Natural form

Whole pumpkin showing its ribbed orange exterior and dried stem.

Shows the reader exactly what a pumpkin looks like before any preparation — size, color, shape, surface texture, and stem.

Produce

Pumpkin

Sweet, earthy squash for soups, pies, and roasting

Earthy and sweet, pumpkin roasts into wedges, purées for pie and soup, and brings autumn to the table. Its thick skin means it stores for weeks somewhere cool.

Pumpkin is the iconic autumn squash — earthy, mildly sweet orange flesh inside a thick, ribbed shell. The key distinction cooks must know: the big jack-o'-lantern pumpkins are bred for carving and are watery and stringy, while small sugar (pie) pumpkins are dense, sweet, and the ones to cook with. Roasted, puréed, or simmered, sweet pumpkin makes pies, soups, curries, and breads, and its seeds toast into a savory snack.

Measured in: g
Storage: Dark Cool
Shelf life: 60 days

Find it in

Produce

Types & varieties

Sugar / pie pumpkin

Small, dense, sweet; the one to cook with

Carving pumpkin (jack-o'-lantern)

Large, watery, stringy; for decoration, not the pot

Kabocha (Japanese pumpkin)

Sweet, chestnutty, dry-fleshed; excellent roasted

Cheese / heirloom (Long Island Cheese, Musquée de Provence)

Deep flavor, great for cooking

How to choose

For cooking, choose small, heavy sugar pumpkins (or kabocha) with hard, matte skin, a solid intact stem, and no soft or moldy patches — skip the big carving pumpkins, which are bland and stringy. Heft matters: a dense, heavy pumpkin has meatier, less watery flesh.

How to store

A whole sound pumpkin keeps for one to three months in a cool, dark, dry place (not the fridge), if the stem is intact and the skin unbroken. Once cut, wrap and refrigerate and use within a few days. Cooked purée freezes well for months.

How to cook and purée

The easiest path is to halve a sugar pumpkin, scoop the seeds, and roast it cut-side down until tender, then scoop and purée or mash the flesh — far better flavor than from a can, and less watery. If your purée is loose, drain it through a sieve or cloth. Save the seeds: clean, toss with oil and salt, and roast them. (Canned pumpkin is a fine, consistent shortcut for baking.)

Roast halves cut-side down, then scoop
Drain watery purée before baking
Roast the seeds — don't waste them

Common uses

Pumpkin piePumpkin soupPumpkin bread and muffinsRoasted wedgesPumpkin curryRisottoRavioli fillingRoasted pepitas

Tips & pitfalls

Cook with sugar pumpkins, not carving ones — texture and flavor are worlds apart
Roast rather than boil to avoid a watery purée
Strain homemade purée if it's loose, so pies and soups set properly
Toast the cleaned seeds with oil and salt for pepitas
Warm spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg) for sweet; cumin and chili for savory

Nutrition

26kcal

Energy

109 kJ · per 100 g

Where the calories come from

Protein 13%Carbs 84%Fat 3%

Protein

2% DV

Carbs

6.5g

2% DV

Fat

0.1g

0% DV

Fiber

0.5g

2% DV

Sugars

2.8g

of which

Sodium

1mg

0% DV

Notable micronutrients

Vitamin A47% DV

Vitamin C10% DV

Riboflavin (B2)8% DV

Vitamin E7% DV

Potassium7% DV

Thiamin (B1)4% DV

Source · USDA FoodData Central · Pumpkin, raw

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In the shops

Matched grocery products

Pumpkin Cream
BONPREU · l · Bonpreu
€1.99
Km0 Pumpkin, 1 unit
ud · Bonpreu
€2.70
La Collita Pre-cut Pumpkin
LA COLLITA · kg · Bonpreu
€1.99
LA COLLITA Pumpkin Km0 1 unit
LA COLLITA · Bonpreu
€2.49
Ecological Pumpkin Local 0km 1 unit
Bonpreu
€2.19
LA COLLITA Organic Cut Pumpkin Zero Km in 400g Bag
LA COLLITA · kg · Bonpreu
€2.19

Good to know

Peak season: Fall (peak); stores into winter
Flavor: Mild, earthy, sweet; deepens when roasted
Origin: Mesoamerica (Mexico); among the oldest domesticated crops — Cucurbita squash were domesticated ~8,000–10,000 years ago
Nutrition: ~26 kcal/100g; very high beta-carotene (vitamin A), vitamin C, fiber
How to buy: Small sugar pumpkins for cooking; heavy, hard, intact stem; no soft spots

Substitutes