Why make Homemade Pumpkin Puree
Well if this thought has never occurred to you before, let me share with you what I made pumpkin puree at home and what I realized. Here in Germany, it’s not easy to find purees or pre-cut fruits and veggies, simply because the consumers like their produce minimally processed. Consumers prefer buying whole raw ingredients and making their own. So long story short, I haven’t yet found pumpkin puree or pre-cut squashes in the grocery stores yet. So this led to me making my own pumpkin puree, and learning how to easily cut squash.
In the process I realized the three reasons why you need to make your own pumpkin puree from scratch at home. First, it’s easier than you think. No overwhelming steps involved like peeling or chopping the raw pumpkin. Simply pressure cook, peel and puree, that’s it!!! If you think it’s time consuming, you are wrong. Once you pressure cook the pumpkin it’s just a matter of 5 mins to peel the skin and puree the pumpkin. Second, it’s all about the flavors. It’s so much better than any canned pumpkin puree. It’s tastes to much fresher and you can tell the difference when you add this puree to the recipes. The actual act of canning and sitting in a metal can for who knows how long definitely affects the taste. The taste and the fresh flavor is a game changer. Thus the bright yellow color than the rusty orange color of the canned puree. Fresh pumpkin is always the lightest in color. Third it’s all natural with no preservatives added. No sitting in a metal can for who knows how long. Lastly it’s so much more economical to make your own pumpkin puree at home than but cans. Try doing the math next time when you go grocery shopping.
Instant Pot Pumpkin Puree
Making your pumpkin puree in an electric pressure cooker is a game changer. It’s so much faster as it’s a known fact the pressure cooker reduces cooking times. If you have ever tried baking the pumpkin before you will know that it typically takes around 45 minutes for the pumpkin to completely bake excluding the cutting, chopping and peeling of the raw pumpkin. The Instant Pot makes life very easy and it’s all ready in under 25 mins with only the last 5 minutes being hands on to peel the pressure cooked pumpkin and puree it. So if you haven’t already join the electric pressure band yet, check out our post on ‘Is the Instant Pot Worth it?’ and take the plunge. You won’t regret it. We promise. Let’s get started right away, because making Pumpkin Puree in the Instant Pot is way easier than you thought. Here is just a gist of the steps involved. You can find the detailed recipe in the recipe card towards the end of the post.
Tips on how to make the best pumpkin puree
Which pumpkin is best for puree
Like I mentioned above it’s best to find a three to four pound sugar or pie pumpkin to make a puree which you can use for your fall recipes. These pumpkins are smaller, denser, sweeter and less watery compared to the larger carving pumpkins.
Pumpkin doesn’t fit the pressure cooker
Typically a three to four pound whole pumpkin fits a six quart inner pot easily. Incase for some reason it doesn’t fit the pot, cut the pumpkin into half and play the pieces on the wire rack for pressure cooking.
Pumpkin is still hard
the harder the pumpkin the longer it takes to pressure cook. Typically it takes about 20 minutes of pressure cooking for the skin to become soft, but if you pumpkin is still hard then pressure cook it again for 5 minutes followed by a quick release.
My pumpkin puree color varies
If you are wondering why your pumpkin puree is not the rusty orange color like that of canned puree, it’s because freshly pureed pumpkin is always bright yellow. Also the canned variety of pumpkin puree is made up of partially pumpkin plus other varieties of winter squashes too as they fall under the same genus. So your bright yellow is better than the canned rusty orange.
How to store homemade pumpkin puree
Homemade pumpkin puree can be stored either in the refrigerator or freezer. You can make 16 oz. bags and store in the refrigerator for upto 4 weeks or freeze them for upto a year. You can expect a slight change in taste when frozen for long but it’s still better than canned pumpkin puree.
Recipes using Pumpkin Puree
Cheesecake Bites Quinoa Breakfast Porridge Soup Blender Bread
More Fall Recipes
Air Fryer Apple Chips Apple Butter Cinnamon Apples / Apple Pie Filling Holiday Lentil Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash Apple Crisp Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Indian Masala Sauce
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Refer to Tips to make the best Pumpkin Puree in the post.
Steamer Rack Trivet with Handles Compatible for Instant Pot 6 & 8 qt Accessories - Great for Lifting out Springform Pan / Cheesecake Pan Mealthy MultiPot 9-in-1 Programmable Slow and Pressure Cooker Instant Pot DUO60 6 Qt 7-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Steamer, Sauté, Yogurt Maker and Warmer Instant Pot Ultra 6 Qt 10-in-1