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This easy, festive Dinner in a Pumpkin recipe turns a pumpkin into a cozy casserole-style meal with ground beef, rice, vegetables, and of course, cooked pumpkin! It’s fall magic in a dish!
“This is my family’s all-time favorite recipe! We count down the days until pumpkin season, and then seriously fix this at least twice a month throughout the fall.
I’ve always doubled the sauce ingredients, it packs in more flavor.
Thanks for sharing this recipe!!” – Abby
What is Dinner in a Pumpkin?
Dinner in a Pumpkin is just that – a warm, casserole-style dinner baked right inside a pumpkin. It’s my favorite dish to make on Halloween night. The kids love the idea of eating their dinner out of a pumpkin, and I love that it fills them up with a hearty meal before they trick-or-treat.
The best part of this dinner is that the pumpkin shell cooks along with the casserole. Before serving, you scoop tender chunks of pumpkin from the sides and stir them into the casserole. The pumpkin is sweet and tender, similar to butternut squash. It adds the perfect autumn flavor and color.
If you love this idea, be sure to check out our Soup in a Pumpkin recipe. Also, see our Halloween Dinner Menu for more spooky-fun sides and desserts your family will love.
🧡 Echo
Table of Contents
Ingredients Needed
- Pumpkin: This is the key ingredient of dinner in a pumpkin. And yes, you will use the entire pumpkin! Make sure to pick a medium pumpkin (about 5-7 lbs) with a flat bottom so it will sit upright on a baking sheet.
- Cooked Rice: You can use white or brown rice or quinoa. They all work great!
- Sautéed Vegetables and Herbs: Diced onion, celery, mushrooms, and garlic are sautéed in butter to add a savory taste to the filling.
- Ground Beef: Ground turkey or ground pork can also be used. See vegetarian options below.
- Seasonings: Sage and thyme.
- Water Chestnuts: This adds a nice crunch to the filling, but can be left out if you prefer.
- Sauce: The rich sauce for this casserole includes brown sugar, cream of chicken soup, soy sauce, vinegar, and salt & pepper.
How to Cook Dinner in a Pumpkin
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Then, work on your pumpkin. Clean and dry the top and sides of the pumpkin. Next, carve a hole in the top to make a lid. Angle your knife into the center of the pumpkin so that the pumpkin lid stays on during baking. Then, scoop out all the seeds and pulp.
- In a large skillet, sauté the vegetables and then brown the beef. Next, drain the grease from the meat. Then, add salt, pepper, and water chestnuts.
- In a large bowl, mix brown sugar, cream of chicken soup, soy sauce, vinegar, and salt & pepper. T
- Add the beef mixture and the cooked rice to the sauce. Stir until everything is coated in the sauce.
- Spoon the filling into the pumpkin.
- Replace the pumpkin lid. Place the pumpkin on a foil lined cookie sheet. It will be heavy so be careful.
- Bake for an hour and fifteen minutes. The pumpkin should turn a deep reddish orange color. Check the inside of the pumpkin, it should scrape off easily. If it is still tough, bake for another 15 minutes and check again. Baking times can vary depending on the thickness of the pumpkin.
- Before serving, mix the casserole around and scrape the sides of the pumpkin so the meat of the pumpkin gets mixed in with the casserole.
Variations and Substitutions
Vegetarian Dinner in a Pumpkin
- Swap ground beef for lentils, beans, or a plant-based ground beef (like Impossible Ground Beef Meat From Plants).
- Use cream of celery or mushroom soup in place of cream of chicken soup.
Turkey or Chicken
- Use ground turkey or diced rotisserie chicken for a lighter version.
Sausage & Wild Rice
- Use Italian or chicken sausage and wild rice for a hearty, slightly smoky flavor. Use a hot sausage to add some spice.
Low Carb / More Veggies
- Replace part or all of the rice with cauliflower rice. Add spinach and extra mushrooms.
Mini Pumpkins (Dinner for Two, or for Kids)
- Use small pumpkins to customize individual stuffed pumpkins. Reduce baking time to adjust for the smaller size.
- Use a smaller pumpkin to make “dinner in a pumpkin for two.” Halve the filling recipe or freeze the extra filling recipe to make it again.
