One tin of pumpkin purée goes a surprisingly long way. It is cheap, it keeps in the cupboard all year, and it turns up in far more than pie once you start looking.
This is 23 pumpkin recipes from our archive, running from the obvious to the less obvious. There are loaves and muffins, three different pies, cheesecakes and cobbler, no-bake bites that need no oven at all, and a proper run of savoury dishes, polenta, enchiladas, meatballs in a pumpkin sage sauce, and a whipped feta dip that tends to disappear first.
Times run from fifteen minutes to a long afternoon, and nearly half of them are ready inside an hour. Every one links through to the full recipe.
Our Top Picks at a Glance
- Best overall: Pumpkin Bread Recipe – eleven ingredients, three steps, and the smell alone justifies it.
- Fastest: No Bake Pumpkin Balls Recipe – fifteen minutes, eight ingredients, no oven involved.
- Best for a party: Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes Recipe – twelve individual cheesecakes at 180 calories each, no slicing.
- Best savoury: Turkey Meatballs in Pumpkin Sage Sauce Recipe – pumpkin as a cream sauce rather than a dessert, and it serves six.
- Best for a crowd: Pumpkin Pie Recipe – the classic with a caramel pecan top, serving twelve.
Working With Pumpkin
- Buy pure purée, not pie filling. Pie filling is already sweetened and spiced, which will throw off every recipe here. The label should list pumpkin and nothing else.
- Blot it if it looks wet. Tinned purée varies between brands. Pressing it briefly between kitchen paper stops loaves and bars turning dense and soggy.
- Make your own spice mix. Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves in roughly a 4:1:1:1 ratio replaces shop-bought pumpkin pie spice, and you almost certainly own all four already.
- Do not overmix the batters. Pumpkin batters are wet, and the temptation is to beat them smooth. Stop as soon as the flour disappears or the crumb tightens up.
- Leftover purée freezes. Most recipes use part of a tin. Freeze the rest in ice cube trays and drop it straight into the next loaf or a bowl of porridge.
23 Easy Pumpkin Recipes
1. Pumpkin Bread Recipe
The one to start with, and the reason most tins of pumpkin get opened in the first place. Eleven ingredients, three steps, and a spice mix of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves that makes the whole house smell like October. Ninety minutes, most of it in the oven.
Key ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, ground cloves, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg
💡 Cook’s tip: Pure pumpkin – provides moisture, flavor, and that beautiful pumpkin color.
Total time: 90 min | Ingredients: 11
2. Brown Sugar Pumpkin Loaf Recipe
A richer loaf than the plain version, finished with a brown sugar icing poured over the top while it is still slightly warm. Seventeen ingredients and 450 calories a slice, so it sits closer to cake than breakfast. Serves eight.
Key ingredients: whole wheat pastry flour, unbleached all-purpose flour, ground cinnamon, light brown sugar, vanilla extract, eggs
Total time: 75 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 17 | Calories: 450
3. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Streusel Bread Recipe
Chocolate chips through the batter and a streusel crumb on top, which gives you three textures in one slice. Plant-based milk works as well as dairy here. Seventy minutes, thirteen ingredients, 250 calories a slice.
Key ingredients: all-purpose flour, pumpkin puree, brown sugar, plant-based milk or regular milk, vanilla extract, baking powder
Total time: 70 min | Ingredients: 13 | Calories: 250
4. Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins Recipe
A cream cheese pocket in the middle of each muffin, which is fiddlier than a plain batter but worth the extra bowl. Nineteen ingredients including a full run of warm spices. Thirty-five minutes from start to cooling rack.
Key ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, ground nutmeg
💡 Cook’s tip: All-purpose flour — I prefer spooning it into the measuring cup for accuracy.
Total time: 35 min | Ingredients: 19
5. Pumpkin Pie Recipe
The classic, with a caramel pecan topping that lifts it above the standard version. Nine ingredients and only three steps, though it needs ninety-five minutes and a proper cool before slicing. Serves twelve, which makes it the right size for a full table.
Key ingredients: unbaked 9-inch deep-dish pie crust, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, eggs, canned pumpkin puree
💡 Cook’s tip: Unbaked 9-inch deep-dish pie crust — A homemade crust adds extra flavor but a good-quality store-bought crust works well too.
Total time: 95 min | Serves: 12 | Ingredients: 9
6. Pumpkin Pie with Graham Cracker Crust Recipe
For anyone who finds pastry the intimidating part. A pressed graham cracker base needs no rolling and no blind baking, and buttermilk in the filling adds a tang that cuts the sweetness. Seventy minutes, serves eight.
Key ingredients: graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, buttermilk, eggs, vanilla extract
💡 Cook’s tip: Buttermilk — brings a tangy richness; can substitute with 1% or 2% milk.
Total time: 70 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 18
7. No Bake Pumpkin Pie Recipe
No oven at all: cream cheese, instant vanilla pudding, whipped topping and tinned pumpkin into a shop-bought crust. Ten ingredients, three steps, and the three hours are almost entirely chilling time. Serves eight.
