromatic spices.
We like the recipe—the post talks about what “double acting” baking powder means and why it’s important to get this batter in the oven immediately.
Will Cook For Smiles lays it down: Use fresh ingredients. Replace your old baking powder and baking soda.
We can get behind this.
What are we always saying? You deserve good food. Yes, your family—your kids, your husband, your neighbors, your neighbors’ plumber’s cousin Frank—all deserve to eat well and be well.
AND SO DO YOU.
And if you’re going to put your time, money and effort into a beautiful, homemade, luscious pumpkin bread, make it as good as it can be.
The bottom line
The thing about pumpkin, as you may know by now, is that on its own, there’s not a lot of flavor to it. Stick a spoon into your canned pumpkin and taste it: Practically flavorless, slightly vegetal, tasting of mushy squash.
AND YET. It’s a blank fiber-rich canvas upon which you shall bestow all of the best fall flavors.
Did I show you well enough that your canned pumpkin is more than a pumpkin pie recipe filling?
Experiment with these recipes to ignite your pumpkin passion.
25 Canned Pumpkin Recipes
Get ideas for what easy pumpkin-perfect dishes you can make—both savory and sweet—with our list of 25 Canned Pumpkin Recipes.
Ingredients
- 5-Minute Pumpkin Soup
- Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
- Pumpkin Butter
- Pumpkin Cookies
- Pumpkin Hummus
- Pumpkin Banana Smoothie
- Pumpkin Donuts
- Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Pumpkin Pasta Shells With Spinach And Walnuts
- Pumpkin Donut Holes
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Thai Coconut Pumpkin Soup
- Pumpkin Baked Spiral Pasta
- Homemade Pumpkin Ravioli With Garlic Brown Butter
- Pumpkin Cream Cheese French Toast
- Pumpkin Casserole
- Pumpkin Breakfast Casserole
- Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Bake
- Bacon Pumpkin Mock Souffle
- Sweet Potato Pumpkin Casserole
- Chicken Pumpkin Bake
- Vegan Pumpkin Risotto
- Pumpkin Flatbread
- Brown Butter Pumpkin Galette With Caramelized Onions, Goat Cheese & Sage
- Easy Pumpkin Bread
Instructions
- Choose one or more options from our list of recipes here!
- Create your new favorite dish.
- Pat yourself on the back for making food at home for you to enjoy!
- Share and comment! Did you make any tweaks so it’s all your own?