Fall season calls for delicious homemade dishes that warm the heart and the tummy. What’s more fitting than using pumpkins to create mouth-watering dishes?
When we think of healthy pumpkin recipes, we often imagine desserts starting from cookies and pies, to cakes and tarts. But there’s so much more to explore in the pumpkin world.
Therefore, we are here with the best healthy pumpkin recipes to please everyone’s taste buds; two savory dishes and two desserts.
1. Pumpkin and Sage Stuffed Shells
Here’s a super creamy and delicious pumpkin dish that feels light despite the amount of cheese used. The ingredient list is meant for a 5 person dish so you can devour it for less than 300 calories!
To start, preheat the oven to 350F. Cook the pasta shells in a pot of water, drain it, rinse in cold water, and place them on a baking sheet. Take a large bowl and mix all the ingredients mentioned below for the filling.
Next, drizzle olive oil on a large cast-iron skillet and sauté the minced garlic. Now, put all the ingredients required to make the marinara sauce as mentioned below, bring it to boil, and cover the skillet with a lid.
Let it simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes. Then, fill the shells with the filling using a large spoon (2 tablespoons). Now, pour 3/4th of the marinara sauce on a baking dish and arrange the filled pasta shells on top.
Time to bake! Cover the baking dish with foil on cook it in the oven for 30 minutes.
Finally, remove the foil and sprinkle pecorino cheese on top before sliding the dish in the oven again for 10 minutes. Your dish should be ready with hot, melted cheese on top. You can now use the leftover marinara sauce on top before savoring it.
Ingredients
- 20 pasta shells (jumbo)
For the Marinara Sauce
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree
- ¾ cup crushed tomatoes
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 tablespoons pecorino cheese
- ½ teaspoon basil 2 teaspoons sage
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the Filling:
- 15 ounces of pumpkin puree
- 1 cup pecorino cheese (grated)
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon sage (minced)
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
- 1 egg white
2. Sausage and Rice Stuffed Pumpkin
This is a cozy meal for fall that is very simple yet unique. First, preheat the oven to 450 degrees Celsius. Grab the pumpkins and cut circles around each stem. Remove the tops along with the seeds and strings inside the pumpkins.
Now, take a large skillet and cook the vegetables, sausage, and garlic for about 7 minutes. Break up the sausage into crumbles and remove from heat after draining the extra water.
Next, add rice to the skillet, along with parsley, thyme, salt, eggs, and cheese. Then, fill the pumpkins with the rice mixture and place them on a baking pan.
Cover them with the pumpkin tops and bake for 30 minutes. After that, you should reduce the heat to 350F and bake for another 30 minutes.
Finally, take them out if the temperature reads 160 degrees, and sprinkle cheese on the top of the filling before serving.
Ingredients
- 3 pumpkins (2 lbs. each)
- ½ lbs. bulk sweet Italian sausage
- 4 cups long-grain rice (cooked)
- 1 cup parmesan cheese (grated)
- 2 large eggs (beaten)
- 2 onions (chopped)
- 1 green pepper (chopped)
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- ¼ cup parsley (minced)
- 1 lb. mushroom (chopped)
- 2 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 teaspoon salt
3. Crustless Pumpkin Pie
For all the health enthusiasts out there, here’s the recipe for a crustless pumpkin pie that hardly requires any effort to make. Begin by preheating the oven to 325 degrees Celsius.
Use a large bowl to whisk all the ingredients listed below and pour the mixture in a 9 inched pie plate coated with cooking spray. Before you place it in the oven, smoothen out the top with a spoon.
Now, let it bake for 1 hour. Turn off the oven and keep the oven door open to let the pie cool down for an hour.
Finally, refrigerate the pie for at least 4 hours before you cut out a piece from the delicious goodness.
Ingredients
- 15 ounces of pumpkin puree
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 eggs (large)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ginger (ground)
- ½ teaspoon cloves
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
4. Pumpkin Muffin
Fall is not complete without pumpkin muffins, so we are here with the healthiest recipe for scrumptious pumpkin muffins. First, preheat the oven to 325F, and grease the muffin tins with butter.
Take a large bowl, and whisk the oil and honey, followed by adding eggs. Then, add the pumpkin puree, baking soda, milk, vanilla extra, salt, and pumpkin spice blend to the mixture.
Next, put flour and oats in the mixture as well, and pour the blended goodness into the muffin tins. If you like you can sprinkle some oats and raw sugar on top for extra crunch.
Now, it’s time to bake the muffins for 25 minutes. Once done (check if an inserted toothpick comes clean), let it cool down. Since they are delicate, you may have to use a butter knife on the edges to take out the muffins from the tins.
Ingredients
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ¼ cup almond milk
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil
- ½ cup honey
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice blend
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ¾ cups whole wheat flour
- ⅓ cup oats
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 2 teaspoons of raw sugar (turbinado)
Conclusion
These healthy pumpkin recipes are simple enough to be created by even amateur cooks.
So get started on your desired pumpkin dish and dessert from the ones featured here and enjoy them in the comfort of your home wearing your favorite fall lounge clothing.
