Melt-in-your-mouth slices of pumpkin plus cumin-kissed black beans and a cheesy-tasting sauce add up to a delicious vegan pumpkin casserole.
Before I get to my delicious pumpkin casserole recipe, I’d like to begin with an unintentionally Halloweenish photo:
Look closely. I was trying to take a basic photo of our homegrown pumpkin–the accidental result of tossing last year’s seeds into the compost pile–when someone decided that she would make a better subject. So what you see here is an accidentally Halloweenish photo of an accidental pumpkin.
There’s probably a moral here somewhere, something like “the best things happen by accident,” but I prefer to think of the photo and the pumpkin as representative of the way I work: throw enough scraps into the compost, photos onto the memory card, or ingredients into the pot, and I’ll eventually come up with something worth growing, viewing, or eating.
And this little pumpkin was definitely worth growing and eating. When D and I first noticed a pale green and white, oval-shaped fruit hanging from a thick vine, we didn’t know what it was. Gradually it took on a more traditional pumpkin shape and color, and when it stopped getting any larger, I decided that it was the offspring of one of last year’s pie pumpkins. Weighing in at just over 2 pounds, it probably would have been just the right size for a pumpkin pie, but I decided to do something a little less traditional with it.
My idea was to make a layered pumpkin casserole, sort of like Mexican Lasagna, but with slices of pumpkin instead of tortillas. The resulting casserole didn’t come out looking quite so neatly layered, but I think it fits my “toss enough ingredients” theme just about perfectly. It won’t win any beauty contests, but who cares? It’s all about the flavor, and in this case, melt-in-your-mouth slices of pumpkin plus cumin-kissed black beans and a creamy, cheesy-tasting sauce equal a real winner!
(This dish is actually uglier than it appears in the photo! Consider yourself warned.)
Pumpkin and Black Bean Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans or one can, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 cup corn fresh or frozen
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 1/2 bell pepper finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon ancho chili powder or other mild chili powder
- 1/8–1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder to taste
- 15 ounces canned tomatoes drained and liquid reserved*
- 1 pound pumpkin about 1/2 one small pumpkin or any winter squash (butternut, acorn, etc.)
Sauce
- 3/4 cup soymilk or other non-dairy milk
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Spanish paprika
- 1 tablespoon tahini optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the black beans with the next 8 ingredients and set aside.
- Cut the pumpkin in half. Set aside one half for another use and peel the other half. Cut it into very thin slices about 1/4-inch thick and 2 inches long.
- Preheat oven to 425F. Line a 2-quart casserole dish with parchment paper (or wipe it with a tiny bit of oil, if you desire.) Lay one-third of the pumpkin slices in the bottom of the dish, and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Cover with half of the bean mixture. Repeat layers with another third of the pumpkin and the remainder of the beans. Finish with the final third of the pumpkin slices.
- In a blender, combine the reserved *tomato liquid (about 1/2 cup) with the soymilk and remaining ingredients. Blend well and pour over the pumpkin. Cover tightly, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for 20-30 minutes, until sauce is thick and bubbly and pumpkin is tender.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
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Anonymous
This is so good it will make you want to slap your mama!!!
I used acorn squash and had to bake 1 hour 20 minutes but it was SO worth it! Who knew vegan could be so good?
I topped mine with a dollop of soy sour cream and wish my avocado was ripe to put with it as well.
Anonymous
This was delicious. Do you think it would freeze well?
SusanV
I haven't freezed it before, but I can't think of any reason why it wouldn't do well.
Elessar
I have successfully cooked it, frozen it, micro-slaved it. Not the same as right off the stove but still incredibly yummy. It's a perfect example of a 'do-ahead-of the-ravenous-horde' meal.
Elessar
And I am dreaming up ideas for a buddy who want s to cook a punkin it it's own gourd, for his kids and wife. Thanks to Susan who has always been very helpful in inspiring me when I lost the plot. You cannot go wrong hanging around her genius-run kitchen. Ultimate compliment: If I lived nearby, I'd eat over at her house on a day I am not cooking (if she let me). I have a tuxedo cat, female Zarathustra, now 13 1/2 years old. She truly believes I am her dad human.
