How to cook a small whole pumpkin in the instant pot. This instant pot pumpkin recipe is easy to follow, is delicious and perfect for using up those small pumpkins.

You will love how easy it is to cook pumpkin in the instant pot, and then serve it with dinner tonight for a light veggie dish.

This is an updated post. We originally shared with you all about instant pot pumpkin for Halloween 2019. Today we have a better recipe with better tips and better photos and have upgraded our instant pot.

instant pot pumpkin recipe
Instant Pot Pumpkin Recipe
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Instant Pot Whole Pumpkin

At Halloween nobody ever wants the small whole pumpkins, do they?

They get left in the supermarket, left in the field, as everyone wants to find the biggest pumpkin that they can take home and carve.

But those little whole pumpkins are cheap as chips because they are unwanted and will last quite a while in a cool pantry for you to enjoy at a later date.

Even better, those little pumpkins are fantastic for cooking whole in the instant pot. Just like you do with instant pot butternut squash.

You can then slice them up, remove the pumpkin seeds and tuck in.

It’s a delicious and simple way to enjoy pumpkin and even better, they make a fantastic vegetable for dinner and just load them up with instant pot sloppy joes filling for the perfect instant pot dinner.  

Are You New To The Instant Pot?

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Plus, as well as our extremely popular instant pot mini course which teaches you the instant pot basics in 5 days, we also have our instant pot bucket list. That is loaded with 30 FREE bucket list worthy instant pot recipes.

Click here or on the banner above and you will have access to both in an instant.

Can You Cook Pumpkin In The Instant Pot?

Yes, you can cook pumpkin in the instant pot, and you will love it.

Pumpkin is fantastic in the instant pot and pressure cooking, cooks the pumpkin much quicker than other methods and still keeps the flavour.

You can make instant pot pumpkin puree for our air fryer pumpkin pie, you can cut pumpkin into cubes and steam it, you can make pumpkin soup, or even use some pumpkin in a stew.

What Is Pumpkin In A Pressure Cooker Like?

Very flavoursome. What the instant pot does is steam your vegetables. This means that your veggies retain their flavour and don’t go bland like they do when you boil veggies on the stovetop.

Even better, you can just season your pressure cooker pumpkin with salt and pepper, and something seasonal like cinnamon and then its ready for eating.

The Instant Pot For Pumpkin

People often ask me why we have the 8 qt instant pot and not JUST the 6qt with us being a family of four and feeding 2 young kids every day.

Well, we have this 8qt instant pot because it will hold a whole pumpkin and pressure cook it to perfection, without having to force down the lid.

We also have it for other large items that wont fit in our 6qt instant pot, such as when we want to cook a large whole chicken or an instant pot turkey crown.

If you too, want to do a large whole chicken, or pumpkin at Halloween then note the instant pot size.

My Obsession With Instant Pot Veggies

This pumpkin instant pot recipe is not my first instant pot veggie and I doubt it will be my last.

The first thing we ever cooked in our instant pot, was instant pot broccoli and since then we have cooked more and more different veggies.

Such as instant pot cabbage, instant pot cauliflower, instant pot carrots, instant pot green beans, instant pot rutabaga, instant pot asparagus and instant pot brussel sprouts.

We also love our frozen veggies in the instant pot and our favourite is instant pot frozen broccoli, followed by instant pot frozen veggies mix and instant pot frozen corn on the cob.

The reason I am mentioning all these delicious veggies, is that you can learn one in the instant pot and then rinse and repeat and it’s a great skill to learn in the instant pot, especially if you are new to pressure cooking.

Would you like easy & amazing instant pot recipes from instant pot experts? Click here and join the Recipe This Newsletter. We will then send you the BEST instant pot beginner recipes direct to your email inbox along with other useful instant pot resources.

Pumpkin Instant Pot Ingredients

pumpkin instant pot ingredients

Pumpkin – You will want any small whole pumpkin that you know will fit in the instant pot.

Seasoning – Then once the pumpkin is cooked, you will want your favourite seasoning to add to it before serving. If its Halloween time I love to add, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and some nutmeg.

Then for the kitchen gadgets that we have used in this pumpkin instant pot recipe it has just been our Instant Pot. We have this one and it’s my favourite and great for a lot of different instant pot veggie recipes.

