Savory Stuffed Pumpkin Recipes – Flavorful Meals for the Cold Days

Savory stuffed pumpkin recipes can be called “comfort food”. A stuffed pumpkin is a simple but eye catching dish and moreover, it is very tasty and healthy. Bright, having absorbed the hot summer sun and golden colors of autumn, a symbol of health, prosperity and goodness, the modest pumpkin is truly, a superfood!

If you have never tried a recipe for stuffed pumpkin, the result will definitely exceed your expectations! Pumpkins can be cooked in a hundred different ways. Among them are recipes for baked, fried, stewed and even boiled pumpkin. The most valuable quality of pumpkin is that it can be combined with many products. It makes meat and poultry soft and juicy, cereal dishes with pumpkin amaze with their aroma and sweetness, and pumpkin desserts are incredibly delicious!

There are many delicious recipes based on stuffed vegetables. Potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, eggplants, peppers go perfectly with different fillings. Pumpkin has also joined this list. It is easy to cook stuffed pumpkin, and the dish turns out to be twice as tasty and original. After all, the filling will be prepared inside the vegetable, saturated with natural juices and aromas mixed with spices.

How to cook a whole stuffed pumpkin – tips and tricks

When you want to cook a truly delicious, juicy and aromatic pumpkin dish in the oven, you need to know some culinary tricks – for example, how to choose a pumpkin for the planned dish. Bright, orange pumpkins with juicy sweet flesh are perfect for sweet dishes. But for savory ones, it is best to choose a variety that does not have a very pronounced sweetness. When choosing a pumpkin, be sure to pay attention to the peel, it should be dense, without spots and damage.

How to stuff a pumpkin?

Pumpkin goes well with a variety of spices and seasonings. If you are going to bake a pumpkin dish with meat or poultry, sage and mint, cumin, coriander and black pepper will be your helpers. A small amount of herbs and vegetables will add more flavor to your pumpkin dishes.

How to fill the pumpkin? Inside the pumpkin, various products are stewed like in a pot. Such dishes are very rich and delicious and we have selected super tasty stuffed pumpkin recipes to choose from. For the stuffing you can use beef, lamb or poultry meat, minced or cut into pieces, rice, quinoa, couscous, etc. The pumpkin is cleaned from the seeds, stuffed and sent to the oven. The result is a simply delicious dish! The filling in a pumpkin “pot”, covered with a “lid” on top, turns out to be incredibly tasty, and the pulp, which has absorbed all the aromas of the filling, is spicy and tender.

How long to bake a whole stuffed pumpkin in the oven? The time depends on the size of the pumpkin and its filling. On average, cooking takes from 30-40 minutes to an hour for a medium sized pumpkin (1 kg/2 pounds). If the stuffing is already cooked or semi-cooked, the baking time rarely takes more than an hour. However, in case the pumpkin is bigger and stuffed with raw meat, cooking time will be longer.

Whole Stuffed Roasted Pumpkin Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 (10- to 12-lb/4,5-5kg) Long Island Cheese pumpkin
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 4 pork Italian sausages (12 oz.)
• 12 ounces/340g mushrooms, quartered
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 large red onion, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 2 1/2 cups unsalted chicken stock
• 1 3/4 cups frozen black-eyed peas
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup uncooked farro
• 1/2 pound/220 g baby red potatoes, quartered
• 2 large carrots, cut into thick slices
• 1 (28-oz./790g) can unsalted whole tomatoes
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Instructions:

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add sausages; cook until browned on all sides. Remove to a large plate. When cool enough to handle, cut into slices.

Increase heat to medium-high and add 1 tablespoon olive oil to pan. Add mushrooms and sauté for 7-10 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to plate with sausage.

Add butter and remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan. Add garlic, celery, and onion, cook 5 minutes. Add cardamom and stir. Add stock, peas, and salt; simmer 10 minutes. Add farro, potatoes, and carrots; simmer 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F/175C.

While stew mixture simmers, cut out top of pumpkin, and reserve, then remove strings and seeds. Wrap pumpkin in foil and place in a large roasting pan or baking dish.

Drain tomatoes in a colander over a bowl. Break up tomatoes with hands, allowing juices to drain. Stir tomatoes, mushrooms, sausage, and parsley into the stew. Ladle the stuffing into the pumpkin. Place pumpkin top next to pumpkin on the baking sheet. Bake at 350°F/175C. for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until pumpkin flesh is tender and easily scooped from the sides.

Rice and feta cheese stuffed pumpkin recipe

Ingredients:

• 4,5lb/2kg butternut pumpkin, halved lengthways
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup brown rice
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp finely chopped rosemary
• Pinch of ground cinnamon
• 14oz/400g can lentils, rinsed, drained
• 3,5oz/100g fetta, crumbled
• 10oz/300g baby spinach leaves, chopped
• Tomato chutney, to serve

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375°F/190°C. Place the pumpkin halves, cut-side up, on a baking tray. Brush the cut side with half the oil. Roast for 1 1/4 hours or until just tender. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, arrange the walnuts on a baking tray and roast with the pumpkin for 3-5 minutes or until toasted. Set aside to cool. Coarsely chop.