Key ingredients: cream cheese, whipped topping, pre-made graham cracker pie crust, instant vanilla pudding mix, milk, canned pumpkin puree
💡 Cook’s tip: Cream cheese — softened cream cheese blends smoothly and prevents lumps in the filling.
Total time: 190 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 10
8. Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes Recipe
Individual cheesecakes on a buttery graham crust, which solves the slicing problem entirely at a party. Twelve of them at 180 calories each. Two hours forty including chilling, sixteen ingredients.
Key ingredients: graham cracker crumbs, cream cheese, canned pumpkin puree, egg, vanilla extract, pumpkin pie spice
💡 Cook’s tip: Egg — brings the filling together and helps it set during baking.
Total time: 160 min | Serves: 12 | Ingredients: 16 | Calories: 180
9. Pumpkin Pecan Cobbler Recipe
A self-saucing pudding: hot water poured over the batter turns into caramel underneath while a cake layer sets on top. Crunchy pecans finish it. Fifty minutes, serves eight, 318 calories.
Key ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin puree, milk
💡 Cook’s tip: Very hot water — creates the caramel sauce at the bottom while baking.
Total time: 50 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 17 | Calories: 318
10. Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars Recipe
Traybake rather than loaf, which means five steps and forty minutes instead of an hour and a half. Oil as well as butter keeps them soft for days. Twelve ingredients, and the corner pieces go first.
Key ingredients: unsalted butter very soft, mild oil canola or vegetable, brown sugar, egg, vanilla extract, pumpkin pie spice
💡 Cook’s tip: All-purpose flour — provides structure; spoon and level for the best texture.
Total time: 40 min | Ingredients: 12
11. Easy Pumpkin Brownies Recipe
Real melted chocolate rather than cocoa powder, swirled with spiced pumpkin. Twelve ingredients and an hour, and the pumpkin keeps them fudgy rather than cakey. Room-temperature eggs matter more here than usual.
Key ingredients: semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, all-purpose flour, baking powder, eggs at room temperature, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice
💡 Cook’s tip: Butter — helps create a rich fudgy texture; I like using unsalted so I can control the salt.
Total time: 60 min | Ingredients: 12
12. Caramelized Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Caramelising the pumpkin first drives off water and concentrates the flavour, which is the step most pumpkin cookies skip. Eight steps and twelve ingredients for a cookie that actually tastes of pumpkin. Thirty-five minutes.
Key ingredients: Pumpkin purée, Brown sugar, Egg yolk, Vanilla extract, All-purpose flour, Baking soda
💡 Cook’s tip: Unsalted butter — ½ cup softened soft butter creams better with sugar and creates a rich, tender cookie texture.
Total time: 35 min | Ingredients: 12
13. No Bake Pumpkin Balls Recipe
Eight ingredients, three steps, fifteen minutes, no oven. Rolled oats, peanut butter, maple syrup and pumpkin purée rolled into bites that sit somewhere between a snack and a dessert. Keep them in the fridge.
Key ingredients: rolled oats, pumpkin puree, natural peanut butter, pure maple syrup, vanilla extract, pumpkin pie spice
💡 Cook’s tip: Pumpkin pie spice — the star of the show! This blend of cinnamon nutmeg, and cloves brings all the warm fall vibes.
Total time: 15 min | Ingredients: 8
14. No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Balls Recipe
Cheesecake filling rolled in graham crumbs, so you get the flavour without baking or slicing anything. It makes twenty at around 100 calories each, which makes it the obvious choice for a festive tray. Fourteen ingredients.
Key ingredients: cream cheese, canned pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract, powdered sugar, graham cracker crumbs
Total time: 75 min | Serves: 20 | Ingredients: 14 | Calories: 100
15. Pumpkin Spice Waffles with Maple Syrup Recipe
Buttermilk is doing the real work here — the acid reacts with the raising agents and gives a genuinely light waffle rather than a dense one. Twenty ingredients, serves four at 337 calories. Worth it for a weekend breakfast.
Key ingredients: full-fat buttermilk, pumpkin puree, light brown sugar, egg, pure vanilla extract, all-purpose flour
💡 Cook’s tip: Full-fat buttermilk — the acid in buttermilk reacts with the leavening agents to create an incredibly tender and fluffy waffle.
Total time: 150 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 20 | Calories: 337
16. Pumpkin Whipped Feta Dip Recipe
Six ingredients and the only truly savoury-forward starter on this list. Tangy whipped feta against sweet pumpkin, with honey, thyme and toasted walnuts on top. Forty-five minutes, serves six, and it goes with flatbread or crudités.
Key ingredients: Feta cheese, Plain Greek yogurt, Pumpkin puree, Honey, thyme, Raw walnuts
💡 Cook’s tip: Thyme — 1 teaspoon finely chopped. You can use dried thyme if fresh isn’t available, but fresh brightens the dish.
Total time: 45 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 6
17. Pumpkin Beer Pretzels with Chipotle Queso Recipe
Soft pretzels made with pumpkin beer, served with a smoky chipotle queso for dipping. Fifteen ingredients and seven steps, so it is a project rather than a weeknight snack. Best eaten warm, straight from the tray.
