Get ready to fill your home with the warm scents of pumpkin, cinnamon, and ginger. This roasted pumpkin dish brings all the seasonal flavor and bold taste of the fall and winter seasons. Serve as a beautiful side dish on your holiday table or enhance a weekly family dinner. In this guide, we'll show you how to choose, roast, and serve pumpkin right here!
Let’s skip the canned pumpkin and try something fresh instead! Roasted Pumpkin made at home produces the most flavorful, tasty caramelized dish that we simply cannot get enough of. You can use the cooked pumpkin in recipes that call for pumpkin puree, or add our cinnamon-ginger maple syrup and brown sugar for a real treat!
Why you'll love this recipe
This recipe is mostly hands off as the pumpkin gets perfectly roasted and caramelized in the oven. Your kitchen will smell incredible and anyone who enters your home will instantly be craving the warm and sweet spices wafting through the air. In addition to being colorful and delicious, pumpkin is incredibly nutritious. It’s rich in vitamin A with less than 50 calories per 1 cup of cooked pumpkin. It also has vitamin C and fiber!
Types of Pumpkins
There are so many different types of pumpkin, it can seem overwhelming! All pumpkins are edible and each has its own unique flavor. Here’s a quick guide to help you navigate the some of different varieties of pumpkins you may come across:
- Lumina: Lumina pumpkins have a bright white skin with a vibrant orange inside.
- Aladdin: These are the traditional pumpkins you see getting carved into Jack-o-lanterns and being picked from patches!
- Jack-o-Little or Sugar Baby Pumpkins: A smaller version of Aladdin pumpkins! These are great for cooking and turning into pumpkin puree! Also known as pie pumpkins because this is the pumpkin you will most likely find in the grocery stores to make pumpkin pie. Try stuffing them as we did in this Stuffed Baby Pumpkin with Wild Rice and Veggie Chorizo
- Hakai: These just might be the most interesting-looking pumpkins. They have two-toned skin and a rough and sometimes bumpy texture! Their seeds have no shell, so they’re easy and delicious to roast.
- Cinderella: This is a dark orange pumpkin said to be served at the first Thanksgiving.
- Jarrahdale: Have you ever seen a green pumpkin? That’s a Jarrahdale! They are the hardest to cut but have a sweet inside that’s delicious to bake.
- Fairytale or Musquee de Provence: These pumpkins have a silvery-orange skin and a perfectly round shape.
Ingredients
- Pumpkin. We love to use a Cinderella pumpkin, but you can use any type you have available. For a larger pumpkin, use ½ or a whole small variety like Sugar Baby pumpkin. See recipe tips below for more ideas.
- Olive Oil. Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil for the best flavor.
- Ground Cinnamon. This warm spice adds a sweet, woodsy, spicy flavor.
- Salt. Use a good sea salt or kosher salt to help enhance all the flavors.
- Ground Ginger. Peppery spice and sweet, ground ginger is a more mild version of the fresh variety.
- Black Pepper. Smoky and piney flavor. Use freshly ground black pepper for the freshest flavor.
- Brown Sugar. Rich, sweet and nutty. Brown sugar helps the pumpkin further caramelize.
- Maple Syrup. Maple is the perfect compliment to the warm and cozy spices in this recipe.
- Pumpkin Seeds. Add crunch and nuttiness.
- Pomegranate Seeds. Add a tangy sweet and seasonal crunch.
How to Roast a Pumpkin
Roasted pumpkin is incredibly simple and this recipe is especially delicious! Many home cooks are tempted to skip cooking with squash because they’re large and hard to cut through, but this roasted pumpkin recipe breaks it down so it couldn’t be simpler.
- Step 1: Start with a whole Cinderella pumpkin and cut it in half. Scoop all the seeds out.
- Step 2: Cut the pumpkin into ¼” -½” slices and then peel each section.
- Step 3: Using a large baking sheet lined with parchment, lay the pumpkin wedges flat and drizzle them with olive oil, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and ground ginger.
