How to Cook Pumpkin in Soups, Pies, and Curries

Whether you love pumpkin spice or hate it, it’s easy to forget that pumpkin — as an ingredient, a winter squash variety, a flavor profile — stands on its own. There are so many good dishes to make with winter squash that don’t border on latte, and many of them will make you forget the concept of pumpkin spice even existed (if you even want to). From pies to soups to pasta, pumpkin isn’t just a pie spice companion — you’ll see it’s the true star of fall in these Eater editorial-approved recipes.

Pumpkin Kale Lasagna

Molly Krebs, spices in my DNA

If pumpkin can be too sweet and kale can be too bitter, then pumpkin and kale is the combo that will have even Goldilocks coming back for seconds. I especially like the combination in a lasagna, which is infused with warming spices like nutmeg and cinnamon. The lightly cooked veggies add some liveliness and a little bite to the otherwise soft, cozy pile of pasta and cheese—perfect for a colder night. — Bettina Makalintal, senior reporter

Spicy Peanut Pumpkin Soup

Yewande Komolafe, NYT Cooking

Usually when I make squash-based soups, the squash must first be cut, deseeded, and roasted before adding it to the other soup ingredients. While this results in great, resonant depths of flavor, it’s also time-consuming and a bit messy, especially if you’re a serial composter like me. So Yewande Komolafe’s Spicy Peanut Pumpkin Soup had me off the sixth line of their ingredient list, which calls for a 14-ounce can of pumpkin puree. As someone who had previously only used canned pumpkin for various baked goods and as a dietary supplement for my dog ​​with stomach problems, this struck me as downright brilliant. No, canned pumpkin doesn’t give you the same flavor as a roasted pumpkin — it’s notoriously bland — but combined with the soup’s other ingredients, which include peanut butter, coconut milk, ginger, and garlic, you create a soup that’s the essence of fall comfort cooking . I like to add turmeric, coriander, and a healthy dose of cumin, along with some preserved lemon paste for a bright tart boost. The whole thing takes about 30 minutes from start to finish, making it a truly weekend-friendly meal that I happily return to for weeks to come. — Rebecca Flint Marx, house editor

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Emeril Lagasse

I made this recipe for a Thanksgiving celebration many years ago, and it was such a hit that my family asked for it to be included in the annual family lineup (at some point my desire to experiment pushed it out of the rotation, but maybe it’s time to bring it back this year). The pecans add nice texture to the crust, and the filling is rich and decadent (I find I usually have more filling than my pie crust can handle; I just make a little custard on the side to use it up). — Missy Frederick, City Manager

Pumpkin, black-eyed pea and coconut curry

Meera Sodha, Fresh India

Meera Sodha’s Vegetarian Cookbook, Fresh India, is one of the dog-eared cookbooks I own. You don’t have to be a vegetarian to fall in love with Sodha’s recipes for great vegetable biryani and roasted pumpkin lime rice. In fact, tuber and squash varieties feature so heavily in the book, you’ll forget meat was ever a dinner option, and nowhere is squash more seasonally satisfying than in Sodha’s recipe for Pumpkin, Black-Eyed Pea, and Coconut Curry. It’s filling and warm while doing the linked above Food & Wine The recipe calls for pumpkin (acorn or delicata go great with this dish), I love pumpkin. it’s season – Dayna Evans, staff writer and editor of Eater Philly

Burnt pumpkin pie

Melissa Clark, NYT Cooking

To me, pumpkin pie is pure drama — not in its looks (bright orange, ruffled crust) or its signature flavor, but in how much sorrow my friends and family have caused me for daring to follow the recipe on the back to deviate Libbys can. They can’t stop me whining about the various sacrileges of using butternut squash (even in combination with canned squash—it’s a mix of squash in it) and roasting my own squash (my mom finds that particularly obnoxious). I get complaints that this cake is too “spicy” — meaning it has four times the ginger, more cinnamon, and nutmeg compared to Libby’s. But this version by Melissa Clark substitutes whipped cream for the condensed milk, and I find it a lot easier to cut up a pumpkin than to dig it out of a can. For my co-workers who want their pies bland, boring, and brightly orange, you know what to do. For everyone else, especially those who “don’t get” pumpkin pie: try this one. You don’t even need the brandy. — Rachel P. Kreiter, Editor-in-Chief