10 Unique & Delicious Pumpkin Recipes for this Fall

It’s time for Everything Pumpkin!

It’s the best time of the year again- FALL!!! Now is when the sweltering summer temperatures start to drop, the trees start turning colors, and everyone starts gearing up for the holidays. And we could choose a single ingredient to represent this glorious season, it would be none other than PUMPKIN!

That’s right, this post is dedicated to one of the most seasonal, versatile, and in our opinions, greatest flavors out there. Whether used in creamy savory recipes like Pumpkin Gnocchi or in delectable dessert recipes like Pumpkin Cheesecake, pumpkin is a culinary all-star and a real crowd pleaser.

Here in this article, we’ll give you a quick overview of why pumpkin is so amazing and then break down GradFood’s Top 12 Unique & Delicious Pumpkin Recipes for this Fall. Consider this your ultimate wish-list of Autumn recipes to try out this season.

10 Fun Facts about Pumpkins

1. Pumpkins were first grown in North America as early as 7500 B.C. They are one of the first known plants to be domesticated (classifying them as a cultivar crop).
2. While fiercely debated, it appears that the consensus is that pumpkins are actually fruit rather than vegetables. Even though they aren’t inherently sweet, they contain seeds just like oranges or apples an unlike broccoli or carrots.
3. If you’re in California or a similar climate zone, the ideal time to plant pumpkin seeds is the end of May or the beginning of June. That way, they’ll be ready to harvest by the Fall. You can also save some seeds to plant in the following year.
4. The term, “Jack’o’Lantern” comes from an old Irish myth about a man nicknamed “Stingy Jack.” It’s actually a pretty interesting tale to look up if you have time!
5. Currently (as of 10/2021), the world record for the largest pumpkin ever grown goes to Stefano Cutrupi from Italy who grew a whopping 1226kg (2702lb) pumpkin.
6. The health benefits of pumpkin include beta carotene (which gives pumpkins their characteristic orange color) in addition to vitamin C, vitamin E, iron, and folate.
7. Technically speaking, when you buy “canned pumpkin puree” in the store, you’re probably not buying actual pumpkin but rather its close cousin, Dickinson squash (but don’t get us wrong, that doesn’t stop us from still buying it!).
8. French explorer Jacques Cartier was the first to coin the term for “pumpkin” in 1584. Specifically, when he saw them being grown in North America, he called them “gros melon” which translated into “pompion”. This eventually evolved into the name we give it today.
9. Morton, Illinois is known as the ‘Pumpkin Capital of the World’. It also happens to also be home to Libby’s pumpkin industry.
10. The US alone produces 1.5 Billion pounds of pumpkins each year, predominantly coming from Illinois, California, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

How to make Homemade Pumpkin Spice

It’s really quite simple! You’ll use this mix quite a bit for our recipes so if you’re just starting out this Fall, feel free to make a stash of homemade pumpkin spice to last you the entire season. Just mix together the following (feel free to scale it up or down depending on what you’re making).

• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves

What’s the difference between Pumpkin Puree and Pumpkin Pie Filling?

Although they both come in very similar-looking cans and can be easy to mix up when grabbing off the shelf at the grocery store, pumpkin puree is just the pure flesh itself. Pumpkin pie filling is puree premixed with sugar and many of the pumpkin spices listed above.

Typically when we have the time, we’ll roast an entire pumpkin and then blend it into our own homemade pumpkin puree. However, when we’re in a pinch for time, we’ll just go with some pumpkin puree. We don’t use the pumpkin pie filling because we prefer to adjust our own spice and sugar levels depending on what we’re making (for instance, you would never use the pumpkin pie filling for a savory dish).

GradFood’s Top 9 Pumpkin Recipes

That’s right, here is a list our our FAVORITE pumpkin recipes we’ve made so far. And with a mix of sweet and savory recipes, there’s something for everyone. So give them a try and let us know in the comments below how they turn out (and also let us know what YOUR top pumpkin recipe is, if not already listed here).

1) Festive Pumpkin Pull Apart Bread

2) Double Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake

3) Pumpkin Gnocchi with Walnuts and Creamy Sage Sauce

4) Nutella & Pumpkin Crepes

5) Crab and Bacon Pumpkin Bisque & Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

6) Pumpkin French Toast (Pain Perdu)

7) Pumpkin Spice & Chocolate Macarons

8) Silky Sweet Potato Pie Topped with Pecans

(we tricked you! while not technically pumpkin, we thought we’d add this to the list as a unique alternative to the generic pumpkin pie recipe)

9) Glazed Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Walnut Bread

10) Pumpkin Donuts & Muffins with Chai Cream Cheese Frosting

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