Elessar
The nutritional yeast is also known as Brewer's yeast here in England, and thickens the whole meal in a hearty way. Spoze you could sub whole wheat flour & a little Marmite.
Con
Sorry but you’ve got it wrong. They are NOT the same! had to correct you in case you confuse others. In England its still called nutritional yeast flakes. its sold in small tubs on some health food shops. Subbing one for the other will not work.
Elessar
This the season for black and orange. I don't need to dress up and brandish my Knives. My friends know better than to doubt my cooking. And I am talking about hard-core meat-eaters here. Someone has to look after them.
Stefanie
This was really good. It is the first recipe I used nutritional yeast in and I will continue doing so. The recipe is easy to make too. I will increase the spices next time because it was not spicy enough for me.
renee @ FIMBY
I just have to add to the already long list of comments that my family loves this recipe and it has become a regular in our fall menu. Thank you Susan! I usually use more tomatoes and double the whole thing for a good supper and a bit of leftover lunch (there's 5 of us).
This recipe is also very company friendly and everybody likes it.
Anonymous
Susan, we're getting ready to make this again on Friday! Thank you for a fabulous falltime tradition!
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Wow… my girlfriend made this for me yesterday, and it was absolutely tremendous!
Absolutely great! A real stunner.
Thanks for the post!
Best (and still on vacation!), Mark
Claire
Susan,
My recently vegan-convert and gluten free roomie and I teamed up to make this casserole using a Kabocha squash instead of pumpkin. It turned out amazingly!! I also wanted to tell you that I love your blog and admire your ability to turn vegan cooking into a gourmet art. I recently started my own blog and I have been referencing yours with links and recipes a lot! (I hope that's alright..) Anyways thank you again for your awesome recipes and inspiration!
Claire
girlwhoplayswithfood.blogspot.com
Christy
Susan,
I make this one pretty often with butternut squash. It fantastic! Truth be told, my boyfriend and I can polish off a whole pan with no problem. I like to saute the onion a bit before I add it to the mixture because I found that it wasn’t getting completely cooked in the baking process. Other than that I wouldn’t change a thing. Thanks for all of your awesome recipes!
jesselee
Wow this was amazing!You are a vegan food artist. Thank you for this website 🙂
Drooling
OH drool…Im on day 11 of water fast surfing your site for vegan food porn. DYING to make a ton of it. I cant wait. Trying to plan fat free dishes so I dont go to restaurants after my fast. This dish is so ME…and spooky kitty makes the foto : )
LOVE!
eliza
This looks so good and I’ve got some pumpkins! This may be a dumb question, but do you cook the pumpkin with the outside still on it? I’ve never really made anything with a real pumpkin before (obviously)- I always use canned. I have the small pumpkin pie kind, so how would you prepare that for the casserole? Thanks!
SusanV
For this recipe, you peel the pumpkin before you cook it. Other recipes you might cook the pumpkin with the skin still on it and peel it after it’s cooked. The rind (skin) is too tough to eat, so one way or another you wind up peeling it or scraping it off of the skin.
For the small pumpkin, you would cut it in half, top to bottom, scrape out all the seeds and goop, and cut it into strips. Then you can peel each strip easily with a potato peeler.
Tosha
Delish! Thank you for another great recipe. I make at least one thing a week from you site, being new to vegan cooking and all. You have made the transition so easy!
Sherri
Yum……can you use regular milk if not concerned about the vegan factor?
SusanV
I haven’t tested it with dairy milk, but I assume it will work.
SarahC
this looks so yummy! i love one dish meals! i’ve tried cutting one in the past and found it sooooo tough to cut up, that i’ve only stuck with using butternut squash that are already cut up into cubes from the market. any suggestions on how to make it easier to cut them (pumpkins, acorn squashes, butternut squashes, etc) up?
Kerri @ Plant Power Family
Try popping it in the microwave for 3 minutes first. It softens it just enough for me to cut it without chopping my hands as well:)
Mareile
I made this today and am one step further to veganising my family. 😀 Though next time I’d sweat the onions a little first as they were a little sharp.
