Give Mac And Cheese A Major Fiber & Flavor Boost With A Canned Pantry Staple

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Fall is the time of year when foodie hearts and minds thrill at the taste of squashes and pumpkins. You may have seen our in-house recipe for spooky-delish Halloween pumpkin soup, but, today, we're positing a different use for canned pumpkin: stirring it into mac and cheese. The earthy savor of pumpkin purée sings when combined with melty, umami-forward cheeses in your favorite comfort food pasta dish. It's not sweet, per se, but it's definitely autumnal. Is it any surprise that we've seen it starring on many a Thanksgiving dinner table?

Pumpkin mac and cheese is long on flavor, but it also comes equipped with a bonus: a hearty dose of gut-loving fiber. One cup of canned pumpkin contains a whopping seven grams of fiber. Fiber's health benefits include better blood sugar regulation, greater satiety, and more consistent bowel movements. It may be technically true that apple pie (slightly!) edges out pumpkin pie in the fiber derby, but that doesn't mean that pumpkin mac isn't a yummy treat that you can feel good about feeding your body.

The internet is replete with recipes for pumpkin mac and cheese — we even scoped a TikTok reel of it being made, if you're a visual learner — but the basic gist tends to repeat between home cooks. Simply fold a generous amount of puréed pumpkin into your cream base before shredding in your favorite cheeses and pouring this sauce over cooked pasta. It's critical that you keep in mind that this is not pumpkin pie filling, which is a sweetened product! You want pure canned pumpkin, like this Prime-eligible organic product from Amazon Grocery, which also boasts no preservatives.

Many preparations for pumpkin mac and cheese incorporate sage, a distinctly fall-ish herb. We might also lean hard on nutmeg. Not only is it one of the warming spices that we generally see paired with pumpkin in baked goods, but it also shines in cream-based sauces with or without pumpkin. 

The "right" cheeses to pair with pumpkin in mac and cheese is also up for discussion. Smoked Gouda is a popular choice for its superb nuttiness and gooeyness. We've also seen Fontina used frequently. Don't dismiss a nice sharp cheddar, however! Parm gets thrown into the mix many times because it lends a pleasantly sharp note to your cheese sauce, but you can sub in any variety that brings some funk, like goat cheese or even your preferred blue cheese.

Mac and cheese purists will quibble endlessly over the question of whether or not to bake your pasta, but we're agnostic on the issue. One grace note that we must insist upon, however, is the addition of fresh, toasty breadcrumbs scattered on top of your mac. Browned butter is another natural pairing for pumpkin and sage, and we think you'd be letting yourself down if you didn't fry up your breadcrumbs in some nutty, fragrant brown butter before serving up your creation. We've even seen some home cooks add a smidge of brown sugar and smoky bacon to their pumpkin pasta recipe. Keep in mind that canned pumpkin only lasts about a week in the fridge, so you might just have to prepare this dish more than once!