Delicious Vegan Stuffed Mini Pumpkins with Cranberry & Pecan Wild Rice – A Perfect Autumn & Halloween Main Course
As the leaves turn golden and a crisp chill fills the air, autumn brings with it a season of warmth, comfort, and festive celebrations. With Halloween rapidly approaching, it’s the perfect time to explore creative and delicious recipes that capture the spirit of the season. While sweet treats often dominate Halloween spreads, it’s essential to balance them with hearty and wholesome savoury options. That’s why I’m thrilled to share this recipe for Stuffed Mini Pumpkins with Cranberry and Pecan Wild Rice – a dish that’s not only incredibly flavourful and satisfying but also wonderfully festive and healthy.
These charming individual pumpkins, or squash, are filled with a delectable blend of wild rice, vibrant cranberries, crunchy pecans, and an array of nourishing vegetables. The result is a truly impressive main course that is entirely vegan and gluten-free, making it an inclusive choice for almost any guest. Beyond its health benefits, the visual appeal of these mini stuffed pumpkins is undeniable, transforming any table into an autumnal masterpiece.
Pumpkins are the quintessential symbol of autumn and Halloween, making them an ideal canvas for a seasonal recipe. These stuffed mini pumpkins are perfectly suited for a pre-trick-or-treating meal or as a standout dish for your Halloween party spread. For an extra touch of spooky fun, consider carving simple Jack-O-Lantern faces into the pumpkins before roasting them – it’s a small effort that yields big smiles and adds to the festive ambiance!
This delightful recipe is part of my ongoing collaboration with Appletiser. Each month, I create a recipe that perfectly complements a refreshing glass of Appletiser. True to the wholesome nature of the drink, my recipes are always free from added sugar and designed to contribute at least one portion towards your five-a-day fruit and vegetable intake. This pairing offers a complete and balanced meal experience.
Making Stuffed Mini Pumpkins: A Simple & Rewarding Process
While these stuffed mini pumpkins look elaborate, they are surprisingly simple to prepare. The trickiest part is often slicing the tops off the small pumpkins or squash, as their skins can be quite firm. To ensure safety and ease, always use a sharp, sturdy knife and exercise caution to prevent any slips. Once you’ve mastered this initial step, the rest of the process flows smoothly.
Don’t feel limited to just one type of mini pumpkin. During my preparation, I often use a mix of various small pumpkins and squashes, depending on what’s readily available at the supermarket. Both varieties roast beautifully and taste incredible, offering a subtle diversity in texture and flavor. Plus, having different shapes and colors adds an extra layer of visual interest to your dish, allowing everyone to pick their favorite. Look for small, individual-sized pumpkins or squash, generally around 400-500g each, which are perfect for a single serving.
The Heart of the Dish: A Flavourful Wild Rice Filling
The star of this dish, alongside the tender roasted pumpkins, is undoubtedly the rich and aromatic wild rice filling. I opted for a basmati and wild rice blend, which offers a delightful textural contrast and a nutty base for the other ingredients. This blend is cooked to perfection with a medley of finely chopped vegetables, including leeks, celery, carrots, and mushrooms. These vegetables contribute a depth of earthy flavour and a satisfying chewiness to the rice.
Fresh herbs, such as rosemary and thyme, along with a touch of dried sage and garlic, infuse the rice with a fragrant, savoury essence that perfectly complements the sweetness of the pumpkin. Once the rice and vegetables are cooked, toasted pecans are stirred in, providing a wonderful crunch and a buttery, nutty undertone. The dried cranberries are the final touch, scattering bursts of tart-sweetness throughout the filling, cutting through the richness and adding a festive touch. This harmonious blend of ingredients creates a filling that is not only incredibly nutritious but also bursting with complex flavours and satisfying textures, making every bite a delight. The combination truly works beautifully with the slightly sweet, caramelised flesh of the roasted pumpkin.
More Than Just Halloween: A Versatile Autumn Main Course
While these stuffed mini pumpkins are an absolute showstopper for Halloween gatherings, their appeal extends far beyond a single holiday. They are an ideal centrepiece for any autumn occasion, from casual Sunday dinners to elegant Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving feasts. The fact that they are naturally vegan and gluten-free means they cater to a wide range of dietary needs, ensuring that everyone at your table can enjoy this delicious and wholesome meal. Serve them simply with a crisp green salad on the side and, of course, a chilled glass of refreshing Appletiser for a truly complete and memorable dining experience.
