When the fall season arrives, the desire to make anything and everything with canned pumpkin is big. Here are 44 Recipes to Make with Canned Pumpkin. Bookmark your favorites!
October 26th is National Pumpkin Day! This a day to celebrate all things pumpkin! Lucky for us, pumpkin is delicious when eaten for breakfast, savory meals, desserts and pie. It can be used in so many different ways. Browse through these 44 recipes to make with canned pumpkin to find your favorites to try and click on the recipe titles you’re interested in. Share the pumpkin love on social media today using the hashtags #NationalPumpkinDay, #PumpkinDay and #RecipesForHolidays.
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“I’m no Cinderella, but I know that pumpkins are magical.”
-Unknown
The History of Pumpkins:
The oldest domesticated pumpkin seeds (7000 to 5550 BC) were discovered in the Oaxaca Highlands of Mexico.
Pumpkins were among the first crops grown for human consumption in America. Native Americans showed the Pilgrims how to cook with pumpkin. Traditional pumpkin pie as we know it was not served at the first Thanksgiving. Rather hollowed out pumpkins filled with spiced milk were served instead.
One of the first American pumpkin recipes was published in early 1670. It was a pumpkin side dish similar to sweet potatoes.
In the 17th century, women experimented with ways to cook and serve pumpkin. In Amelia Simmons’s 1796 American Cookery, she published a pumpkin pudding that called for pumpkin, milk, molasses, eggs, ginger, and allspice. By the 1800’s, sweetened pumpkin dishes became popular.
The first Jack-o-Lanterns weren’t made from pumpkins at all. They were made from turnips! A folk tale said that “Stingy Jack” tried to trick the devil into paying for his bar tab. After Jack died, the devil wouldn’t let Jack cross over to the afterlife. Instead, he had to wander the Earth at night, lit by a single coal. He put his coal in a hollowed out turnip, and earned the nickname “Jack of the Lantern.” This Irish tale led to the tradition of carving turnips in Jack’s likeness, to keep him at bay. When Irish immigrants came to America, they used pumpkins instead because they were easier to carve (from BartonHillFarms.com).
Pumpkin pie began becoming associated with Thanksgiving around 1827, when magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale published a novel, Northwood, which listed pumpkin pie as part of the traditional Thanksgiving meal.
Libby’s first pumpkin pie recipe appeared on the back of a Libby’s can, in 1929. The Libby’s pumpkin pie recipe that we know today made with evaporated milk began appearing on the can in the 1950’s. Now there are so many other recipes to make with canned pumpkin!
Nowadays, the United States produces 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkins per year. 80% of those pumpkins are ripe for picking every October. Pumpkin pie is America’s favorite Thanksgiving dessert!
Pumpkin things for breakfast are the absolute best! We make pumpkin breakfast goodies all year long around my house, but pumpkin breakfast in the fall is just perfect.
11 Breakfast Recipes to Make with Canned Pumpkin:
Pumpkin Waffles: These are crispy homemade pumpkin waffles loaded with pumpkin pie spice and drizzled with pure maple syrup.
Pumpkin Spice Latte: A do-it-yourself version of the coffee shop’s famous fall coffee drink!
Pumpkin Pancakes: Why go to a restaurant to order the featured pancakes on their seasonal menu board when you can make them at home? These pumpkin pancakes are delicious.
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls: The pumpkin cinnamon rolls are tender and sweet and cinnamony, and they have the perfect amount of maple icing drizzled on top.
Pumpkin French Toast: This Pumpkin French Toast is a really nice breakfast to make in the fall for a special weekend morning. The bread develops a wonderful, crunchy crust, and it’s wonderful served with warm maple syrup.
Pumpkin Coffee Cake: Pumpkin Coffee Cake with cinnamon streusel topping is the ultimate taste of fall! This recipe is packed with delicious pumpkin flavor and topped with a crunchy, buttery streusel topping.
Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Muffins: These delicious, sweet and tender Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Muffins have a good dose of spice and the amazing addition of cinnamon chips!
Best Pumpkin Bread: This pumpkin bread turns out perfectly moist and tender every time. There are a lot of spices added in to the ingredients in this delicious tasting bread.
Copycat Starbucks Pumpkin Scones: These copycat Starbucks pumpkin scones taste just like the real deal, yet you’ll find that they’re much more tender and delicious than those you buy at the coffee shop.
Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts: These baked pumpkin doughnuts are a lighter version of classic doughnuts with great pumpkin flavor for a crisp fall morning!
Pumpkin Coffee Cake Muffins: These sweet pumpkin muffins have a pecan crumble topping. They’re a great muffin to make during the fall pumpkin season!
When making recipes using canned pumpkin, savory doesn’t usually come to mind. But pumpkin can add great texture and flavor to savory dishes too. So don’t count it out!
11 Savory Recipes to Make Using Canned Pumpkin:
Pumpkin Soup with Gruyere: In this pumpkin soup, there are fall spices added in, and a hint of citrus too. The homemade croutons and Gruyére cheese are perfect garnishes on top.
Pumpkin Alfredo Pasta: This Pumpkin Alfredo is creamy, rich and delicious, and without all the calories and fat of a regular Alfredo sauce. It’s an easy weeknight dish!
Thai Pumpkin Chicken Satay: These are Thai chicken skewers served with a delicious pumpkin- peanut butter dipping sauce.
Turkey Pumpkin Chili: This turkey pumpkin chili is an excellent light and healthy fall chili recipe!
Mushroom and Pumpkin Risotto: One of the great ways to use canned pumpkin is to add it to a risotto. This Mushroom And Pumpkin Risotto is easy and delicious one pan dinner recipe with flavors of fall.
