Did you buy tons of beautiful pumpkins for Halloween decor only to wonder what to do with them now that Halloween is over?
How many pumpkins are wasted on Halloween?
In the UK each year, more than 8 million pumpkins are wasted after Halloween. About 40% of people buy pumpkins to carve as Halloween decor, and 60% of these people throw their pumpkins away when Halloween is over.
It’s easy to think of pumpkins purely as Halloween or fall decor but they’re food first. And unfortunately contribute to the huge amount of food waste each year through no fault of their own.
What do you do with pumpkins after Halloween?
The uses for pumpkins are truly endless and delicious, especially when you start to think of pumpkins as food and not just decor.
You can stop feeling guilty about buying too many gorgeous pumpkins for Halloween now that you’ll know to how use them to their full potential.
Here are the ultimate zero waste ways to use pumpkins after Halloween.
Local farms
Many local farms will accept donations of pumpkins as a treat for their animals after Halloween. Call a local farm ahead of time to make sure they will welcome the gift and drop it off. You can even ask the farmer if you can watch the animals eat the pumpkins with your kids. It never hurts to ask!
Compost
If you have a backyard compost pile, chop up your pumpkin, turn it in, and let the worms get to work. If you don’t have a compost pile, find a neighbor or friend who does and give it to them. Local farms and community gardens also have compost piles and might accept your pumpkins. Contact them ahead of time to make sure.
Eat Them
My favorite way to use pumpkins after Halloween is to eat them! You can eat both the meat and seeds for a seasonal feast. The first step to eating pumpkins is to make a puree from the flesh.
Homemade Pumpkin Puree
- 1 pumpkin
- 1 cookie sheet
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Cut pumpkin in half
Scoop out guts and seeds and set aside
Place pumpkin halves face down on cookie sheet
Roast for about 40 minutes or until pumpkin is completely soft (soft enough for a knife to go right in)
After the pumpkin is soft, scoop the flesh into a food processor and process until smooth.
Once you have a smooth pumpkin puree you can freeze it until you’re ready to make pumpkin lasagna, pumpkin pie, and pumpkin bread. Or use it right away for whatever delicious pumpkin recipe you’ve selected.
Don’t throw away the pumpkin seeds! Remember the guts and seeds you put to the side?
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
- pumpkin seeds
- salt
- pepper
- olive oil
- cookie sheet
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Separate the guts from the seeds and rinse seeds well.
Once the seeds are clean, dry well and spread on a cookie sheet
Drizzle olive oil, salt, and pepper on seeds and mix well
Roast the seeds for about 10-15 minutes or until light brown
Enjoy as a simple side dish or addicting snack
Now that you know the ultimate zero waste ways to use pumpkins after Halloween I’m sure you’ll stock up next year just for the end results.
What happens to your pumpkins after Halloween?
Share your tips down below!
Sabrina
November 11, 2020 2:55 amI love that you not only shared tips about what to do with the pumpkins, but also recipes! I use pumpkin puree all the time and it didn’t cross my mind to save the meat!
Also – pumpkin lasagna sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing these great tips!
Mrs. Cherry
November 11, 2020 3:47 amWe have a compost pile in our backyard so we tossed it there. It’s pretty interesting watching the process! We put it in whole. Lol.
Bri
November 11, 2020 3:49 amWe just threw out our pumpkins tonight 🙁 Next year they will be pureed!
Samantha Laycock
November 11, 2020 4:30 amI will need to try to bake it next year and freeze the puree. I normally just compost ours.
Sydney
November 11, 2020 4:38 amWe usually just compost our pumpkins, I never even considered doing anything else with them. I’m going to have to keep this In mind next year!
Elisa
November 11, 2020 11:42 amReally like this. Composting is a great idea for not wasting it. Unopened pumpkins last a long time too, so they can still be used for food if they were just for decoration and hadn’t been cut open.
Sonia Seivwright
November 11, 2020 12:45 pmI pureed mine this year. Very nice.
Kimmy
November 11, 2020 2:35 pmWe usually just throw it away so this was a great read for me and gave me some ideas.
melissabasileo
November 12, 2020 9:45 pmI’m so glad you found this helpful!
Gervin Khan
November 11, 2020 3:40 pmThese a great tips and yes, like you we are eating our pumpkin a day after the Halloween if not we are giving it to my father for his animals.
Flossie | SuperMomHacks
November 11, 2020 5:25 pmWe have been EATING THEM!!! My girls esp love the seeds roasted. In fact, I just cut into another one last night. I recently learned that there are things you can do without having to cook/puree them first – our fave new recipe involves roasting peeled cubes, and then serving over pasta with cheese/browned butter with fresh sage leaves cooked in the butter as it browns. YUM!!!
melissabasileo
November 12, 2020 9:45 pmYou’re right – you could just roast them and they’re delicious that way too. Your recipe using sage and browned butter sounds so good! Thanks for sharing.
Clarice
November 11, 2020 7:28 pmThese are great ideas! I also feel bad when pumpkins go to waste thus, I am happy to have stumbled to your post. I am excited to make roasted pumpkin seeds. It’s actually my favorite but I have never thought of making my own. Thank you for sharing this.
melissabasileo
November 12, 2020 9:44 pmWe love roasted pumpkin seeds too! They’re a popular snack in my house, especially after Halloween!
Darla
November 12, 2020 2:06 amThat’s a crazy amount of wasted pumpkins! I used to chop my pumpkin up for the squirrels, but they’d never eat it so I’d just sprinkle it on my flower bed to slowly decompose. Now we have composting as part of our recycling so that is where it is going this year!
melissabasileo
November 12, 2020 9:44 pmI’m glad to hear you have a plan for your pumpkins after Halloween!
Cyndi Buchanan
November 12, 2020 2:41 pmAwesome ideas! I’m never quite sure what to do with pumpkins after Halloween.
melissabasileo
November 12, 2020 9:43 pmThanks! Hopefully now you’ll be able to use pumpkins after Halloween!
Marysa
November 13, 2020 2:53 amThese are great ways to use pumpkins without throwing them out and adding to landfills. We usually compost ours and somehow seeds up in there 🙂