Plus, we recommend you head over to our instant pot recipes category as we have many electric pressure cooker recipes and have been using instant pots for 5 years.

How To Cook Pumpkin In Instant Pot?

instant pot pumpkin step by step
  • Water. Place a cup of water (240ml) in the bottom of your instant pot and then sit your whole pumpkin in the instant pot on the trivet.
  • Cook. Place the lid on the instant pot, set the valve to sealing and pressure cook your whole pumpkin for 17 minutes, followed by a quick pressure release.
  • Finish. Remove the pumpkin and slice it in half lengthways and remove the seeds. Then season to your liking and then serve.

And I am sure you can see now how simple and easy it is to cook pumpkin in instant pot and why you should be doing the same.

How Long To Cook Pumpkin In Instant Pot?

I love the fact that cooking pumpkin in instant pot takes JUST 17 minutes. This is similar to the cook time of a whole butternut squash and its perfect for serving at mealtimes for a low carb alternative and for someone like me that loves the paleo diet.

What you can do is serve this with Bolognese (or something similar) in the seeds gap and it makes a fantastic fun dinner.

Listen To Instant Pot Pumpkin

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Can You Freeze Instant Pot Pumpkin?

If you are on Slimming World then spicy rice is ideal. There is only a small quantity of extra virgin olive oil in both the marinade and the spicy rice.

And beyond this, everything else is Syn Free.

More Pumpkin Recipes For Halloween

instant pot pumpkin

Your pumpkin in the instant pot recipe is below, note you can print it out with or without photos, adjust servings, or click between metric and imperial depending on where you are in the world.

Though before you do, don’t forget to subscribe, and grab your FREE VIP Pass to Recipe This. You will get access to our latest recipes first, you will be able to request recipes, you will have access to free mini courses, free instant pot ebooks and useful instant pot cook time charts and so much more.

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5 from 1 vote

Instant Pot Pumpkin

How to cook a small whole pumpkin in the instant pot. This instant pot pumpkin recipe is easy to follow, is delicious and perfect for using up those small pumpkins.
Prep Time: 2 minutes
Cook Time: 17 minutes
0 minutes
Total Time: 19 minutes
Servings: 2

Ingredients 

  • 1 Whole Pumpkin
  • 1 Tsp Cinnamon
  • Pinch Nutmeg
  • Salt & Pepper

Kitchen Gadgets

Instructions 

  • Place 1 cup (240ml) of water into the bottom of your instant pot pressure cooker. Then add in your trivet and place your whole pumpkin on the trivet.
    How To Cook Pumpkin In Instant Pot?
  • Set the valve to sealing and cook for 17 minutes, followed by a quick pressure release, then remove the lid.
    How To Cook Pumpkin In Instant Pot?
  • Use the handles of the trivet to remove the pumpkin from the pressure cooker.
    How To Cook Pumpkin In Instant Pot?
  • Put the whole pumpkin on a chopping board and slice it lengthways.
    How To Cook Pumpkin In Instant Pot?
  • Remove the seeds with a spoon and then season.
    How To Cook Pumpkin In Instant Pot?

Video

YouTube video

Notes

Seeds. The wonderful thing about the seeds is that they scoop out really easily once cooked with a spoon.
Thanks for reading our instant pot pumpkin recipe on Recipe This. We have many more instant pot recipes for you to check out next. Though if you would like to see more instant pot vegetables then do check out our instant pot butternut squash next.

Nutrition

Calories: 179kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.04g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 7mg | Potassium: 2316mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 57891IU | Vitamin C: 61mg | Calcium: 153mg | Iron: 6mg
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!

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About Sam & Dom

Hi! I am Sam and along with my chef hubby Dom we love sharing with you easy everyday recipes using kitchen gadgets. We are also the authors of The Complete Air Fryer Cookbook, an amazing air fryer cookbook filled with 140+ everyday air fryer recipes.

Beyond the air fryer we also love the instant pot, slow cooker, soup maker, ninja foodi, pie maker and several other kitchen gadgets.

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1 Comment

  1. 5 stars
    Perfect i love pumpkin mash, better for you than potato as not as many carbs and mine came out just like yours did. Thanks.