Dinner in a Pumpkin? Have you ever tried this simple recipe? It’s the perfect way to use up any extra pumpkins. Give dinner time a little fall twist and try this easy fall recipe.
I’m sure there are many different ways on how to cook dinner in a pumpkin. The way we cooked ours was super easy. We started doing this family tradition while we were in dental school. I used a recipe from Pinterest, but we do our own spin on it. I’ll share it below. It’s so much fun and the perfect way to start off the fall season, or end it!
What you’ll need for a pumpkin dinner
- Of course you’ll need a pumpkin, but then you’ll just need a few basic ingredients and tools.
- You’ll want to have a pumpkin carving knife or sharp knife to cut off the top of your pumpkin and scoop out the guts.
- 2 Pounds of Ground Beef {cooked!}
- 1 4 oz. can of Mushrooms
- 1 Onion
- 1 Medium Pumpkin
- 2 10.5 oz. can of Cream of Mushroom Soup
- 1 8 oz. can of Water Chestnuts
- 2 T. Soy Sauce
- 2 T. Brown Sugar
- 1 1/2 c. Cooked Rice
- 2 T. Vegetable Oil
How to cook your pumpkin
Once you have all of your ingredients gathered, grab your pumpkin and carve off the top. Carve it in the way you would the top of a normal jack-o-lantern. The top needs to sit on the pumpkin once it’s cut off without falling through. Be sure to cook your meat and your rice before you add it to the pumpkin. We love this rice cooker. It makes rice so much easier to cook. It’s a dump and forget type of thing.
Dinner in a Pumpkin
Ingredients
- 2 lbs cooked ground beef or sausage
- 4 oz can of mushrooms
- 1 medium onion
- 1 medium pumpkin make sure it will fit in your oven
- 2 10.5 oz cans of cream of mushroom
- 8 oz water chesnuts
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cup cooked rice
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
- First cut the top off your pumpkin & clean out the "guts" as we like to call them. Scrape it as clean as you can get it.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- While cutting your pumpkin you're going to want to brown your meat in a skillet & drain & cook your rice – we use a rice cooker – but you can cook it however you prefer.
- Sauté your Onion in the vegetable oil.
- Combine the meat and Onion with Soy Sauce, Mushrooms, Brown Sugar, & Soup.
- Simmer Mixture for about 10 minutes. Add the cooked rice and water chestnuts.
- When done simmering, spoon your mixture into your clean pumpkin – place the top back on the pumpkin with filling.
- Bake the pumpkin {on a cookie sheet} for 1 hour or until the inside of the pumpkin meat is tender.
- Remove lid & serve.
- Feel free to scrape into that pumpkin to get your vegetable – it tastes yummy.
- We thought it needed a little extra "something" so we made sure to add salt and pepper to taste.
This is such a fun and unique way to have a family night together. It’s an easy meal, and pretty basic ingredients that picky eaters usually like.
Looking for more festive fall recipes – these are some of our family favorites.