Canned Pumpkin vs. Canned Pumpkin Pie Mix: What's the Difference? (2024)

FAQs

Canned Pumpkin vs. Canned Pumpkin Pie Mix: What's the Difference? ›

Ingredients - Pumpkin puree made from scratch contains only pumpkin, but canned puree may contain a preservative like salt. Pumpkin pie filling contains additional ingredients like sugar, spices, and thickeners. Flavor - Pure pumpkin puree has a slightly sweet, earthy taste.

Canned pumpkin and pumpkin puree are the same thing, and you'll often see the terms used interchangeably in recipes and cookbooks. Unlike pumpkin pie mix, canned pumpkin does not have any spices, sugars, or other additives. In many cases, the only ingredient is pumpkin.

Pie pumpkins, also called sugar pumpkins, usually weigh 1 to 6 pounds. Their flesh is denser and sweeter that the bigger ones, which are called carving or jack-o'-lantern pumpkins. The biggies have a moister, softer interior with a bigger seed cavity, and the flesh tends to be stringier.

In this taste test, our Test Kitchen pros found that the biggest name in the pumpkin game does, in fact, make the best canned pumpkin on the market. Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin is a favorite among our culinary crew. Libby's canned pumpkin has a really rich orange color that is quintessential fall.

Canned yams or sweet potatoes can also be used in place of canned pumpkin puree. It's a simple swap to make.

You can only use pumpkin pie mix in place of pure pumpkin in some cases. If you are making a pumpkin pie, the canned filling can be used in place of the puree, sugar, spices, and thickeners. You would want to adjust the recipe for the extra ingredients in the filling.

Start with the right variety of pumpkins, sugar pumpkins. Large pumpkins that we traditionally think of as jack-o-lanterns aren't ideal for pie as they are very stringy and have a lot of seeds. There really isn't very much “meat” to the larger pumpkins. Sugar pumpkins, also known as pie pumpkins, are sweeter.

When shopping for pumpkins, look for the ones usually generically labeled “sugar pumpkins” or “pie pumpkins.” Some specific names are Baby Pam, Autumn Gold, Ghost Rider, New England Pie Pumpkin, Lumina (which are white), Cinderella, and Fairy Tale.

Canned pumpkin and pumpkin puree are the same thing. These terms are often used interchangeably in recipes, though you may also see the term solid-pack pumpkin. All these terms mean 100% steamed and pureed pumpkin—no extras, no add-ins—not even in the canned variety.

pepo, your classic bright orange pumpkin, actually doesn't make for the best pie. With 90 percent water content and mostly hollow insides, true "pumpkin pie" can come out pretty bland and soupy. Squash is better in every way except, perhaps, appearance -- it's sweeter, fleshier and creamier.

Can I give my dog canned pumpkin? ›

Pumpkin contains vitamins like A, C, and E, as well as minerals like iron and potassium. Feeding plain canned pumpkin gives a great boost to your dog's nutrition. Great for digestion. Due to its high soluble fiber content, pumpkin is very good for your dog's digestion.

The claim is that these pumpkins have been grown specifically for pumpkin puree in cooking and baking, so the result is a sweeter and creamier product. Interesting. Of course, anything that's been canned will likely taste different than the fresh product.

One cup of canned pumpkin, for example, contains 137 calories but provides more than 200 percent of the daily value for vitamin A, 36 percent of vitamin K, 25 percent of fiber and 22 percent of vitamin E. It's also a good source of vitamin B6, vitamin C, magnesium, riboflavin, iron and potassium.

If you're seeking an alternative for pumpkin pie, look no further than butternut squash – you'll likely never go back.

As it turns out, even though pumpkin purée makers write pumpkin on the can, it's actually a strain of Dickinson squash. And the closest produce relative to it isn't even pumpkin. It's butternut squash.

Incorporating pumpkin into meals can help in fulfilling your daily vegetable requirement. It can also be used as a replacement to make some indulgent recipes more nutritious.

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Ingredients

For the filling: cooked pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt.

How Many Cups in a Can of Pumpkin, Really? Fifteen ounces of canned pumpkin is just shy of 2 cups (16 ounces would be 2 cups). By comparison, a 3-pound pie pumpkin will likely give you enough puree for a recipe that calls for a can of pumpkin.