Do you ever get tired of plain old red sauce? …Yeah, no, I don’t either. But if for some reason you did want to try something new, this quick and creamy pumpkin sauce is a great way to switch up your pasta routine. I had a partial can of pumpkin purée left over from another recipe this week, so I borrowed the flavors from this old recipe for simple pumpkin soup and turned it into a creamy, comforting sauce. It’s so easy and so good.
This recipe makes about four “side dish” sized servings of pasta with creamy pumpkin sauce, or two big main dish servings. I have no problem just eating pasta and sauce for dinner, but if you wanted to round it out a bit, a little browned Italian sausage would go so very well with these flavors. Got some fresh spinach on hand? Toss a couple handfuls into the sauce for some nice color and extra dose of vegetables.
I made my creamy pumpkin sauce with butter, chicken broth, and cream, but it could easily be made vegan by substituting the butter with coconut oil, the chicken broth with vegetable broth, and the cream with full-fat coconut milk. Pumpkin and coconut go very well together!
Pasta with Creamy Pumpkin Sauce
Servings 2Ingredients
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 Tbsp butter ($0.13)
- 1 cup pumpkin purée ($0.78)
- 1 cup chicken broth* ($0.12)
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp chili powder** ($0.03)
- Pinch cayenne pepper ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked black pepper ( $0.05)
- 2 Tbsp half & half or cream ($0.19)
- 8 oz. pasta ($0.70)
Instructions
- Begin boiling a large pot of water for your pasta. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and boil until al dente (7-10 minutes). Drain in a colander.
- While waiting for the water to boil, prepare the sauce. Mince two cloves of garlic and add them to a large skillet with one tablespoon of butter. Sauté over medium-low heat for 1-2 minutes, or just until the garlic is soft and fragrant.
- Add the pumpkin purée and chicken broth to the skillet and stir to combine. Add the nutmeg, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and some freshly cracked black pepper. Stir in the spices and let the sauce simmer over medium-low heat while the pasta cooks (about 10 minutes), stirring occasionally.
- Once the pasta is finished cooking and is draining in a colander, add the half and half or cream to the skillet and stir it into the pumpkin sauce. Taste the sauce and add salt if needed (this will depend on the type of broth you use). Finally, stir the drained pasta in to the sauce and serve.
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Pasta with Creamy Pumpkin sauce – Step by Step Photos
Start by mincing two cloves of garlic and sautéing them with one tablespoon butter over medium-low heat in a large skillet. Sauté for only one to two minutes, just to soften the garlic up some and make it nice and fragrant.
Oh yes, and begin boiling the water for the pasta. The sauce will cook in the short amount of time that it takes the pasta to cook, so get that going first. Once the water boils, add 8oz. pasta, and cook till al dente. Drain it in a colander. Continue with the sauce as the pasta boils…
Next, add one cup pumpkin purée (about one cup, you can actually use a little less or a little more and it will still work fine) and one cup chicken broth to the skillet. Stir until those two are combined, then add 1/8 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp chili powder, a pinch of cayenne, and some freshly cracked black pepper. Stir the spices in, then let the sauce simmer over medium-low while the pasta cooks (about 10 minutes), stirring occasionally. The sauce will thicken slightly as it simmers and some of the moisture evaporates.
Finally, once the pasta has finished cooking and it’s in the colander draining, stir two tablespoons of half & half (or cream) into the pumpkin sauce. Taste the sauce and add salt if needed.
Add the cooked and drained pasta to the skillet and stir to coat it in the sauce. YUM.
Some days you just need pasta, you know?
I like to add a little “sprankle” of fresh pepper over each bowl, too.
I found this recipe to be a bit flat on the palette. It wasn’t bad, but all of the flavors sat at the front of the tongue. I added a tsp of cinnamon (give or take) to bring the flavor farther back on the tongue and a Tbsp of Maple Pumpkin Butter to finish rounding out the flavors. I’ll totally make this again, though, as it is such a versatile base that I will be experimenting with ALL the pumpkin flavors and combinations!
