It’s a wonderful side dish to serve instead of roasted potatoes. Oven baking is my favorite way to prepare this winter squash! When you think about pumpkin, do you only think about pumpkin pie? If so, you’re missing out! Pumpkin can take on sweet or savory flavors, and it makes a wonderful, hearty, and satisfying side dish, perfect for fall and winter. There are two ways to roast a pumpkin. You can cube it, season the cubes, and bake them. Or you can halve the pumpkin and bake the halves. I discuss both methods below, so keep on reading!
Ingredients
Variations
Sometimes, I replace the chili powder with smoked paprika. I love the smoky flavor it adds. You can add a pinch of dried thyme to the other spices. Melted butter or ghee can successfully replace the olive oil in this recipe.
Instructions
More Pumpkin Recipes
Recipe Card
Sugar pumpkin: Small pumpkins are more flavorful. They vary in size, from 2 pounds to 5 pounds, but whatever their size, as long as they are marked as “sugar pumpkin” or “sugar pie pumpkin,” that’s what you need. Olive oil: I use extra-virgin olive oil, but a light and fruity olive oil will also work. Seasonings: I use kosher salt, chili powder, and garlic powder. I prefer garlic powder to minced fresh garlic in this recipe because it more evenly coats the pumpkin.
Your first step is to slightly soften the pumpkin in the microwave, then carefully cut it in half. Place the pumpkin cubes in a large bowl and toss them with olive oil and spices. Roast them until fork-tender, about 30 minutes at 425°F, tossing them halfway through. In this method, you cut the pumpkin in half, remove the pulp and seeds, and place it cut-side-down on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Bake the pumpkin until fork-tender, about 30 minutes at 425°F. Once baked, you can remove its flesh, mash it, and use it in recipes that call for pumpkin puree, such as mashed pumpkin, pumpkin chili, and pumpkin muffins. There’s a reason the big pumpkins are often called “carving pumpkins” while the small ones are called “pie pumpkins!” As mentioned above, sugar pumpkins come in various sizes. I wrote this recipe for a 2-pound pumpkin, which is quite small. But in the video below, I used a 5-pound pumpkin. It needed two minutes on each side in the microwave to soften enough to cut. I used half of it for baking pumpkin chunks and roasted the second half whole:
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