When it comes to seasonal foods of Autumn, I think most everyone in the U.S. would agree that pumpkin is at the top! I have some healthy pumpkin recipes for you in this article that will satisfy your craving for this tasty squash.
I wrote earlier about my love of of Fall and how it’s necessary to change our activity level, diet, and lifestyle in order to stay healthy throughout the season. Incorporating pumpkin into your diet is a great way to adjust and also add some variety and flare to your family kitchen.
Nutritional Benefits of Pumpkin
In addition to being a yummy food, fleshy pumpkin pulp is a valuable remedy in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) dietetics. Pumpkin has a cool and sweet nature according to TCM. Therefore, it can help with many “heat” or inflammatory conditions such as dysentery, diabetes, eczema, and stomachaches.
Pumpkin seeds are just as valuable as the pulp. They’re high in protein, iron, zinc, magnesium, manganese, copper, vitamin E, and have many other nutritional benefits.
In TCM, pumpkin seed (called Nan gua zi) is an effective herbal remedy for prostate and bladder issues and is strong enough to expel stubborn parasites.
How to Incorporate Pumpkin Into Your Diet
If the thought of working with a whole pumpkin in the kitchen sounds too daunting, no worries. You can buy canned or boxed pumpkin (BPA-free) instead and pumpkin seeds from most grocery stores. We like eating raw, sprouted seeds in our house, like this Go Raw brand.
But for the pulp, I prefer to roast sugar pie pumpkins to make pureé instead. It’s not as challenging as you may think, and can be super fun if you let the kids participate. You can eat pumpkin pureé as it as is, maybe seasoned with a little cinnamon and maple syrup. Or add it to yogurt, oatmeal, soup, or a pancake recipe. And of course, you can make pie!
Here’s some recipes your family with love…
Healthy Pumpkin Recipes
Easy Roasted Pumpkin Pureé based on recipe from Weelicious
Choose a healthy, blemish-free sugar pie pumpkin
- Heat oven to 400°F.
- Cut out a hole at the top of the pumpkin and just like you’re going to carve it, go ahead and scoop out the insides, placing the seeds into a bowl of water if choosing to save them for roasting separately.
- Place pumpkin on baking sheet and cook for 40 minutes.
- Fit top back on pumpkin and bake for another 20 minutes or until tender.
- Remove top again and cool until easy to handle.
- Scoop out the pumpkin and either mash, run it through a food mill, or pureé in a blender/food processor.
Use the pureé in any of these Healthy Pumpkin Recipes:
Creamy Paleo Pumpkin Soup (dairy-free) by Tessa Domestic Diva
Healthy Pumpkin Pancakes (Gluten-free) by Paleo Grubs
Pumpkin Pie From Scratch by Food Foundation
20 Paleo Pumpkin Recipes by Against All Grain
And here’s a quick and easy recipe to roast pumpkin seeds:
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds by Allrecipes
Enjoy!!
Do you like eating pumpkin in season? Are there any recipes you think we should try? Please let us know in the comments!

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