Pumpkin guts are the seeds, the slimy strings, and the soft pulp inside a pumpkin. All three are useful. Roast or save the seeds. Cook the strings and pulp into puree, stock, or juice. Use the guts for kids’ crafts and sensory play. Compost whatever is left. Guts from an uncarved pumpkin are safe to cook. Guts from a carved jack-o’-lantern that sat out are not. Scoop the guts into a clean bowl as soon as you cut the pumpkin open. Then refrigerate or cook them within two hours.
What to do with pumpkin guts
Here is the short version of the 29 ideas below.
- Eat it: roasted seeds, puree, bread, stock, soup, hummus, pasta, drinks, and baking.
- Kids and crafts: a vomiting jack-o’-lantern, sensory bags, slime, seed crafts, and pulp stamps.
- Beauty: a sugar scrub, a face mask, and a hair mask.
- Garden: save seeds for next year and compost the rest.
Pumpkin guts food safety
Use the guts from a pumpkin before you carve it, not after. Michigan State University Extension says a carved pumpkin is a perishable food. Once it sits at room temperature for more than two hours, it is not safe to eat. Dust, critters, and daytime sun add to the risk. Seeds are the exception. Seeds from any pumpkin can be washed and roasted. (Michigan State University Extension)
Purdue Extension says to refrigerate cooked pumpkin and use it within 3 to 4 days. Pumpkin puree freezes for up to one year. Freeze it in one-cup portions with a half inch of space at the top of each container. (Purdue Extension)
Do not can pumpkin puree or pumpkin butter at home. The UC Master Food Preserver Program says there is no tested method for either. Keep them in the fridge or freezer. (UC Master Food Preserver Program)
Smaller pie pumpkins give sweeter, meatier pulp than big carving pumpkins. See my list of the best pumpkins for pie if you want a pumpkin for cooking.
Eat it: pumpkin guts recipes
1. Roast pumpkin seeds for snacking
Set the seeds aside before you scrape the walls of the pumpkin. Rinse off the strings. Toss the seeds with oil and salt. The University of Florida suggests roasting them on a sheet pan at 250°F (121°C) for 10 to 15 minutes. Try cinnamon and sugar for a sweet batch, or garlic or chili powder for a savory one. (UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions)
2. Make homemade pumpkin gut puree
Some pumpkin varieties have only a few strings. Others are full of them. The strings look slimy, but they are edible once you separate them from the seeds.
Many ideas on this list start with puree. Cook the strings with the thicker pulp. Then blend them with a splash of filtered water in a high-powered blender or food processor until smooth.
“You can eat the stringy bits, once separated from the seeds.”
How to Eat a Whole Pumpkin, by Katherine Martinko for TreeHugger
3. Pumpkin gut bread
This pumpkin gut bread recipe from Eating Richly turns the strings and pulp into a quick bread topped with pecans. Sprinkle a little pumpkin pie spice on top before baking.
4. Veggie stock with pumpkin guts
Simmer the pumpkin guts with onion ends, carrot peels, and celery tops. Strain it and use it in any recipe that calls for vegetable stock.
The Rouge Vif d’Etampes pumpkin is a classic French soup pumpkin.
5. Juice the pumpkin guts
Run the pulp through a juicer. Drink the juice on its own or add it to smoothies. Freeze extra juice in an ice cube tray and drop a cube into a smoothie later.
6. Pumpkin gut bisque
Make a thick pumpkin bisque with your puree, or a thin soup with the stock from idea 4. Serve it in a hollowed pumpkin like this pumpkin bisque in a pumpkin shell. Top it with sour cream and roasted pumpkin seeds.
7. Harvest pumpkin hummus
Add pumpkin puree to homemade hummus. Top it with toasted pumpkin seeds. This roasted garlic and rosemary pumpkin hummus from Pinch of Yum is my favorite pumpkin hummus recipe.
8. Pumpkin walnut rigatoni
Stir puree into a creamy pasta sauce. This pumpkin walnut rigatoni is a good place to start. Serve it in half of a small roasted pumpkin.
9. Pumpkin spice oatmeal
Stir a spoonful of puree into a pot of oatmeal. Add cinnamon and nutmeg.
10. Pumpkin power balls
These pumpkin oat energy bites use pumpkin puree and oats. Keep them in the fridge for a quick snack.
