Recipe for Dinner in a Pumpkin on Halloween
A recipe for dinner in a pumpkin is one you should SAVE! This is our go-to for Halloween night before heading out to trick or treat with the kids. My mom made this often growing up and I've fond memories I'm hoping to pass on to my family and yours!
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13 Days of Halloween
It's Day 10 of our annual “13 Days of Halloween ideas” with Jordan at Jordan's Easy Entertaining. I’ll be posting new Halloween ideas Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays all month long. This year the theme is MAGICAL BOOKS and I share tips for a Room on the Broom Halloween party as well as Harry Potter inspired Halloween ideas.
Check back each week on the blog, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Or better yet, JOIN ME to receive a weekly summary straight to your inbox each weekend so you don't miss a single Halloween thing.
Recipe for Dinner in a Pumpkin
If you want to keep it simple this recipe for dinner in a pumpkin is the one for you! There are always ways to make it healthier – like making your own soup base instead of the gooey grey stuff! But in a pinch, that gooey grey stuff is pretty delicious!
Simple supplies
- Large skillet {I really love this new granite clad pan}
- Sharp knife
- Large spoon for scooping out pumpkins
- Baking sheet
Yummy Ingredients
- Small pie pumpkins
- Ground turkey {or sub with lentils for a vegetarian version}
- Cooked rice {a quinoa & rice blend works great here too!}
- Vegetables your family enjoys: onion, carrot, and celery are our first picks. Mushrooms and peppers would be yummy too.
- Cream of chicken soup mix {or sub a homemade version if you have the time}
- Worcestershire sauce
- Seasoning salt
- Oregano
You can bake one large pumpkin, or several tiny pumpkins for an individual dinner, which I think makes it more fun! Although a whole pumpkin is too much food for the average person, let alone a child. So plan on one little pumpkin for 2-3 people and use the rest of the pumpkins as table decorations. Or make pumpkin pasties later!
Halloween Dinner in a Pumpkin Table
Before you even think about making your Halloween dinner, use those cute pie pumpkins on the table as decor! Especially if buying the mini's for each person.
Do you set your holiday table early? I do. It's so fun to walk through the house and see the festive dining table. Ready for a party at any moment. Depending on how long you have it set, you may need to give it a quick dusting before actually serving your dinner though.
Recreate this fun setting with these cute party supplies:
- Spiderweb table runner {part of a decor kit}
- Skeleton hot beverage cups
- Skeleton dessert plate
- Spiderweb doilies
- Square 9″ black paper dinner plates
- Round 6″ palm leaf plates
Prep Your Pumpkins Early
Halloween night can get VERY busy, so prep your pumpkins a day or so in advance. You can get fancy with the top or just cut a plain ol' circle like I did. Scoop out the seeds and separate them from the pulp if you'd like to toast the pumpkin seeds. That's another fun family favorite!
Make Your Filling Recipe Early Too
These pumpkins take a LONG time to bake so anything we can do to speed up the process is going to help. So the day before you should:
Chop, slice, and dice your desired veggies and sauté them in a little olive oil until the onions are translucent. There's nothing worse than baking a stuffed pumpkin to find your veggies are still crunchy inside!
Brown your ground turkey and season with oregano and seasoning salt. I throw mine in with the veggies.
Once browned, stir in the rice, soup concentrate, and Worcestershire sauce. Let this cool down and pop it into the fridge for stuffing your pumpkins tomorrow. Or if you've got the time….let's do this right now!
It's the Big Day! Stuff Your Pumpkins
On the big day, stuff your pumpkins with the filling, leaving an inch or so at the top for bubbling. Replace the lid and place on a baking sheet. {they might overflow and this will save you from scrubbing your oven! Which I obviously do not like to do! 🤣} Move rack so your pumpkins will sit in the center of your oven and bake these babies at 375° for over an hour*.
*It depends on the size of your pumpkins – the bigger they are the longer it takes. These guys were done in 1 hour 15 minutes.