Make it Ahead
You can easily make the filling ahead of time – this is especially helpful if you are planning to serve it on Halloween night. Prepare the filling according to the recipe up to 24 hours in advance. Refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to use. The pumpkin can also be cleaned and prepared up to a day ahead. It should also be kept in the fridge (separately) for freshness until ready to use. Scoop the filling into the pumpkin while the oven is pre-heating and bake according to the instructions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Look for a medium-sized (about 5-7 pounds) sugar pumpkin or pie pumpkin – they’re sweet, tender, and the right size for baking in the oven. A carving pumpkin can also be used. Take extra care to make sure your pumpkin will stand upright for baking in the oven.
Yes! It’s the best part! The pumpkin cooks in the oven and tastes great with the casserole as well as on its own. Our soup in a pumpkin recipe is similar recipe where the pumpkin cooks along with the soup.
It’s easy! Use plant-based ground beef (Impossible or Beyond Meat), lentils, or beans and cream of celery or cream of mushroom soup.
Yes, you can prepare the casserole filling up to a day in advance and store it in the fridge. See the “make it ahead” instructions above.
Scrape the cooked pumpkin from the inside of the pumpkin and stir it into the leftover casserole. Keep the leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can also freeze the leftover filling for up to 2 months.
More Pumpkin Recipes
Now that you have a Dinner in a Pumpkin, serve some of these sweet pumpkin treats for dessert! Our Nothing Bundt Cake Pumpkin Bundt Cake, Pumpkin Pasties, and Easy Pumpkin Trifle make great recipes for holiday sweets. See more pumpkin recipes below.
Did your pumpkin dinner get rave reviews? Tell us how it turned out in the comments below, and give it a star rating. We’d love to hear what you think! 🎃
Dinner in a Pumpkin
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pumpkin, medium
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 onion, small, diced
- 1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced (canned mushrooms also work)
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon dried sage
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
- 8 ounces water chestnuts
- salt and pepper
- 10 ounces cream of chicken soup
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 4 cups cooked rice, white or brown
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Thoroughly wash and dry the outside of the pumpkin. Cut the top off the pumpkin and clean out the pulp and seeds. Place the pumpkin on the baking sheet. Save the top.
- In a large skillet, sauté onion, celery, mushrooms, and garlic in butter. Add ground beef, sage, and thyme and cook until the beef is no longer pink. Drain the grease from the beef. Add salt, pepper, and water chestnuts.
- In a large bowl, mix soup, brown sugar, vinegar, and soy sauce.
- Add ground beef mixture and cooked rice to the bowl. Mix until everything is evenly coated with sauce. Empty bowl into the cleaned out pumpkin and replace pumpkin top. Bake for 1 hour on the lower rack of the oven, or on the rack where the pumpkin can be most centered in the oven.
- After 1 hour and 15 minutes, remove the top and check the sides of the pumpkin for doneness. The outside of the pumpkin will turn a dark orange, and the inside of the pumpkin should be tender and easily scoop off the sides with a spoon.
- If the inside of the pumpkin is still not fully cooked, bake for an additional 10-15 minutes. The cooking time will vary depending on the size of the pumpkin. Sometimes I've cooked the pumpkin as long as an hour and a half before it is ready.
- Using hot pads, place the pumpkin onto a serving plate, remove the lid, and stir. Be sure to scoop off chunks of cooked pumpkin into the casserole as it is served. That's the best part!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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We want to hear from you! Please leave a review.
When does the rice get added? I’ve read through each step 4 times and I’m so confused
The rice is added along with the ground beef mixture to the sauce. Step 4 reads: Add ground beef mixture and cooked rice to the bowl (meaning the bowl of sauce with the soups, brown sugar, vinegar, and soy sauce). I’ll fix that on the recipe to make it more clear. Thank you for your comment!
This is my family’s all-time favorite recipe! We count down the days until pumpkin season, and then seriously fix this at least twice a month throughout the fall.
I’ve always doubled the sauce ingredients, it packs in more flavor.
Thanks for sharing this recipe!!
In 2022 I used all locally sourced meat and vegies and pumpkin. I made one with and one without meat. The crowd loved it! And there was no big roasting pans to clean .