11. Homemade pumpkin spice latte
Whisk a spoonful of puree into hot milk with pumpkin pie spice. Add espresso or strong coffee. Top it with whipped cream and caramel sauce.
12. Apple pumpkin cider
Simmer the pumpkin guts in water. Strain out the guts. Add McIntosh apple juice and fall spices to the pot and serve it hot.
13. Pumpkin burgers
Blend pumpkin pulp with other cooked vegetables and a binder, such as breadcrumbs or egg. Shape the mix into patties and cook them like any veggie burger.
14. Pumpkin pulp fries
Slice the thick pulp into sticks. Toss them with oil and salt. Bake them the same way as oven potato fries. Serve them with the pumpkin burgers.
15. Pumpkin butter
Make pumpkin butter with your extra puree and spread it on toast. Store it in the fridge or freezer. Pumpkin butter is not safe to can at home.
16. Pumpkin gut doughnuts
Use pumpkin puree in these baked pumpkin doughnuts. Serve them with a mug of apple pumpkin cider.
17. Pumpkin gut kombucha
Flavor homemade kombucha with a spoonful of cooked pumpkin puree, a splash of apple juice, and fall spices.
18. Add cut-out pulp shapes to puree
Add the pieces you cut out while carving to the pot of puree. Roast or stew them first, or cook them in a high-powered blender. Use only pieces you cut fresh and cooked within two hours.
19. Pumpkin dog treats
Use plain cooked pumpkin from an uncarved pumpkin for dog treats. Skip the sugar and spices. The American Kennel Club says pumpkin pie mix can contain xylitol, which is toxic to dogs, (AKC). The AKC also says pumpkin spice treats can upset a dog’s stomach. (AKC on pumpkin spice) This pumpkin dog treat recipe from Food with Feeling uses pumpkin puree. Ask your vet before you add pumpkin to your dog’s diet.
Kids and crafts with pumpkin guts
20. A vomiting jack-o’-lantern
Set the guts aside and carve a wide open mouth. Once the jack-o’-lantern sits on the porch, pile the guts in front of the mouth so it looks like the pumpkin is throwing up. Here is a vomiting pumpkin gallery for ideas. For more carving designs, see my scary pumpkin faces.
21. Sensory bag for toddlers
Fill a tub with pumpkin guts. Toddlers can practice fine motor skills by picking the seeds out of the strings.
For less mess, put the guts in a large zip-top bag. Push out the air and seal it flat. Tape it to a table or tray for squishing.
22. Pumpkin slime
You can make pumpkin slime with real pumpkin guts. Crafty Morning has another pumpkin guts slime recipe that uses contact solution.
23. Pumpkin seed arts and crafts
Dry the seeds and paint them. Thread them into a necklace or bracelet. Glue them onto cardboard for a fall mosaic. String them with nuts and berries for a hanging bird feeder.
24. Pumpkin pulp stamps
Dip the shapes you cut out of the jack-o’-lantern in orange paint and stamp them on paper. Add a few fall leaves as stamps too.
Beauty uses for pumpkin guts
25. Pumpkin sugar body scrub
Blend pumpkin puree with coarse sugar and honey for a body scrub. Here is a recipe for a DIY pumpkin sugar body scrub.
26. Face mask
Mix pumpkin puree with honey for a face mask. Add ground coffee for texture.
27. Hair mask
Rocky Mountain Soap shares a DIY pumpkin hair mask made with pumpkin puree.
Garden uses for pumpkin guts
28. Find and save the best pumpkin seeds
Pick out the biggest, thickest seeds first. Rinse them and dry them on a plate. Plant them next summer. My guide on how to save pumpkin seeds walks through each step. Then read up on how to grow organic pumpkins.
29. Compost
Add the leftover guts and skins to your compost. Mix them with shredded fall leaves, or add them to a pile of leaf mold.
Save the seeds for next year
If you grew the pumpkin yourself and it is not a hybrid, the seeds in those guts are next year’s crop. Some links earn me a commission at no cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Seed envelopes
Dry the seeds on a plate for two weeks, then store them in small kraft envelopes labelled with the variety and the year.
A storage box
A seed organizer box keeps the envelopes dry and sorted until spring.
Seeds for a variety you did not grow
True Leaf Market and Botanical Interests sell the pie, carving, and giant varieties from my types of pumpkins list.
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