- Step 4: Bake them for 20 minutes, add a sprinkle of brown sugar and maple syrup, and bake for another 20 minutes.
Roasted Pumpkin Recipe Tips and Tricks
- Your baking time will vary based on the type of pumpkin you use and the thickness of the slices.
- If your pumpkin is too difficult to peel you can simply roast the pumpkin with the skin on! They will be much softer and easier to remove after baking.
- If you want to make your own pumpkin puree, just cut the pumpkin in half, remove the seeds, and bake it 400F cut side down until tender. Don’t use any salt or spices! Once soft, scoop the pumpkin flesh out and use it in recipes that call for pumpkin puree.
- Pumpkin seeds can be rinsed and roasted once they’re pulled from the pumpkin! Try our Cinnamon Ginger Spiced Pumpkin Seed recipe!
- Pumpkins tend to have a higher water content than other winter squashes like butternut or acorn squash.
- Roasting a whole pumpkin can be a lot, so we recommend roasting some of your pumpkin and dicing the rest to add into our Yemenite Vegetable Soup.
- Use a large sharp knife to make cutting easier
Serving Suggestions
We like to serve these delicious, naturally-sweet slices of pumpkin with some roasted pumpkin seeds on top for a bit of crunch. Pomegranate arils add a bit of tart sweetness to finish it off with some color! This dish is hearty and can be served as a main or side. Here are some other recipes to serve alongside:
Storage and reheating instruction
Roasted pumpkin can be made ahead of time. Store the pumpkin slices or pumpkin puree in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat in the oven or microwave until warm before serving. Pumpkin puree can be used straight out of the fridge. Roasted pumpkin puree can be frozen for up to 6 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight when ready to use.
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Roasted Pumpkin with Cinnamon-Ginger, Maple Syrup, and Brown Sugar
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This tasty recipe for Roasted Pumpkin with Cinnamon-Ginger Maple Syrup and Brown Sugar brings all the seasonal flavor and bold taste of the fall and winter seasons
Ingredients
- ½ large pumpkin (such as Cinderella pumpkin. Use the other half of the large pumpkin to make pumpkin puree or dice it and add it to soups or stews) or one small Sugar Baby pumpkin (See Notes)
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- ¼ cup pomegranate seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line one or two large baking sheets with parchment paper
- If you are using a large pumpkin, cut it in half and scoop out all the seeds (See notes)
- Peel and cut the pumpkin into ¼” -½” slices (See notes). Lay the slices flat on the baking sheet and drizzle them with olive oil, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and ground ginger. Bake for 20 minutes
- Add the brown sugar and maple syrup, and bake for another 20 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender (See notes).
- Top with pumpkin seeds and pomegranate seeds
Notes
- Baking time will vary based on the type of pumpkin you use and the thickness of the slices.
- You can roast the pumpkin with the skin on and remove the skin when eating the pumpkin. If you choose to peel the pumpkin it will be easier to peel it while it's cut in thick slices using a vegetable peeler. Some varieties of pumpkins are harder to peel.
- If your pumpkin is too difficult to peel, you can simply roast the pumpkin with the skin on! They will be much softer and easier to remove after baking.
- If you want to make your own pumpkin puree, just cut the pumpkin in half, remove the seeds, and bake it at 400°F cut side down until tender. Don’t use any salt or spices! Once soft, scoop the flesh out and use it in recipes that call for pumpkin puree.
- Pumpkins tend to have a higher water content than other winter squashes like butternut or acorn squash, So they won't caramelize as much.
- Roasting a whole pumpkin can be a lot, so we recommend roasting half of your pumpkin and dicing the rest to add to our Yemenite Vegetable Soup, your favorite vegetable soup or winter stew.
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 40
- Category: Sides
- Method: Roasting
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ⅛ of the recipe
- Calories: 98
- Sugar: 14
- Sodium: 294
- Fat: 3.6
- Saturated Fat: .5
- Unsaturated Fat: 3
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 17
- Fiber: .5
- Protein: .6
- Cholesterol: 0
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