This year I am gathering the ingredients to make them again.
Thank You for this recipe, can’t wait to try it!
A little bit of work, but the result was really delicious!
Having cooked for many many years, I knew That a tablespoon of Sage and a tablespoon of thyme would be way too much and would be overpowering. So I cut the amount to 1 teaspoon. A third of what it called for. I served it at a family party and only got complaints that it was too overpowered with sage and thyme!! Imagine if I had put the entire tablespoon!! If I made it again I would cut the sage and thyme down to a half teaspoon each.
Glad you were able to make this recipe to your liking! We all have different tastes and preferences.
I do not see the cream of chicken soup being used in the cooking instructions.
It is in step #6! I hope this helps!
In step 3, it says add the soup.
I rhink that a vegetarian version could contain some beans or lentils in place of the ground beef. Brans and a grain will afford complete protein to the dish. Switching out creal of mushroom soup for the cream of chicken id easy. For more flavor cook the rice (or use barley) in vegetable stock.
Love this Recipe!!
What is the vegetarian version?
Thank you
To make this recipe vegetarian, omit the ground beef and replace the cream of chicken soup with cream of mushroom soup. Hope this helps!
Family favorite for years. Goes fast. Never knew pumpkin was soooo good!
What a great fall recipe! Loved all the flavors
Ok, this is the most festive, flavorful recipe I have seen!! So fun and delicious!
My vegetarian Dinner in a Pumpkin is baking right now. I love this idea for a casserole.
Thank you.
How fun! Let us know how you like the vegetarian version! Happy Halloween!
My Grandkids will LOVE this. Can pasta be substituted for the rice?
Thanks, Lynne
You could substitute pasta, but it will become very mushy while the pumpkin is cooking. If you want to use pasta instead of rice, cook the pasta just before the pumpkin is done cooking and then stir in the pasta just before you serve the dinner. Thanks for asking!
Can this be made the day before & partially baked? I’m worried about the cooking time!
That is a good question. I’ve never partially baked it and then baked it more later. If you are worried about the cooking time, it is better to have it in the oven longer than shorter. You will be safe planning on an hour and a half for the cooking time. I’ve actually adjusted this in the recipe. If it is fully cooked and you are not quite ready to eat, the dinner inside the pumpkin will stay plenty warm outside of the oven for up to 30 minutes if you keep the lid on. You can make the filling for the pumpkin a day ahead and keep it in the fridge, and then scoop it into the pumpkin the next day when you are ready to cook it. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any more questions.
I am making this tonight, I am using a white pumpkin..I will let you know how it comes out!
I can’t wait to hear how it looks and tastes with a white pumpkin!
It tasted good, took a little bit longer too cook though!
I hope you’re still around, because I have a question! This looks great but there’s no indication of how many servings you made this recipe for.
This makes about 8 servings. Hope this helps!
Sadly mine took over 2.5 hours to cook and it’s still not quite done (the pumpkin is still stringy). Any tips for me? I’ve done these twice and both times it didn’t cook in the time it was supposed to. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.
This is kind of tricky– have you had problems with your oven not cooking hot enough. You could try increasing the temperature by 25-degrees and see if that helps? Let us know if that works for you.
Try using a pie pumpkin, they cook up better.
I’m wondering what side dishes you serve with this? Thanks!
You could do steamed green beans, a green salad, or any steamed veggies in general. Hope this helps!
Hey Ladies-You Know I’m making this w/ the Pumpkin Poke Cake for Dessert! I’ve been wanting to stuff a Pumpkin for a while now-so this weekend- I’ll be having this .Thanks so much for all of the great recipes you share. : )
Thanks so much for all your nice comments, Karen! Let us know how you like it!
This looks so cool! I wish my kids liked pumpkin…I know they’re weird right? I may make this for my Halloween party. Thanks!
You could still make this for your kids, and not mix in the chunks of pumpkin until after you’ve scooped their portion out…just an idea! I’m glad you like the idea! Thank you for your comment!
I just made this and loved it! I changed just 2 things, I don’t like to add sugar to stuff so I eliminated the brown sugar and replaced the soy sauce with worchestersire. So Good, thank you!
