Who doesn’t like a delicious pumpkin?
The most beautiful time of the year has come and the aroma of delicious pumpkin spice lattes mingles with cold air and shorter days. Autumn is well-known for its harvest season, falling leaves, and rainy days. Pumpkins have always been the season’s shining star and have been a part of the fall festivities for decades.
And because we’re on a roll with tons of healthy recipes and benefits that we can get from the food that we’re eating, pumpkin doesn’t sit on the sidelines from this topic either. Unlike many other fruits and vegetables, every part of it is edible, and everything tastes delicious (including its seeds and skin).
Let’s have a closer approach to all its nutritional properties and see what tasty recipes we can include in our daily diet.
1. Pumpkin smoothie
We already established that pumpkin is a very versatile fruit, and besides using it to make tasty pies and foamy lattes, you can also use it to make a variety of delicious smoothies. One of my favorite smoothie recipes includes pumpkin, coconut water, and a bit of cinnamon. Let’s see how it’s made:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of steamed pumpkin
- 1 cup of coconut water (I usually prefer it unsweetened)
- 2 tbsp. of butter (it can be almond butter as well)
- 1/4 tsp of cinnamon
- Optional: Maple syrup
Put all the ingredients in a blender and mix them until it’s all smooth and creamy. Enjoy it with several ice cubes in it and some unsweetened whipped cream on top of it!
2. Homemade pumpkin spice latte
Whenever I see commercials for pumpkin spice lattes, I know that Autumn has arrived, and it is time to switch from delicious cold brews to warm and foamy lattes. And even if I am in a hurry in the morning, I always try to make my own spiced latte. Why? Because most Starbucks versions are full of sugar, fat, and a lot of other weird ingredients. You don’t have to worry about time because this awesome recipe I am about to give you takes less than 10 minutes to prepare. Let’s start!
Ingredients:
- milk of your choice (it could be dairy or vegan milk)
- pumpkin puree
- 1 small cup of espresso
- Sweetener of your choice (I usually use stevia)
How to:
Put all your ingredients in a pot or a big bowl, then whisk them together over low heat, and after that, pour the mixture into a mug.
Note: You can also use your microwave to warm up the mixture.
3. Steamed pumpkin
Steamed pumpkin is usually added as a side dish to salmon or grilled chicken breast. But it can also be used in tart recipes. Because it’s so easy to make it, you will be tempted to recreate this meal over and over again. All you need is:
1 cup of steamed, fresh organic pumpkin
1/4 butter
1 tbsp. dried tarragon
A pinch of salt
How to:
Slice the pumpkin into squares measuring 1/2 inch. After thoroughly steaming, add the melted butter and tarragon to the dish. Add a pinch of salt to taste at the very end before serving.
Have you ever tried this recipe before? Tell us in the comments!
4. Pumpkin spice turkey meatballs
Autumn is my favorite season. It’s a time when I can try out as many recipes as possible, most of which are from my family’s traditional cookbook, but I am always eager to discover new things as well. For example, I love how turkey meat and pumpkin go so well together; that’s why I surprised my grandkids for lunch with this recipe, which turned out very well, and everyone was pleased with the results.
Don’t worry about the fact that your dish might be similar to a dessert because the taste of the meatballs is more savory than sweet because the pumpkin itself has a fairly mild, earthy flavor.
Ingredients:
1 pound of ground turkey
1/2 cup of canned pumpkin (if you can find one with no sugar added)
2 tbsp. of coconut flour
2 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 tsp of freshly grated ginger
1 tsp of onion powder
1 tsp. of paprika
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1/2 tsp of dried rosemary
1/4 tsp of dried parsley
1/4 tsp of cinnamon
2 tbsp. of avocado oil
How to:
Preheat your oven at 176 Fahrenheit, while you finely mince the garlic and grate the ginger. In a big bowl, put the ground turkey, the pumpkin, and the coconut flour. Mix all the ingredients with your hands or a heavy wooden spoon. Then add the ginger, garlic, and the remaining herbs until everything is very well combined. Cover the mixture with a towel and refrigerate it for 20 minutes. By doing this, you will make the meat much easier to form into tiny meatballs.
After you remove the mixture from the fridge, round the meat into 12 tbsp.-sized meatballs and fry them in a cast-iron pan with 2 tbsp. of avocado oil (you can safely use olive oil as well). Leave the meatballs for 2 or 3 minutes on each side.
Once they turn to a medium brown color, transfer them to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet before putting them into a big pot and baking them for about 20 minutes. Enjoy this delicious dish while it’s still steamy!
5. Pumpkin soup
If you want to eat something delicious but also don’t have the necessary amount of time to cook, we recommend you try out this amazing pumpkin soup recipe. It’s made with awesome, wholesome, tasty ingredients; it’s veggie-loaded and easily customizable because we will offer you plenty of alternatives for everything.
After a long chilly day, this soup is going to warm up your soul in just a blink of an eye! Believe me, you must try it. To make this dish, you will need:
1 tbsp. of olive oil
1 cup of diced carrots
1/3 cup of diced onion
1/3 cup of thinly sliced celery
1 tbsp. of minced garlic
215 ounces of pumpkin puree (canned)
1 can of vegetable stock (low-salted)
1/2 tsp of pepper
1 tsp of paprika
1/4 tsp of salt
a pinch of cinnamon
¼ tsp of ground ginger
¼ tsp of dried thyme
½ tsp of turmeric
optional: 1 tbsp. of honey
How to:
Heat up the olive oil in a large pot, then slowly add the carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. Stir everything for about 5 minutes until it becomes translucent. Then add the pumpkin puree, vegetable stock, and the herbs. In case you want to add some honey to it, now is the time; then, let everything boil for 15 minutes.
After everything is well cooked, let it cool for half an hour. Use a blender to blend the cooked mixture until smooth. Then it’s ready to be served simply or with heavy cream on top of it.
Now it’s time to eat this delicious soup!
6. Pumpkin muffins
Who doesn’t love some delicious low-sugar muffins for breakfast? If you want to stay healthy while also satisfying your sweet tooth, we have an awesome recipe that is gluten-free because it is made with no flour, and it is ready in less than an hour. You wouldn’t believe how fluffy and light these healthy pumpkin muffins turn out to be!
Ingredients:
2 cups of gluten-free oats
1/2 cup of pumpkin puree
1/2 cup of honey
2 eggs
1 egg white
¼ cup milk
2 teaspoons of baking soda
2 tsp. of cinnamon
½ tsp of ground ginger
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350 Fahrenheit degrees, and meanwhile, grease the muffin tin. Put the oats in a blender and mix them until it has a flour consistency, and then put it in a bowl. Then add the pumpkin puree, eggs, egg white, and milk to the blender and mix everything until smooth.
After which, slowly add the oat flour, the spices, and the baking soda. Pour the batter into the muffin tins and bake them at 350 Fahrenheit for 25 minutes. Don’t forget to check your oven from time to time to see if they are ready because the right temperature might differ from one oven to another, and you don’t want to burn your delicious muffins!
I hope you love these delicious recipes as much as I do! And because in our town, we caught the first chilly fall breeze this week, I was inspired to dig into my old cookbooks to see what dishes I could make for our Sunday family dinner, and it turned out that most of my favorite recipes are the ones with pumpkin. Who knew?
I am sure that all of them will inspire you to create something tasty! If you want to find more delicious and healthy meal recipes, don’t forget to subscribe to our page! And if you enjoyed reading this article, we also recommend reading 10 Delicious Recipes With Only 4 Ingredients.
