Easily Cook and Puree a Pumpkin in the Instant Pot
Instant Pot Pumpkin Puree
cook time: 12 MINUTES
total time: 12 MINUTES
Ingredients
- small pumpkin (2 pounds)
- 1 cup water
Directions
1
Wash pumpkin and cut off stem.
2
Place inside Instant Pot on top of trivet, and pour in water.
3
Secure lid and cook on Manual setting for 12 minutes.
4
Let Instant Pot naturally release for around 12 minutes.
5
Open lid and let cool.
6
Pull up on trivet to remove pumpkin and pour out water.
7
Peel, cut pumpkin in half, remove seeds, and place pumpkin back in pot. Puree with hand blender or mash well with potato masher.
8
Keep refrigerated in a covered container for up to 7 days or in the freezer for up to 6-8 months.
Did you know your Instant Pot can cook a whole pumpkin?!🎃
I just tested it out in my 6 quart Instant Pot, and had excellent results! Turns out this method is a super convenient way to cook and puree a pumpkin in the same bowl with very little effort. I’ve always just grabbed canned pumpkin puree from the grocery store, but will definitely consider this method from now on since it was was so simple!
I started out with a small 2 pound pumpkin that was advertised at the store as a “Pie Pumpkin” and it produced about 2 full cups of pumpkin puree. If you have a larger 8 quart Instant Pot, you may be able to fit a medium-sized pumpkin.
You can definitely cut up your pumpkin in several pieces first if it doesn’t fit, but I think throwing a smaller one in there whole is what makes this process so easy!
After cooking your pumpkin for 12 minutes in the Instant Pot, the skin will be super soft so you’ll be able to easily peel it off. Then just cut in half to remove seeds and puree with a hand blender right in the same pot!
Instant Pot Pumpkin Puree
cook time: 12 MINUTES
total time: 12 MINUTES
Skip the oven and cook/puree a pumpkin in the Instant Pot pressure cooker!
Ingredients
- small pumpkin (2 pounds)
- 1 cup water
Directions
1
Wash pumpkin and cut off stem.
2
Place inside Instant Pot on top of trivet, and pour in water.
3
Secure lid and cook on Manual setting for 12 minutes.
4
Let Instant Pot naturally release for around 12 minutes.
5
Open lid and let cool.
6
Pull up on trivet to remove pumpkin and pour out water.
7
Peel, cut pumpkin in half, remove seeds, and place pumpkin back in pot. Puree with hand blender or mash well with potato masher.
8
Keep refrigerated in a covered container for up to 7 days or in the freezer for up to 6-8 months.
Need ideas to makes use of all that pumpkin puree?
Consider making Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats, and Pumpkin Pie Dip. Yum!
Written by Lina for Hip2Save. Lina is a proud mom of 2 kids who loves photography, all holidays, cooking, thrift store makeovers, bargain shopping, and DIY makeovers. Her goal is to create a beautiful life and stylish home on a dime! To see all of Lina’s DIY/Crafts created just for Hip2Save, click here.
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Love my pot. I make yogurt in it almost daily. Large family. Today I did duck soup in it.
That’s so awesome! I haven’t made yogurt yet, but would love to try 👍
Lina yogurt is easy I too make it all the time. I also have a large family. The only hard part about making yogurt is waiting for that incubation time. I wait 12 hours.
True! I love it for yogurt. I just put in half pint jars so they’re in serving containers. I can squeeze in a lot. We eat a lot of duck because they’re easy to raise and they come out so tender in the instant pot. Duck soup is on the menu for Saturday!
It looks very easy to do. But, I recently read somewhere that you should actually use canned pumpkin in recipes because it is a more consistent product. Canned pumpkin is apparently a mix of different varieties of pumpkins.
I have pureed my pumpkin for probably 5-6 years and prefer it so much more over canned pumpkin. I have used it for pies, pumpkin bars and bread with great success. My husband actually prefers my pumpkin bars to his mother’s (which is saying a lot because she’s a great cook) because of the taste difference and just better overall.
I was going to say the same thing. I grew up on fresh puréed pumpkins pies and breads and I too do the same for my family. I have tried canned pumpkin and in my opinion the taste is off.
Oh interesting – never heard this! Making a pie this week with this puree 👍🎃
I cook pie pumpkins in the oven every year and puree the cooked pumpkin in my food processor before using or freezing. Using fresh pumpkin instead of canned actually makes things taste better! I have received so many complements on my pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread in the past and how it tastes so good. Fresh pumpkin is the key! And you need to use the “pie pumpkins” or other small varieties. The pumpkins grown for carving do not taste that good.
Thanks for sharing!
I never thought of this! I have been baking my pumpkins in the oven for an hour+ for years. What a great time saver.
Yes it’s a very casual hands off approach! I think you’ll like it 👍
Wow! This is amazing! What a great tip! Fresh is always better than canned.
Thanks Sophie!
Thank you!! My instant pot has a high and low setting on manual… which one do you use?
Mine is high – hope that helps 👍
Thank you!!
Keep the instant pot recipes coming! I love new ways to use mine!
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Hi Anna,
Which store u r talking about?
I was assuming Kohls 🙂
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Would this work for other gourds as well, such as squash?
Yes – I can’t wait to try more 👍
Absolutely! I was just coming to say this works with spaghetti squash as well. If you like puréed acorn or butternut, you could certainly do those as well. 🙂
Lina, I was thinking about this very topic today and voila! Here are the instructions!
Yay! That’s great!
Please tell me what is the “trivet”. Did mine come with one?
I dont know what the trivet is either? Is that an add on piece?
The trivet is the little wire rack
I don’t have an Instant Pot can I use a pressure cooker or slow cooker?
Yes use you’re pressure cooker. 👍🏻
I dont understand this whole Instant Pot craze…if we already own a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker is it worth it to buy another gadget?
Am I missing the part in the recipe about peeling the pumpkin? Do you do that in step 7 when you cut it in half?
Ah yes after cooking and letting it cool down a bit – peel and cut in half, then take out seeds.
Are the seeds still able to be roasted after this or do they need to be removed prior to going in the Instant Pot?
Yes I think you could still roast them. There’s not very many in a small pumpkin however 😀
Where do I find directions for AMOUNTS of items to use for cooking times instead of just a time to cook food in instant pot. For example – 3,6,9, etc potatoes not just “potatoes”