Today is the most fall day of all fall days. The fall colors are at their peak here in Nashville, the air smells like wet leaves, it’s a little overcast and spooky looking, and it’s HALLOWEEN! So of course I had to go all in and make this Chipotle Pumpkin Pasta. This pasta is a little smoky, a little spicy, a little creamy, and lots of delicious. This easy tomato-free pasta sauce is a great way to shake up your pasta routine!
Make it a Meal
This recipe makes four small-ish servings, so I’d probably serve this with a big green side salad to make it a meal. If you need a little meat to make your meal feel complete, I think some browned Italian sausage or chorizo would be awesome in this pasta. You can brown the sausage in the skillet with the onion and garlic, then continue with the recipe as usual.
Pasta Optional
As I was making this sauce, I noted how good it was on its own and how I’d totally be open to eating it as a soup instead of a sauce on pasta. So yeah, you can totally skip the pasta if you want! (This would probably make about 2 servings of soup.)
You don’t have to wait until fall to make this super delish pasta dish! Stock up on canned pumpkin just after the season when prices are low, and make this Chipotle Pumpkin Pasta year-round.
Chipotle Pumpkin Pasta
Servings 4Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1/2 tsp chipotle powder ($0.05)
- 1 15oz. can pumpkin purée ($1.00)
- 1.5 cups chicken broth* ($0.20)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- freshly cracked pepper ($0.03)
- 8 oz. pasta ($0.75)
- 1/4 cup heavy cream ($0.21)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan ($0.44)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Sauté both in a skillet with the olive oil over medium heat, until the onion is soft and transparent (about 3-5 minutes).
- Add the chipotle powder to the onion and sauté for about one minute more. Finally, add the pumpkin purée, chicken broth, salt, and pepper to the skillet and stir until the ingredients are combined and smooth.
- Turn the heat down to medium-low and allow the sauce to simmer for 15 minutes. During that time, cook the pasta according to the package directions, then drain in a colander.
- Once the sauce has simmered for 15 minutes, turn the heat down to low and stir in the heavy cream. Add the cooked and drained pasta to the skillet, stir to combine with the sauce, and let it heat in the sauce over low for 2-3 minutes.
- Finally, stir in the grated Parmesan, top with a little cracked pepper, and serve.
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Notes
Nutrition
Love savory pumpkin recipes? You should also try our Spicy Coconut and Pumpkin Soup, Curried Red Lentil and Pumpkin Soup, or Easy Pumpkin Soup.
How to Make Chipotle Pumpkin Pasta – Step by Step Photos
Dice on yellow onion and mince two cloves of garlic. Sauté both in a skillet with 1 Tbsp olive oil, over medium heat, until the onion is soft and translucent.
Add 1/2 tsp chipotle powder and sauté for just a minute more…
Add one 15oz. can of pumpkin purée (NOT pumpkin pie filling, which is sweetened and spiced).
Add 1.5 cups chicken broth, 1/2 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper. Stir until everything is combined and the sauce is smooth. Turn the heat down to medium-low and let the sauce simmer for 15 minutes. While the sauce is simmering, cook 1/2 lb. pasta according to the package directions, then drain it in a colander.
Once the sauce has simmered down, turn the heat down to low, add 1/4 cup heavy cream, and stir to combine.
Add the cooked and drained pasta back to the sauce and stir to combine. Let the pasta heat in the sauce for 2-3 minutes.
Add 1/4 cup grated Parmesan…
Stir the Parmesan into the Chipotle Pumpkin Pasta, top with a little more cracked pepper, and serve!
Loved this as made. But if I wanted to make it vegan, what should I use instead of cream? (Obviously I would use vegetable broth instead of chicken.) Would coconut milk disturb the flavors?
Hi Amy! We haven’t tried it that way specifically but I think you would be just fine. Previous commenters have noted, “This was soo good! I made it vegan with coconut milk, veggie broth and nutritional yeast. Great idea, I definitely needed some kitchen inspiration!”
nut milk or diluted nut butter, or even just finely chopped or food-processed nuts.,,, cashews, pine nuts or macadamia come to mind…
also, there are a few brands of vegan cream. but I have a feeling this recipe is delicious without even using a sub
This is such an easy and versatile recipe! I’m usually someone who follows a recipe the first time, but here are the modifications I made when omitting the pasta: 1lb hot Italian ground sausage, double the chipotle powder (we like spicy stuff), and a frozen package of spinach stirred in before serving. Delicious, like a spicy pumpkin chili. Served with your garlic bread. Thanks, and without you I might have been too intimated to ever learn how to cook!
Great swaps Abby! Thanks for sharing!
Made this for dinner last night and just enjoyed some leftovers for lunch! This recipe is so delicious and simple. I added Italian sausage, used 1.5 chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce instead of the chipotle powder and used whole grain penne. It’s fabulous. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing Trina!
Easy recipe. Lick the bowl good. I used one heaping teaspoon of diced chipotle from a jar as I didn’t have powder. I’ll make this again and again!
Thank you Amber!
Yum! Made this tonight with a few modifications: subbed 1/4 cup 2% milk, used the just the powdered Parmesan from a jar, threw in a couple handfuls of spinach at the end to sneak in extra veggies, and mixed in 2 spicy Italian turkey sausage links! Turned out great and can’t wait to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow
Happy to hear it Jes!
This pasta is SO GOOD! I was a little skeptical with this one but I’m so glad I made it. It’s definitely going into my “Make Again” list!
Hooray!
This was soo good! I made it vegan with coconut milk, veggie broth and nutritional yeast. Great idea, I definitely needed some kitchen inspiration!
Oh perfect! Thanks Betsy!
You’re very talented and always with many new ideas, we in Tuscany use cooked pumpkin with garlic and rosemary, fresh cheese, parmesan pepper and rigatino (seasoned and smoked bacon) this to have a more decisive and less sweet taste. Brava Brava Brava
Oh that sounds delightful!
This pasta “smolders” with dark but understated chipotle spice flavour. Make sure you pick a bulkier pasta as I used thin egg noodles and this made it feel like it was mostly sauce instead of a marriage of noodle and sauce (though adding more pasta, if I had prepared it, would also have likely solved the problem). Also bought “cheap” no-salt chicken broth on sale when I should have paid a little extra to get deluxe broth with more flavour. Still, really impressive and novel flavour experience that will definitely be a fall/winter comfort food for me this year on drizmal, cold afternoons and evenings!
Wow! This blew my socks off when I had that first bite.
This was really good!
I accidentally put in too much pepper, so I added brown sugar to neutralize the pepper and that worked really well!
This was so good! I’ve made it as-is, with ground beef, and with chorizo. This is pretty amazing with chorizo. And it’s impossible to mess up!
Made this with double the pasta and found it was a perfect amount of sauce to cling to the pasta but not be too saucy. Served with peas and cottage cheese, or avocado with the leftovers!
How long would this keep in the fridge? Considering making it for my meal prep.
This one would probably hold up four days or so.
Just made this, it’s fantastic! I added sausage at the onions step, used ancho chili powder and cayenne instead of Chipotle powder. It was really good and creamy but next time I would add more spices and salt; also going to experiment with spinach in it next time!
I made this and Beth’s Warm Brussel Sprouts Salad with Pear and Cranberries this weekend. The salad is AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS! This was very good. I bought the Chipotle Powder just for this recipe, and I loved it…the smoky heat is wonderful. I can’t wait to try it in Beth’s basic chili recipe. These recipes totally rocked the Autumn flavors!