Step-by-Step Guide: How To Make Stuffed Mini Pumpkins
Creating these beautiful stuffed mini pumpkins is a straightforward process, broken down into a few key steps:
Preparing the Pumpkins:
Begin by preheating your oven to the specified temperature. Next, using a sharp knife, carefully slice the tops off six small pumpkins or squash. These tops will serve as decorative lids later, so try to keep them intact. With a spoon, diligently scoop out all the seeds and any stringy flesh from the inside of each pumpkin. Once cleaned, brush the insides and outsides of both the pumpkins and their lids generously with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper. Arrange them neatly in a roasting tray and roast until the pumpkin flesh is wonderfully tender, typically around 30 minutes. Once roasted, remove them from the oven and set them aside while you prepare the filling.
Crafting the Wild Rice Filling:
While the pumpkins are roasting, you can start on the flavourful rice filling. Heat olive oil in a large pan or skillet. Add the chopped onion, thinly sliced leek, celery, and diced carrot. Sauté these vegetables gently for about 10 minutes until they become soft and translucent. This slow cooking allows their natural sweetness to develop.
Next, add the finely chopped mushrooms, crushed garlic, and your chosen fresh herbs (rosemary and thyme) along with dried sage. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until all the excess water from the mushrooms has evaporated. This step is crucial for achieving a rich, concentrated flavour in your filling.
Once the vegetables are ready, stir in the basmati and wild rice blend, vegetable stock, salt, and a generous grinding of black pepper. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer, then reduce the heat to its lowest setting. Cover the pan tightly and let it cook for approximately 20 minutes, or until the rice is tender and has absorbed all the liquid.
Assembling and Serving:
Once the rice is cooked, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the chopped toasted pecans and dried cranberries. These additions provide both texture and bursts of flavour.
Now, it’s time to fill your roasted pumpkins! Generously spoon the prepared rice filling into each pumpkin, mounding it slightly at the top. Return the filled pumpkins to the oven for another 10-15 minutes, just long enough to ensure they are heated through and the flavours have melded beautifully.
Serve these spectacular stuffed mini pumpkins immediately, each topped with its roasted lid, for a truly charming and memorable meal. A fantastic tip for entertaining: both the pumpkins can be roasted and the rice prepared in advance, then simply warm them through in the oven when you’re ready to serve. This makes meal prep a breeze, especially for busy holiday seasons.
Explore More Delicious Pumpkin Recipes:
If you’re as enamoured with pumpkin as I am, you’ll love these other fantastic recipes:
- Vegan Pumpkin Cake with Maple Pecans and Cinnamon Buttercream
- Pumpkin Spice Granola
- Pumpkin Bread Rolls
- Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Sweet Potato Bread with Pecan Streusel (While not technically pumpkin, sweet potato offers a wonderfully similar autumnal flavour profile!)
Print
Stuffed Mini Pumpkins With Cranberry And Pecan Rice (Vegan)
Ingredients
Roast Pumpkins:
- 6 small pumpkins or squash each about the size of a large grapefruit, about 400-500g per pumpkin
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
Rice:
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 stick celery thinly sliced
- 1 large leek thinly sliced
- 1 large carrot diced
- 250 g (9oz) chestnut mushrooms finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
- ½ tsp dried sage
- 1 tsp salt
- 270 g (1 + ½ cups) basmati and wild rice blend
- 640 ml (2 + ⅔ cups) cups vegetable stock
- 100 g (1 cup) chopped toasted pecans
- 70 g (½ cup) dried cranberries
- black pepper
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.
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Carefully slice the tops off of the pumpkins and use a spoon to scoop out all of the seeds and stringy flesh.
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Brush them inside and out with olive oil, make sure you do the tops too; then sprinkle with salt and pepper and arrange the pumpkins and their lids in a roasting tray.
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Bake for around 30 minutes until the pumpkin flesh is tender. Remove from the oven and set aside.
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While the pumpkins are roasting start preparing the rice. Heat the olive oil in a large pan and add the onion, celery, leek and carrot. Fry gently for about 10 minutes until soft and translucent.
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Add the mushrooms, garlic and herbs and continue to cook until all of the excess water has evaporated.
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Add the rice, stock, salt and a good grinding of black pepper. Bring up to a simmer then turn the heat down as low as it will go, cover the pan and cook for about 20 minutes until the rice is tender.
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Remove from the heat and stir in the pecans and cranberries.
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Divide the rice between the pumpkins, filling them right up to the top. Return to the oven for 10-15 minutes until heated through.
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Serve the pumpkins topped with their lids.
This post is sponsored by Appletiser, and I am incredibly grateful for their support. Collaborating with brands that align with my values allows me to continue exploring new culinary creations, experiment with ingredients, and share my passion for delicious and wholesome food with you. Thank you for supporting the brands that enable me to do what I love – playing with food and making a joyous mess in my kitchen!