I make this with beef stew. It is delicious. I lightly oil the outside of the pumpkin and it makes a wonderfully colored pumpkin. I usually make a sling out of aluminum foil and place the pumpkin lid on it. Much easier to remove the lid after baking
Do you have some ideas for me to make the stuffing paleo-friendly? Thanks!
Hmmm… this is a great question. None of us have done the paleo thing so I’m not sure what to recommend. If you make substitutions to make it paleo-friendly, come back and let us know! We would love to hear!
Will the pumpkin leak?
No, it shouldn’t leak if there aren’t any holes in the rind. Hope this helps!
Do you think that you could use this idea for stuffing?
I think it would work for stuffing. The trick will be getting the amount of liquid right in your recipe. You will want to make sure your bread is at your preferred level of “moistness” before you put it in the pumpkin. It’s a great idea!
This is so similar to the recipe I just shared, but different. They must have come from the same place years ago! Your picture is so pretty! My pumpkin was too big, and I had to put a bowl inside to “lift up” the food for the picture, ha!
haha thanks, it’s not easy getting an appetizing shot of food in a pumpkin lol! I think your picture looks great! The color is so vibrant!
What size or weight is considered a medium pumpkin? I’m hoping to make this for coworkers this week.
It’s hard to say an exact size. I try to pick a pumpkin that is about the size of a basketball. I’ve used pumpkins that are taller and skinnier than that and pumpkins bigger and smaller. The good news is it doesn’t have to be exactly the perfect size. If there is some room left at the top, it’s fine. The ingredients that go inside of the pumpkin are already cooked, and it won’t burn inside the pumpkin. The desired result is for the pumpkin to cook so you can mix it in with the casserole. Good luck! I think your co-workers are going to love it!
what can I sub for the mushrooms?
You can probably just leave them out if you don’t like them
I use green peppers as a sub
When you say 4 cups cooked rice, is that 4 cups of rice before cooking or after?
I can’t wait to try this, but don’t want to overwhelm it with rice!
Thanks
It is 4 c. of rice after it has been cooked. 🙂
This looks so fun….does this calling for “baking” pumpkins or can I use a regular pumpkin? Thanks! Linda
You just use a regular pumpkin but I am sure a baking pumpkin would work fine, too.
How many people will this feed? I’m having a dinner party of 6!
This recipe will serve 8 generously. Enjoy!
I always use a baking pumpkin or pie pumpkin and it comes out amazing!
INTERESTING… And they look sooooo yummy too!! I love anything pumpkin, and since it’s just me and the hubby, I’m wondering if it might make more sense to scale this down a bit and prepare it in two small/”personal size” pumpkins?? Though it might make for double the work preparing the pumpkins… How do you think this might work, and how might oven temps/times change? LOVE your site!! THANKS!!!
Valinohio
You can definitely prepare it in smaller pumpkins. I think it’s a great idea! Still cook the pumpkins at 350 degrees, but watch them closely after about 30 minutes. You will start to smell the pumpkin when it starts to cook. After 30 minutes, start to check the pumpkin every 10 minutes or so until it is done. It really depends on the thickness of the pumpkin. The pumpkin turns a darker orange and it is easy to insert a fork. Good luck and thank you for visiting our site!
Well, I found this recipe and was just scrolling through and saw who posted the recipe 🥰 hello old friend!! I love this dinner! Would love to hear from you! It has been way too long!
Hi Jennifer! I will send you an email!
Hi again Jennifer – I was blocked by your email. Please email me at echo@favfamilyrecipes so we can catch up!
This recipe gets made every year sometimes twice and it never fails to be gone by the next day….small difference in the recipe I like to cover the inside of the pumpkin all over with butter and the brown sugar coated all over instead of adding brown sugar to the soup…it sweetens the bits of pumpkin you scoop out and leaves the mixture more savory!
Can you do this using individual pumpkins for each person. If so, how do you adjust the cooking time.
You probably could, we haven’t done it that way before — if you try it, let us know the adjustments you made and how it turned out!!
Can I substitute shredded chicken instead of ground beef?
I haven’t tried it that way, but I’m sure it would be fine!