To test doneness, carefully take off the pumpkin lid and use a fork to pierce the inside flesh of the pumpkin. You want that pumpkin nice and soft. It's VERY IMPORTANT that you keep the lid on your pumpkins so they have a chance to steam. If there's no top, the pumpkin doesn't cook properly.
Your New Favorite Recipe for Dinner in a Pumpkin?
I don't want to oversell this and have you disappointed, but I really love this recipe for dinner in a pumpkin. The pie pumpkins have a sweeter flesh and mix so well with the comfort casserole inside.
Not a Pumpkin Fan?
Kids aren't pumpkin fans? No worries!
Just serve the casserole filling without touching the pumpkin sides. For those who want the orangey goodness, dive right in and scoop out the sides as you serve up each plate, or let people eat directly from the pumpkins!
If you try this recipe for dinner in a pumpkin, I'd love to hear about it in the comments below. And if you share photos, I want to see it too! Please tag us @partieswithacause on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. We love celebrating all your hard work!
Follow13 Days of Halloween
Coming up next for Day 11….
Halloween Books for Kids
- Day 1: Black Cat Halloween Decor – Table Design
- Day 2: Room on the Broom Book Party Ideas
- Day 3: Fruit Wand – Room on the Broom Wand
- Day 4: Strawberry Mushrooms for a Potion
- Day 5: Dragon Veggie Tray – Dragon Party Food
- Day 6: Dragon Eye Deviled Eggs
- Day 7: Black Cat Melt and Pour Soap for Halloween
- Day 8: Recipe for Hot Butterbeer from Harry Potter
- Day 9: Easy Pumpkin Pasty Recipe
- Day 10: Halloween Recipe for Dinner in a Pumpkin
- Day 11: Halloween Books for Kids
- Day 12: Faux Leather Spell Book as Tom Riddle's Journal
- Day 13: Harry Potter Floating Candle DIY
From the Halloween Archives
Halloween Movie List Kids Will Love
Sweater Pumpkin Dollar Store DIY Decor
Butternut Squash and Ginger Apple Soup
Pin it for Later
Dinner in a Pumpkin
Equipment
- Baking sheet
- Metal scoop
- Sharp knife
- Large skillet
Ingredients
- 2 Small pie pumpkins
- 1 lb Ground turkey Sub lentils for vegetarian
- 1 Onion diced
- 1 Carrot chopped
- 2 Celery stalks chopped
- Additional vegetables like mushrooms or peppers optional
- 2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup Sub Mushroom soup for vegetarian
- 2 cups Cooked rice Sub rice & quinoa blend for vegetarian
- 1 Tb Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp Oregano Dried
Instructions
Prepare Pumpkins
- Wash and dry pumpkins
- Cut through top to create a lid and scoop out all pulp and seeds, cleaning out all strings attached to the sides
- This can be done 1-2 days in advance and stored covered in the fridge.
Casserole Filling
- Sauté vegetables in olive oil until onion becomes slightly translucent
- Add ground turkey and brown with seasoning salt and oregano
- Stir in soup mix and cooked rice
- Can be made 1 day in advance and stored covered in the fridge.
Baking Your Pumpkin
- Preheat oven to 375°
- Fill each pumpkin with half of the casserole mixture leaving 1" of space at the top for bubbling.
- Replace the pumpkin lid and place on baking sheet.
- Move oven rack so pumpkins are located in the center
- Bake 1 hour 15 minutes until the pumpkin flesh is soft enough to pierce easily with a fork on the inside of each pumpkin. Replace lid and continue baking if needed.
Halloween Products to Love
-
Day of the Dead Party Decor: VALUE Bundle$24.42 -
Mad Science Birthday Party Invitations – Aqua and Lime$11.39
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VALUE bundle: Mad Scientist Birthday Party Decor – Aqua and Lime$24.42
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Halloween Party Black Cat Invitation$11.79
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VALUE bundle: Black Cat Halloween Party Decor$24.79
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Day of the Dead Party Invitation$11.39
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