Key ingredients: cream cheese room temperature, sharp cheddar cheese, egg, milk, chipotle peppers in adobo, light brown sugar
Total time: 40 min | Ingredients: 15
18. Creamy Pumpkin Polenta Recipe
Ten ingredients and thirty minutes for a side that works under almost any braise or roast. Pumpkin purée stirred into polenta with parmesan, sage and thyme. Serves four, and it is naturally meat-free.
Key ingredients: Polenta, Low-sodium vegetable broth, Pumpkin purée, Milk, Parmesan cheese, sage or thyme
Total time: 30 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 10
19. Turkey Meatballs in Pumpkin Sage Sauce Recipe
Pumpkin as a savoury sauce, which is where most people stop and should not. Sage and cream turn the purée into something that clings to meatballs the way a tomato sauce would. Twenty-seven ingredients, sixty-five minutes, serves six.
Key ingredients: breadcrumbs, milk, onion, garlic cloves, fresh sage, parsley
Total time: 65 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 27 | Calories: 658
20. Pumpkin Spaghetti Squash Boats with Meatballs Recipe
Two autumn squashes in one dish: roasted spaghetti squash halves filled with meatballs in a pumpkin sauce. Twelve ingredients, an hour, and it serves three at 400 calories. Beef or turkey both work for the meatballs.
Key ingredients: spaghetti squash, ground beef or turkey, breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, egg, garlic
Total time: 60 min | Serves: 3 | Ingredients: 12 | Calories: 400
21. Poblano Pumpkin Seed Enchiladas with Black Beans Recipe
Pepitas blended into a creamy green sauce, which is a genuinely different enchilada and happens to be meat-free. Poblano, jalapeño, cumin and smoked paprika carry the heat. Nineteen ingredients, 45 minutes, serves six.
Key ingredients: yellow onion, poblano peppers, jalapeño, garlic cloves, cumin, smoked paprika
Total time: 45 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 19 | Calories: 399
22. Pumpkin Seed Crusted Chicken Tenders with Maple Sriracha Dipping Sauce
Toasted pumpkin seeds and panko make a crust with far more crunch than breadcrumbs alone. The maple sriracha dip is the part people ask about. Twenty-five minutes, fourteen ingredients, 350 calories.
Key ingredients: Chicken Tenders, Pumpkin Seeds Pepitas, Panko Breadcrumbs, Garlic Powder, Paprika, All-Purpose Flour
Total time: 25 min | Ingredients: 14 | Calories: 350
23. Pumpkin Spice Fireball Sangria Recipe
The one for a party rather than a Tuesday. Red wine, brandy, cinnamon whisky, maple syrup and autumn fruit, left to sit for four hours so the flavours settle. Serves six, and it is best made the morning of.
Key ingredients: bottle dry red wine, Fireball Cinnamon Whisky, maple syrup, brandy, oranges, apples cored
💡 Cook’s tip: Maple syrup — natural sweetener; adjust to taste for sweetness balance.
Total time: 255 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 15 | Calories: 250
Almost everything baked here keeps better than you would expect. The loaves and bars are actually better on day two, once the spice has settled and the crumb has firmed up, and both freeze well wrapped tightly for up to three months.
The no-bake recipes and the cheesecakes need fridge time rather than oven time, so they are the ones to make the night before. The savoury dishes reheat without any trouble, though the polenta will need a splash of milk or stock to loosen it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use fresh pumpkin instead of tinned purée?
Yes, but roast it rather than boiling it. Halve a small cooking pumpkin, scoop out the seeds, roast cut-side down at around 200C until soft, then blend the flesh and drain it in a sieve or muslin for an hour. Fresh purée holds much more water than tinned, and skipping the draining step is the usual reason a loaf comes out heavy and damp.
What is the difference between pumpkin purée and pumpkin pie filling?
Purée is just cooked pumpkin. Pie filling has sugar, spices and often thickeners already added, so if you swap it into a recipe that expects purée you will end up with something far too sweet and differently textured. Check the ingredients list rather than the front of the tin, since the names are used loosely.
Can I make pumpkin pie ahead of time?
Yes, and it is usually better for it. Bake it a day ahead, cool it completely at room temperature, then refrigerate it uncovered for an hour before covering loosely – that stops condensation forming on the surface. Take it out about half an hour before serving. The no-bake version on this list has to be made ahead, since it needs at least three hours to set.
Which of these are freezer-friendly?
The loaves, muffins, bars and brownies all freeze well for up to three months, wrapped tightly and defrosted at room temperature. Cheesecakes freeze once set, though the texture softens slightly. Anything with a crisp element – the pretzels, the crusted chicken tenders, the streusel top – is better eaten fresh, since freezing takes the crunch out of it.
Is pumpkin only for sweet recipes?
Not at all, and the savoury half of this list is the more interesting half. Pumpkin purée works as the base of a cream sauce, stirred into polenta or risotto, blended into an enchilada sauce, or whipped through soft cheese for a dip. Its natural sweetness needs something sharp or salty alongside it – feta, parmesan, chilli or smoked paprika all do the job.