A variety of popular pumpkin recipes to spruce up your Halloween or Thanksgiving meals. These healthy pumpkin recipes will add color, flavor and nutrition to your fall table.
1. Breakfast: Pumpkin Scones
These moist gingered pumpkin scones will fill the kitchen with a wonderful aroma. A yummy breakfast for a fall morning.
2. Breakfast or Snack: Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins
Pumpkin muffins image courtesy of the Wheat Foods Council.
Healthy and high in fiber, these pumpkin and oatmeal muffins are the perfect light breakfast for the morning after an indulgent Thanksgiving feast! Adding a crumbly sunflower seed topping means there's a bit of protein in these muffins too, making them perfect for vegetarians. If you'd like to try an egg-free and dairy-free vesion, here's a vegan pumpkin muffin recipe to try.
3. Soup: Easy Vegetarian Pumpkin Soup
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Pumpkin soup can be very filling, so you might consider serving it as a main dish. I like to add some sauteed tofu and a bit of fresh crumbled sage to a vegetarian pumpkin soup for some extra flavor and texture. You might also want to try this quick and easy recipe for pumpkin and coconut soup. It's a vegetarian and vegan pumpkin soup recipe using canned pumpkin and coconut milk.
See also: Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup
See also: Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup
4. Main Dish: Pumpkin Pasta
Savory and aromatic, this vegetarian and vegan pumpkin and sage pasta sauce recipe is naturally lower in fat than other pumpkin pasta sauce recipes, and is perfect for an unusual (and delicious!) main dish for autumn or anytime.
5. Main Dish: Pumpkin Risotto
A vegetarian and vegan twist on classic Italian risotto - pumpkin! Why not? Pumpkin adds a sweet and unique flavor perfect for fall, Thanksgiving, or anytime. This Italian risotto recipe is both vegetarian and vegan, as long as you use a vegan margarine.
6. Snack: Fat-Free Vegan Pumpkin Bread
Using leftover or canned pumpkin and applesauce instead of oil, this fat-free vegan pumpkin bread recipe has plenty of flavor, fall spices and moisture, but without the added fat and calories. Spread your vegan pumpkin bread with vegan cream cheese, or turn it into a vegetarian and vegan pumpkin bread stuffing.7. Cookies: Healthy Pumpkin Cookies
Make healthy pumpkin cookies that are very low-fat by using applesauce instead of margarine or oil. These healthy pumpkin cookies are dairy-free and vegan as well. A reviewer gave this recipe four out of five stars and said, "These cookies are a snap to make and they are delicious! I think I ate at least 3/4 of this batch all by myself. They are very soft, moist, and flavorful."See also: Gluten-free Pumpkin Cookies
8. Dessert: Sugar-Free Pumpkin Pie
Enjoy a healthier low-calorie and sugar-free pumpkin pie for your Thanksgiving or Halloween dessert. Using a sugar-substitute and fat-free evaporated milk keeps this crustless pumpkin pie low in calories and sugar-free. Or, try this easy and low fat vegan pumpkin pie recipe which uses tofu instead of eggs or a gluten-free pumpkin pie. If you're feeling more adventurous, try this vegan recipe for a chocolate pumpkin pie.
9. Dessert: Pumpkin Spice Cake
A vegan recipe for pumpkin spice cake. Sure, you could make one from a box, but why not make it fresh and homemade instead? Topped with cream cheese frosting, or even a vegan cream cheese frosting, this pumpkin spice cake is a light dessert or snack perfect for the fall holiday season.10. Beverage: Pumpkin Pie Latte
Latte photo courtesy Stock.xchng
I love sipping a hot pumpkin spice latte on a crisp autumn evening, and About.com's resident coffee expert, Sean, shares his recipe for homemade pumpkin pie latte. Sean says this is a very spicy and thick latte recipe, and, unlike other recipes for pumpkin lattes, this recipe actually contains pumpkin, not just spices.
