What types of pumpkins can you cook with? (2024)

FAQs

What types of pumpkins can you cook with? ›

For cooking, you'll want to use sugar pumpkins (also called pie or sweet pumpkins), which are small and round. Long Island Cheese pumpkins, which are more oblong and can look like a wheel of cheese, are also good to eat.

The best type of pumpkin for cooking and baking

Instead, I recommend using a pie pumpkin or sugar pumpkin (pictured above). During the fall and winter seasons, most stores will have them available. Try to pick pumpkins between 3-6 pounds — that's usually when the flesh is best.

While all pumpkins are edible, some are great as food, and some are better suited for other purposes. The jack-o'-lantern pumpkin is a great example.

You can absolutely cook pumpkin the way you would cook any other winter squash. The varieties that are bred primarily for decorative use and Jack-o-lanterns may not be quite as flavorful or might be a bit stringier than pumpkins bred specifically for pies and other culinary uses but they are all edible.

Cut the pumpkin in half to make it easier to scoop out the seeds and scrape away the stringy mass. Cut the pumpkin into chunks. Cook until soft in boiling water, in steam, in a pressure cooker, in a microwave or in an oven. Check for doneness by poking with a fork.

Acorn squash are smaller and dark green with orange-yellow flesh and a sweet flavour. Ideal for mashing or stuffing. Crown prince squashes are large pumpkins with bluish-grey skins and orange flesh. They have a firm texture and nutty taste.

You sure can! Halloween pumpkins are just really big squash. While they may not be as sweet as a muscat or sugar pumpkin, they're perfectly edible and I cook mine every year and use it to make homemade pumpkin purée, which I use in all kinds of recipes.

There are plenty of great pumpkin recipes out there. Using the scraps left over from carving jack-o'-lanterns is a fun way to reduce food waste and increase your consumption of a healthy fall vegetable.

Most dishes can be made with fresh, frozen or canned pumpkin. Pumpkin is tasty in casseroles, soups, as a filling in dumplings or perogies, in breads, muffins, pies and other baked goods.

Ornamental gourds and hybrid garden squash should not be eaten. Some cucurbits are toxic and contain cucurbitacins, substances that are highly irritating and bitter.

What is the difference between a decorative pumpkin and a cooking pumpkin? ›

These decorating pumpkins are stringy, coarse and not as “meaty” as other varieties. Pie pumpkins are thicker, meatier (making them difficult to carve) and offer more pulp for pureeing. Make sure as you prepare the puree, the pulp does not sit out for more than two hours, so it is not in that danger zone.

At the same time, they ask “Are all varieties of pumpkins edible?” The plain and simple truth is – – Yes, all varieties of pumpkins are edible. Of course, pumpkin seeds are edible, too. Both pumpkin flesh(pulp, or meat) and seeds taste good and are healthy and nutritious.

Now, you actually can cook with any kind of fresh pumpkin. But starting out with a pie pumpkin, or sugar pumpkin is going to help you end up with more pumpkin from less work. Pie pumpkins are smaller, often a little squatty-er in shape, and if you are fortunate, labeled as a baking, pie, or sugar pumpkin.

For cooking, you'll want to use sugar pumpkins (also called pie or sweet pumpkins), which are small and round. Long Island Cheese pumpkins, which are more oblong and can look like a wheel of cheese, are also good to eat. Field pumpkin types are larger, have watery, stringy flesh, and are best for decorating.

Decorative pumpkins are grown for their appearance and the ease with which they can be carved while cooking pumpkins are grown for the flesh on the inside. As a result, cooking pumpkins will often feel heavier than they appear. The hefty weight is a telltale sign that they have much to offer your dinner plate.

We like butternut pumpkins best when they're roasted, but this hardy oblong variety is one of the most versatile options in the pumpkin aisle. Butternuts are a little sweeter, dryer and can be turned into soups, roasted with cinnamon or put to use in most cooked pumpkin dishes.

Pick a pumpkin with firm, hard skin all over. Bruised, soft skin my lead to rotting. Visual imperfections are usually fine so long as the skin is firm, as pumpkin skin is hard and protects the flesh. The stem should still be attached and feel firm and dry.

Jack O Lantern pumpkins, which is lighter than baking pumpkins and also can be baked and turned into a pumpkin pie or desert.

“Pumpkin soup is best made with your good, old-fashioned varieties like butternut or Queensland blue — the harder pumpkins,” she says. “Soft fleshed pumpkins can make the soup a little watery. They are a different beast… from your standard greengrocer pumpkin.”

Choosing the Perfect Pumpkin

If you're looking for a cooking pumpkin, it's best to select a pie pumpkin, also called sugar or sweet pumpkins.

Can you cook with white or green pumpkins? ›

Tips on Eating Green Pumpkins

To be sure they are usable, cut one open. If the flesh is orange, it will be almost as nice as a ripe fruit. Even green flesh can be used in soups and stews-- just make sure to spice it up. Flavors like Indian and Szechuan can go a long way to embellishing the green fruit.

Large pumpkins that we traditionally think of as jack-o-lanterns aren't ideal for pie as they are very stringy and have a lot of seeds. There really isn't very much “meat” to the larger pumpkins. Sugar pumpkins, also known as pie pumpkins, are sweeter. They are also pretty small.

Dickinson pumpkins, also known as Dickinson squash, are the pumpkins used to make the majority of canned pumpkin we eat today. But Dickinson pumpkins are tan pumpkins with uniform, smooth skin that are much larger than the average field pumpkin. They're also sometimes called squash, not pumpkins.