Seasonal Inspiration
A little autumn goodness
Simple ideas for cooking with pumpkin, decorating it, saving leftovers and composting what’s left — plus a few ways to enjoy Halloween with less waste.
Start with something tasty
Use pumpkin flesh in a soup, curry or stew, or roast it for a cosy autumn meal. Smaller cooking pumpkins often have more flavour; fresh carving pumpkins can also be used for food.
Keep the seeds when you prepare your pumpkin. Clean and dry them, then follow our recipe for a golden, crunchy snack.
Try our roasted pumpkin seeds →
Choose a pumpkin sold for eating or carving, rather than an ornamental gourd. If pumpkin or squash tastes unusually bitter, stop eating it.
More cooking ideas: Hubbub’s pumpkin guide.
Decorate now, cook later
Try dressing up a whole, uncut pumpkin instead of carving it. A little paper hat or a ribbon gives it character and is easy to remove before cooking. Keep paint, glue and glitter away from anything you plan to eat.
Store your whole pumpkin somewhere cool and dry. If you do carve it, save clean flesh and seeds for cooking straight away. Don’t use an old displayed pumpkin that has softened, gone mouldy or started to rot.
Inspired by Hubbub’s Eat Your Pumpkin campaign.
Save some for another day
Made more soup or stew than you need? Cool it and get it into the fridge within one to two hours. Eat refrigerated leftovers within 48 hours, or freeze them for later. Reheat only once, until steaming hot throughout.
When it’s ready for the compost
If your pumpkin is no longer suitable for eating, compost it at home or use your local food-waste collection where accepted. Remove candles, ribbons and other decorations first, and follow your council’s collection instructions.
Please don’t leave pumpkins in woodland or put them out as food for wildlife. The Woodland Trust explains that dumped pumpkins can harm woodland habitats and animals.
Find out more from the Woodland Trust.
Ready for your next kitchen idea? Browse our recipes or explore our food storage tips.
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