Why would you use a pumpkin substitute in a recipe? First, pumpkin is rich in Vitamins A, B6, C, and E as well as a treasure trove of minerals. Second, it’s low in calories and fat, making it a smart swap. This time of year, people are often wondering two things: What can I do with all this pumpkin? and What can I do if I run out of pumpkin?

No matter what brought you here, we can help! Because we are the pumpkin experts.

Each year, we harvest millions of pounds of pumpkin because we know how good it is in just about anything. This time of year pumpkins get all the glory, but they are a great substitute for eggs, oil, butter, and more any time of year!

Pumpkin Substitutes for just about any Recipe:
Eggs: Add 1/4 cup Organic Pumpkin Puree for each egg.

Oil: Add Organic Pumpkin Puree in a 1-to-1 ratio for each amount of oil called for.

Butter: To substitute for butter, use 3/4 the amount of Organic Pumpkin Puree for each amount of butter, so 3/4 of a tablespoon pumpkin for 1 tablespoon of butter. You can also substitute just half the butter for Organic Pumpkin Puree. In recipes that call for butter and sugar to be creamed, fold in pumpkin after creaming.

Boxed Cake Mixes: Substitute the oil, water, and egg with pumpkin puree.

Cream sauces: Substitute some of the heavy cream and butter in your Alfredo sauce recipe with pumpkin puree.

Smoothies: Add pumpkin in place of bananas or other fruit.

Cheesecakes: Substitute some of the cream cheese with pumpkin puree. It will soften the cake and reduce the fat and calories.

Fudge: Substitute some cream with puree.

My Recipe Calls for Mashed Pumpkin. How much do I use?

You might be using a recipe that wants you to make puree yourself out of fresh pumpkin, what they may refer to as mashed pumpkin. You can do that of course, but that’s kind of our thing, so here are some equivalents for cups to cans so you can skip the hard part and get to the fun part faster.

• 5 pounds fresh pumpkin = about 4 1/2 cups Organic Pumpkin Puree
• 1 pound fresh pumpkin = about 1 cup Organic Pumpkin Puree
• One 15-ounce can Organic Pumpkin Puree = 1 3/4 cups mashed pumpkin
• One 29-ounce can Organic Pumpkin Puree = 3 1/2 cups mashed pumpkin

 

Help! I’m out of Pumpkin!

So we had to look this up TBH, because it’s never happened to us before, but let’s say hypothetically, you have run out of pumpkin. What can you use?

Luckily, we also make two of the best substitutes for pumpkin as well! Organic Butternut Squash Puree and Sweet Potato puree! You can sub these in a 1-to-1 ratio with no issue in just about any recipe.

A Word of Caution: Puree vs. Pie Mix

There’s one mistake every cook only makes once, and that’s confusing puree for pie mix. Every brand of pumpkin pie filling has a different amount of sugar and spices, so if you add it to a recipe that calls for puree, you could end up with a too-sweet or not flavorful enough dish. If you accidentally buy pie mix instead of puree, just hang on to it until you feel like making a pumpkin pie, or try one of these great recipes for our Organic Pumpkin Pie Mix, including granola and creamer options!