This recipe is delicious…who would have thought pumpkin and pasta ?! It was a BIG hit with my anything-pumpkin-loving daughter ! I sent some leftovers home with her and her hubby was a fan too ! I followed the recipe as written plus l whisked a couple tablespoons of cream cheese onto the sauce that l had on hand . I got that idea from another comment
.This is definitely a keeper and l will be making it again…real soon ! I was wondering if leftovers could be frozen ? 😃
Excellent! I was a bit wary, but the recipe was intriguing. My family of 4 all had seconds! We tend to like heavier seasoned food, so I did add a tad extra of each seasoning. Also topped it off with fresh shredded parmesan (not the grated stuff). I will definitely make this again!
This sounds really good and l plan on making it for my daughter . She loves pasta and anything pumpkin ! I’m sure she’ll be delighted when l surprise her with it ! I noticed in the photo you used shell macaroni . I have Rotina and regular macaroni on hand and was wondering if they would work too . Thanks !. 😃
Yep, you can use just about any type of pasta for this one. :)
Recipe fail. This was really an unsuccessful recipe posted by either someone who doesn’t taste their food or likes very very mild flavors. It was highly under seasoned and could benefit by minimally doubling the spices, and adding more cream or Parmesan cheese., or adding a teaspoon of salt. Or maybe even something like a chipoltle pepper. The bland pumpkin, and broth just need additional salt. Anyway needs to go back to the test kitchen for additional development.
Thanks for the comment, but since it’s pretty easy to adjust seasoning quantities to taste, do you truly feel this is a “fail?” Many people are watching their sodium and get used to milder foods after some adjustment.
It was delicious! I added a bit extra milk because my sauce was a bit too thick and it was good! I think I’ll add cream cheese next time
It was an alright base, found it lacking much flavour. Definitely going to play around with it though. Thanks!
Thank you! I just made this and it is sooo good I made vegetable broth with bobillion instead and no cream for outa have that vegan good stuff !
I don’t really like tomotos so this was amazing my pumpkin purée had no sugar so I added some
Got to *
Just tried this, with the addition of sauteed mushrooms, some venison sausage, a touch of olive oil, and cream cheese instead of heavy cream. Absolutely delicious! It worked so well with the sausage and mushrooms, highly recommend. Great flavor, easy to throw together too! It was even great before the addition of the cream cheese.
I just made this using garden rotini pasta. I also added cut leaf spinach. I wish I could post a photo, it’s so pretty. Moreover, it tastes delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
OMG this was amazing…. I made the pumpkin puree as well and turned out amazing! Thank you for posting this recipe. I had a pumpkin lying around and I was desperate to try something different…. and it couldn’t be better than this.
Hi! I loved this recipe in terms of taste but it was very thick and inconsistent, sort of
Gloopy, didn’t coat the pasta well and your pictures look like a much less viscous sauce that mine. I used 100% (canned) pumpkin and followed recipe exactly, any tips? I want to
Make it again because the taste is excellent but the pumpkin didn’t become “sauce” really
Gloppy? That’s strange. I wonder if there is a texture difference between the brands of pumpkin purée. One thing you can try is to reserve some of the pasta cooking water and stir a little of that into the sauce. That will not only help thin it out a bit, but the starches in the water may help smooth the sauce and adhere it to the pasta.
I love the idea of this recipe, but couldn’t help throwing some add-ins to the mix. I cooked up a few slices of bacon, sauteed in a diced onion and added in a handful of frozen spinach before making the sauce as listed in the recipe. Then I added cooked orchette pasta and topped my bowl with parmesan cheese. I’m glad there is more pumpkin in my cupboard as this will become a favorite fall recipe!
I love all those ideas!
This was SO GOOD! i made the butternut squash pasta on budget bytes and it ended up a little bland. I was afraid if that happening here, but I was amazed at the burst of flavor. You could totally taste the sweetness of the pumpkin and the savory flavors from the spices. If you put mozarella and parmesan on top, I’m sure even hubby would like it! :)
So good! I love this recipe. Full disclosure, I spaced and totally forgot the cream at the end but it still turned out great :)