Pumpkin Biscuits: In these pumpkin biscuits, the pumpkin just adds to the texture to keep them nice and tender. There is no cinnamon or sugar or anything like that added to these biscuits. They’re as flaky and buttery as a classic biscuit.
Creamy Pumpkin Pasta: Pumpkin adds to the sauce to create a smooth texture with added Italian sausage in this creamy pumpkin pasta recipe.
Pumpkin Ravioli: Homemade Pumpkin Ravioli with Garlic Brown Butter is homemade ravioli stuffed with a pumpkin-flavored filling and topped with a brown butter sauce.
Pumpkin Scalloped Potatoes: These are a delightful dish of yams and Yukon Gold potatoes three-stories-high, layered with pumpkin cream and cheese.
Thai Pumpkin Chicken Curry: This is a super creamy curry, double packed with veggies thanks to the addition of pumpkin!
Pumpkin Cornbread: This Pumpkin Cornbread is terrific served with a little honey butter, and it’s really great dunked into chili too.
When the fall season rolls around, most people get the urge to make all the pumpkin things using canned pumpkin. Pumpkin desserts are the best!
11 Dessert Recipes to Make with Canned Pumpkin:
Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars: Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars are the perfect fall dessert! With layers of streusel, cheesecake filling and a swirl of pumpkin, they’re gorgeous and so delicious!
Pumpkin White Chocolate Cookies: Pumpkin White Chocolate Cookies are a delicious fall cookie recipe. They’re perfect for fall baking!
Pumpkin Cake with Maple Frosting: Pumpkin Cake with Maple Frosting is the perfect fall dessert; light and fluffy with a soft and creamy maple cream cheese frosting!
Pumpkin Cheesecake: This pumpkin cheesecake recipe turns out a very creamy and delicious dessert. The gingersnap crust is the perfect pairing with the creamy pumpkin filling.
Pumpkin Dump Cake: Pumpkin Dump Cake is the trifecta of pumpkin desserts; cake, pumpkin pie, and cobbler all in one! Full of Fall flavors with layers of creamy pumpkin, golden cake, and crunchy pecans.
Pumpkin Fudge: This is the perfect, creamy pumpkin sweet treat!
Pumpkin Bread Pudding: This is the best fall-flavored bread pudding recipe, and it’s made even better topped with a bourbon cream sauce.
Pumpkin Gooey Butter Bars: This is a very popular recipe, and these bars turn out like little miniature versions of pumpkin pie!
Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream: This Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream recipe turns out a very creamy, pumpkin-flavored base with great pumpkin pie flavors.
Mocha Pumpkin Brownies: These brownies are creamy and delicious and mimic your favorite Pumpkin Spiced Latte.
Pumpkin Snickerdoodles: These are absolutely the best pumpkin cookies, and it’s a bonus if you happen to be a lover of classic snickerdoodles too.
Pumpkin pie can be made so many different ways. The possibilities are endless! I’ve collected 11 of the best pumpkin pie recipes. All of them are made using canned pumpkin. Time to bake a pie!
11 Best Pumpkin Pie Recipes:
Classic Pumpkin Pie: If you’re looking for the best Classic Pumpkin Pie recipe to bake, this is your pie!
Bourbon Pumpkin Pie: It may look like a traditional pumpkin pie, but there’s a nice splash of bourbon in there. If you like bourbon and pumpkin pie, you’ll love this pie!
Crustless Pumpkin Pie: This Crustless Pumpkin Pie is so satisfying and silky smooth that you won’t miss the crust at all! It’s gluten free and refined sugar free too.
Dulce de Leche Pumpkin Toffee Pie: This is a delicious, rich pumpkin pie recipe!
Fireball Whiskey Pumpkin Pie: Combining traditional pumpkin pie with Fireball’s cinnamon whiskey not only adds a bit of a kick, but also add a wonderful flavor.
No Bake Double Layer Pumpkin Pie: This No Bake Double Layer Pumpkin Pie has an easy-to-make, delicious pumpkin layer with a second, creamy layer surprise hiding underneath.
Praline Pumpkin Pie: With this pie, you get sweet and crunchy pecans and thick, smooth pumpkin pie all in one bite!
Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie: This pie is a combination of a classic pumpkin pie with silky creaminess of a cheesecake.
Pumpkin Slab Pie: This pumpkin pie is great because you can just cut it into squares to serve. The filling isn’t quite as thick as a regular pie, so you’re just getting a taste of pumpkin pie without it being overwhelming. It’s a fun way to make a giant pie!
Salted Caramel Pumpkin Pie: Salted caramel sauce is the secret ingredient that makes this pumpkin pie so amazing.
Pumpkin Fluff Pie: This is a pumpkin cream pie with a graham cracker crust and a Cinnamon Toast Crush twist!
Fun Facts about Pumpkins:
- Pumpkins are actually a fruit, and they’re a winter squash.
- There are 45 varieties of pumpkin.
- Every part of a pumpkin is edible.
- Each pumpkin contains 500 seeds.
- Illinois is the state that grows the most pumpkins.
- The current record for the World’s Heaviest Pumpkin is 2,624 lbs. That’s the weight of a 1971 Ford Maverick! This gigantic gourd was grown by Belgian Mathias Willemijns in 2016.
- Circleville, Ohio has held the Circleville Pumpkin Festival (Pumpkin Show) annually since 1903.
- Trevor Hunt holds the Guinness World Record for most pumpkins carved in an hour. He carved 109 pumpkins in 60 minutes, or just 33 seconds per pumpkin.