Pumpkin Substitutes to Finish Your Recipes in a Pinch (2024)

FAQs

What is a good substitute for pumpkin in a recipe? ›

Butternut Squash and Sweet Potatoes

Butternut squash and our favorite orange spuds (sweet potatoes) can save the day when needing a quick alternative to pumpkin. These ingredients, in these amounts, are interchangeable in most recipes to achieve the same texture and most similar flavor.

Acorn Squash

The acorn squash's sweet and flavoury taste is most commonly enjoyed baked, though it can be made in many different ways. And, since you can substitute pumpkin with acorn squash in basically every recipe, there's no need to make any adjustments – just do the same as you would with the pumpkin.

Common Pumpkin Pie Spice Substitution Questions

To get 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice, use ¾ teaspoon cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon ginger, allspice, cloves or nutmeg, whatever you have! If you have two of the above spices, use ½ teaspoon cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon of whichever two spices you do have.

Sweet Potatoes: If you are using canned sweet potatoes, drain the can and save the juice. Blend the potatoes, adding enough juice to make a paste the same consistency as pumpkin. Substitute the sweet potatoes for the amount of pumpkin called for in the recipe.

Delicata squash

As a result, its flavor is much milder — some have described it as a "cross between fresh corn and pumpkin pie." As indicated by its name, the delicata's skin is quite delicate and thin, so you can cook and eat it without peeling.

Although it originated in Southern Mexico, the mamey sapote (Pouteria sapota) is beloved in tropical areas across the world, especially in the Caribbean. Eaten fresh, the orange-fleshed fruit has a taste that some compare to a brown sugar-covered sweet potato, with notes of pumpkin, caramel and cantaloupe.

Cinderella pumpkins are a type of winter squash with a mild, sweet flavor and moist texture that makes them great for soups, sauces, purees, and curries. They can be roasted, baked and steamed, and used for ornamental purposes.

To substitute pumpkin puree for butter, multiply the amount of butter by 3/4. If a recipe calls for one cup, use 3/4 cup puree in its place. If you're not ready to give up all the butter, consider splitting the bill.

PUMPKIN PURÉE

Use a 3:4 ratio when subbing pumpkin purée for butter; so, like oil, you'll want to use ¾ of purée for every cup of butter the recipe calls for.

If the pumpkin in your recipe takes the place of fat, rather than serving as flavor, try replacing it with apple sauce, apple butter or yogurt. The flavor will change, but these substitutes can provide moisture, just as pumpkin does.

Can you substitute pumpkin for egg? ›

Aside from giving your baked goods a seasonal touch, pumpkin puree is excellent for replacing eggs. Use 1/4 cup of pumpkin puree for each egg, says Traci Weintraub, chef and founder of Gracefully Fed, a restaurant in Los Angeles.

Allspice is a warm and cozy spice that tastes like a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, but pumpkin pie spice is a bit more robust and flavorful with all those spices plus ginger. Allspice alone, while delicious, won't give you that signature pumpkin spice flavor that you're looking for.

They are both a mixture of spices and are interchangeable. So mixed spice is perfect for the cake recipe.

If you have apple pie spice on hand, you're in luck. "If you have apple pie spice, use it in place of pumpkin pie spice, as they contain the same ingredients, except apple pie spice has a little cardamom," he explains, adding that cardamom tends to balance the tart of apples.

Canned pumpkin (labeled as "100% pure pumpkin") is a purée of pumpkin that is sometimes mixed with other kinds of winter squash. It is unsweetened and does not contain any added spices. Canned pumpkin and pumpkin puree are the same thing, and you'll often see the terms used interchangeably in recipes and cookbooks.

11. Pumpkin Puree. Great for substituting into prepackaged mixes, canned pumpkin puree is an easy swap that can replace both eggs and oil. For each egg, a recipe calls for, add in one quarter cup of pumpkin puree.

So, if your recipe calls for pumpkin but you do not have any in your kitchen, you can substitute other winter squash varieties, measure for measure. Good choices are acorn squash, hubbard squash, butternut squash, buttercup squash or calabaza. Sweet potatoes are also a good option as a substitute for pumpkin.