5 Pumpkin recipes to shame your #PSL

My favorite dish on Thanksgiving, you may be surprised to learn, is not a locally sourced wild turkey or raw no-bread stuffing; it’s good old pumpkin pie. And more than likely, it’s not made with the freshest of pumpkins plucked from the patch. This delicious Thanksgiving treat is typically prepared using the canned (gasp) pumpkin puree you find at the local grocery store. So not locavorian of me. Did you know, though, that pumpkin puree- canned or not- is quite healthy and can be used in lots of recipes?

Let’s start with the health benefits. Pumpkin puree has about 7 grams of fiber and only about 80 calories a cup. The recommended daily fiber amount for women is 21-25 grams, so one cup of pumpkin gets you a third of the way there. Do you remember learning that eating carrots are good for your eyes? Your mom wasn’t lying. That would be from all that Vitamin A found in both carrots and pumpkins at fairly high levels. A decent amount of iron is also a characteristic of the pumpkin, making it a well–rounded member of the squash family - goofy pun intended.

While I’m not encouraging you to eat a pumpkin pie each day and claim it’s healthy, there are tons of other recipes you can easily make with the canned goodness. Here are five to get you started:

Pumpkin Spice Dip

You’ll find a few versions of this on the interwebs, but if you want to keep it healthy and simple, mix one can of puree with a few cups of low fat Greek yogurt, then add cinnamon or nutmeg. Sweeten with brown sugar and pair with fancy crackers. If you’re not a yogurt person, check out this alternative recipe made with chickpeas and almond butter.

Pumpkin Soup

For any pumpkin soup recipe you desire, two cups of fresh pumpkin can be replaced with one can of puree. For a great Thai version, Food Babe has a 30 minute recipe that looks amazing.

Smoothies

Yup. You can add pumpkin puree to create an autumn breakfast treat. There are more recipes for this than you’d expect. So I’ll let you find your favorite on Pinterest here. 

Pumpkin Breakfast Parfait

Tired of the same old fruit on your yogurt in the morning? Add a scoop of pumpkin puree and top with drizzle of maple syrup and pumpkin seeds. If you’re feeling dangerous, spice up those seeds with some paprika or chili pepper for a kick.

Pancakes

Just add that puree right into the batter along with some cinnamon. Doesn’t get much easier than that!

This post was originally published by The DC Ladies, but has not been updated since 2015. Glad to know the pumpkin spice craze is still alive and well.