Dinner in a Pumpkin

Our Halloween Tradition

This is such a fun, festive dinner! It has been our traditional Halloween dinner since 2007 when we got a house with an oven in it. We can’t have Halloween without it!

I first had “dinner in a pumpkin” at a church dinner in 2003 and loved it so much. I wanted to make it our family tradition but unfortunately our house didn’t have an oven. I never forgot it though and as soon as we moved to North Carolina I made it there. And the rest is history. As I said, it’s not Halloween without “dinner in a pumpkin.” Even my girls in college go through the trouble to make it. I love that they’re keeping the tradition even though it can be a lot of work! It’s so worth it.

The Basics of “Dinner in a Pumpkin”

The basics of the recipe is ground beef, rice, some kind of creamy sauce like cream of chicken soup or a white sauce, then add some crunch like celery or water chestnuts. Add a little flavor to the sauce in the form of soy sauce and it’s a hit! Cook it in the oven until the pumpkin is soft enough to scoop out, but not so soft the dinner leaks out the bottom! (Believe me, I’ve done that many a time!)

The Recipe for Dinner in a Pumpkin

Here’s the recipe! This is how I make it. Feel free to change up whatever you feel like. I do wild rice because it’s healthier, but you can do white rice. I also do celery because I almost always have it on hand and I don’t have water chestnuts, but the chestnuts may be tastier in my opinion. I also make my own sauce because I don’t like some ingredients in cream of chicken soup and it’s cheaper, but do what works for you! It will turn out fantastic!

Yield: 10

Dinner in a Pumpkin

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A delicious festive dinner for Halloween or anytime in fall!!

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 2 hours

Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 whole pumpkin 10-12 lbs
• 2 lbs organic grass-fed ground beef
• 1 onion chopped (or 3-4 Tbs dried)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 Tbs garlic powder)
• 1 celery stalk, chopped (or small can water chestnuts)
• 2 Tbs soy sauce
• 2 Tbs brown sugar
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 3-4 cups milk
• 2 cups cooked wild rice
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Carve pumpkin by cutting the top off, making sure to cut at an angle so that the lid doesn't fall through. Clean out seeds and pulp.
2. Cook ground beef, onion, and garlic for about 15 minutes or until everything is cooked.
3. Add chopped celery, soy sauce, brown sugar, flour, milk, salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Cook and stir until a thick sauce forms. Add more milk if it's too thick.
4. Add cooked rice and stir (can use leftover rice or be cooking it in a separate pot while meat is cooking.)
5. Scoop into the pumpkin and put the lid on top. Put the entire pumpkin with dinner inside on a foil-lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for approx 2 hours or until pumpkin is soft. (Longer for bigger pumpkins, shorter for small pumpkins.)
6. Remove lid and serve dinner straight from pumpkin!! Also scoop out the pumpkin flesh for each person so they have a tasty orange veggie. Season with salt and pepper. Also serve with a green veggie like broccoli or green beans. And rolls too!

Notes

You can use 1-2 cans of cream of mushroom or chicken soup instead of making the white sauce.

You can add cooked quinoa if you want this recipe to serve more without adding much cost. You can also add uncooked quinoa to the ground beef when cooking and it will cook right alongside it! Just add twice as much water. So like 1 cup dry quinoa and 2 cups water. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the water is absorbed.

Water chestnuts are a great substitution for celery; whichever you prefer!

Photos of Dinner in a Pumpkin

Cook the ground beef, quinoa, and rice. Then add the soup or milk and flour (for white sauce.) Then add the soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper.

Scoop it all into your hollowed out pumpkin.

Put the lid on and put in a 350 degree oven for about 2 hours. Less if it’s a small pumpkin (say smaller than a basketball) and more if it’s a large pumpkin. I put it on a foil lined baking sheet in case I overcook and the bottom gets soggy.

Pull it out of the oven and prepare to serve. Be careful of steam when you take the lid off. The mixture will look too watery, but this is normal. Just stir it before serving.

Serve with a green veggie like broccoli, peas, or green beans. Also great with homemade pumpkin rolls!

I can’t wait for you to try it and tell me what you think!! I’ve made it for dinner parties and guests and so far it is always a hit.

Here’s a video of us making it Halloween 2024!