What can I substitute for pumpkin?
Running low on pumpkin? Here are the best verified substitutes, including how to adjust your measurements.
About pumpkin
Pumpkin is a dense, sweet-fleshed gourd used widely in both savoury and sweet cooking. Its mild, earthy sweetness and smooth texture make it ideal for soups, curries, roasting, and baked goods such as pies and muffins. Australian pumpkins such as Jap (Kent), Butternut, and Queensland Blue are particularly prized for their rich flavour and dry flesh.
Best substitute
Butternut Pumpkin
Butternut pumpkin has a very similar sweetness and smooth texture to most cooking pumpkins, making it an almost seamless swap in soups, purees, roasting, and baking. Its slightly higher moisture content means roasting times may be marginally shorter.
Use 1 cup for every 1 cup
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Alternative
Sweet Potato
Sweet potato delivers a comparable sweetness, dense flesh, and vibrant orange colour, working well as a substitute in both savoury dishes and baked goods. It is slightly sweeter and moister than pumpkin, so you may wish to reduce added sugar slightly in sweet recipes.
Use 1 cup for every 1 cup — consider reducing sugar slightly in sweet recipes
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Alternative
Acorn Squash
Acorn squash has a mildly sweet, nutty flavour and firm flesh that roasts and purees well in place of pumpkin. Its flavour is slightly less sweet and more vegetal, so it suits savoury applications particularly well.
What is pumpkin called in other countries?
| Country | Name |
|---|---|
| Australia | pumpkin |
| Canada | squash / pumpkin |
| New Zealand | pumpkin |
| United Kingdom | pumpkin / squash |
| United States | winter squash / pumpkin |
Common names for pumpkin
Kent pumpkinJap pumpkinQueensland Bluebutternut squashwinter squashcushaw