While the pumpkin is cooking, cook the rice in a saucepan of boiling water until tender. Drain well.

Heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds. Stir in the rosemary and cinnamon.

Place the rice, onion mixture, lentils, fetta, baby spinach and walnut in a large bowl and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

Use a spoon to remove pumpkin seeds and membrane and discard. Scoop out flesh, leaving a 0,8-inch/2cm-thick shell.

Divide rice mixture among pumpkin shells and press down firmly. Carefully place the pumpkin shells together and tie with kitchen string to secure.

Place on a baking tray and roast for 45 minutes or until heated through. Transfer to a serving platter.

Cut into slices and serve with tomato chutney.

Ground Beef Stuffed Squash Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pound/500 g ground beef
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 4 mushrooms, chopped
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• cayenne pepper
• salt
• pepper
• 5 ounces/140g of parmesan, grated

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F/200 degrees C.

Cut the butternut squash into halves and remove its seeds with a spoon.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper and lay the butternut squash halves on it. Roast for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet. Add the ground beef and cook it until brown, stirring often.

Add the onion, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook until the onion softens.

Add the tomato, bell pepper, dried thyme, oregano, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Stir and cook further for about 15 minutes, on low-medium heat.

Remove the roasted butternut squash from the oven and scoop out some more of its flesh, to make room for the stuffing.

Stuff the butternut squash halves with the beef mixture and top with grated parmesan.

Return to the oven and cook for 10 more minutes.

Quinoa Risotto Stuffed Pumpkins

Ingredients:

• 3 small pumpkins
• 2 tsp olive oil
• For quinoa risotto:
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• ½ red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1/3 cup white wine
• 1 and 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup cooked chickpeas

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.

Wash the pumpkins, cut off the top and scrape out all the seeds.

Lightly brush the inside with olive oil, replace the tops on each pumpkin and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until tender.

In a large skillet, heat one tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and slightly caramelized. Add the red bell pepper and garlic and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the quinoa and cook about 1 minute.

Pour in the white wine and stir constantly until fully absorbed. Pour in the vegetable broth and salt. Cook uncovered for about 20 minutes until the quinoa is cooked. Stir in the cooked chickpeas. Cover to keep warm while the pumpkins are roasting.

When the pumpkins are tender, remove from the oven and fill each pumpkin with the quinoa risotto.

Top with fresh parsley or your favorite herbs and cover with the pumpkins tops.

Spinach Stuffed Butternut Squash

Ingredients:

• 2 butternut squash, halved
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 cup boiling water
• For the filling:
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 750 g (1½lbs) baby spinach, washed
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup cream
• salt and pepper, to taste
• ½ cup mozzarella cheese, grated
• 4 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.

Place the halved butternut squash into a deep roasting pan then season with the salt.

Pour the boiling water into the pan and cover with foil.

Place in the oven and roast for 30-45 minutes until soft. Once roasted, scoop out the seeds and some of the flesh. Set aside.

While the butternut is roasting, prepare the spinach. Saute the onion and garlic in 2 tsp of olive oil until soft and translucent.

Add the spinach and cook until wilted then add the flour and stir into the spinach. Pour in the milk and stir until the sauce is smooth then add the cream. Allow to simmer for 7-10 minutes or until the sauce is thick and smooth. Season to taste and remove from the heat. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before adding the mozzarella cheese.

Once the butternut is roasted, spoon the creamy spinach into the hollows of each butternut and top with Parmesan cheese.

Place back in the oven and cook until the tops are golden brown, approximately 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and serve.

Ground Turkey Roasted Mini Pumpkins

Ingredients:

• 4 small sugar pumpkins, about 2 pounds/1kg each
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• Salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 pound/450g ground turkey thigh meat
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 1 cup diced yellow onion
• ½ cup diced celery
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
• 1 stale French baguette, cut into ½”/1cm cubes
• 1½ cups chicken stock
• 1½ cups shredded Gruyère cheese, divided

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400ºF/200ºC.  Slice the top of each pumpkin and remove the seeds.

Rub the inside of the pumpkins with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Place the pumpkins and cut off tops on a baking sheet and roast until the meat is soft, about 35 minutes. Set aside.

In a large pan heat the remaining olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the ground turkey and sauté, stirring occasionally and breaking up any large pieces, until the meat is browned. Season with salt and pepper then remove the turkey to a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Return the pan to medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of the butter. Add the carrots, onion and celery and sauté until tender. Remove to the bowl with the turkey. Add the stale bread and toss to combine.

Lower the oven to 350ºF/175ºC.

Return the pan to medium-low heat, add the remaining butter, add the sage to the pan and cook until the butter is nutty and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Pour the butter over the bread and meat mixture. Pour the stock over top, tossing to combine until all the bread is moistened then add 1 cup of the Gruyère cheese and toss to combine.

Fill the roasted pumpkins with the stuffing mixture. Top each with the remaining Gruyère and bake until the cheese has melted and begins to bubble, about 15 minutes.

Serve immediately.