But how do you stop eating this, please? I made the whole recipe for the 3 of us (virtuously planning to put one portion in the fridge for tomorrow) and it’s all gone! =D
Nikki
I made this last night and it was delicious! Even my meat-eating dad loved it. This was the first time I had ever cooked with pumpkin, and now I know how tasty it is. Pumpkin is also extremely good for you. It’s high in vitamin A, potassium, iron, etc.
Thanks for the great recipe!
Andreia Serra
My husband was so enthusiastic with this recipe that he did it by himself. By the end he said: “This recipe is actually good”.
Thanks for your great cooking ideas!
Healthy Eating
I am adding the ingredients to my shopping list right now. I have never cooked using a whole pumpkin before and am anxious to try. I love all pumpkin dishes and this sounds terrific.
Fiona
I made this last night and it is definitely repeat worthy! The only downside is the prep time for the pumpkin (which was made worse by my dull knives). Prepping the pumpkin took 45 minutes alone and gave me sore wrists. I need new knives, I know. But I love this fall recipe, so it is worth it! I didn’t add salt between the layers and the flavor was still great. I also only did one layer of pumpkin at the bottom and one layer of pumpkin on top with the bean mixture in the middle and it came out fine. My fiance has loved all of the recipes we have tried so far too, except the Kale and Chickpea soup, which was too healthy tasting for him. (I liked it, and I think anyone who’s been a vegan for a while would like it.) It really is quite amazing how creative you are with many of your recipes! Thank you for yet another winner!
spinnerchick@ymail.com
I can’t stop laughing at this warning….
“This dish is actually uglier than it appears in this photo! Consider yourself warned.”
HAR!
Melissa
Oh my goodness, do we love this recipe!
I use butternut squash and it’s fantastic. I love that it’s such a big, hearty serving for such a nice, moderate amount of calories. I get to feel all happy and full of comforty foody goodness while still keeping within my calorie ranges. 🙂 Thank you!
Kristi Link
Wow, was this good! I am eating some of the leftovers now. It really is ugly, but truly delicious. We made this in a dutch oven over hot coals outside on Thanksgiving. Awesome!
Jenna
I’m thinking of making this, but what exactly is Spanish paprika? Is that the same as smoked paprika? Or is it something different? Could I use regular or smoked paprika in it’s place?
SusanV
Jenna, yes, it’s the same as smoked paprika.
Amy
This recipe looks great! Would it be possible to replace the nutritional yeast with flour or something similar without ruining the recipe??
SusanV
If you leave out the nutritional yeast, you’ll need to increase the seasoning and maybe even add something (maybe vegetable bouillon?) to give it more flavor. Adding anothe teaspoon of corn starch will take care of the thickness, but nutritional yeast has such a distinctive flavor that it will be hard to replace it.
Beth
I’m not vegan, but am very anxious to try this recipe. Can I substitute shredded cheese for the nutritional yeast? I’m imagining that it’s the thing that gives the recipe the cheesy texture and flavor.
Get Skinny, Go Vegan.
Love the pumpkin photo.
Elizabeth
Hi There! I just wanted to say thanks so much for this recipe! My family and I enjoyed it for dinner. My husband really enjoyed it and that’s high praise coming from him as he is an accomplished meatatarian 😉
Amy
I made it this morning and it is fantastic! I do have 2 questions though: I used a 4 pound pumpkin and have half left, what other creative things can I do with it? Also, I’m planning on making this for the in-laws next week and will be replacing the pumpkin with zucchini – will the cooking time be the same?
P.S. Love this website and all the amazing recipes!
SusanV
I like cubes of pumpkin in stews and chili and have added cooked, pureed pumpkin to soups and stews to make them thicker and heartier. Zucchini will cook much more quickly and will be more watery so reduce the time and watch a little.
Laina
Hi Susan,
We don’t have pumpkins yet in the supermarket so I’m going to use butternut squash.
Is the 1 pound before peeling or afterwards?
Thanks!!! 🙂
SusanV
Hi Laina! I think the one pound was before the peeling, but a little bit more or less won’t hurt the recipe any. I think butternut squash would be great!
Angie
I am going to try this… sounds so good. Love the photo!
Katie L.
This looks delicious! I have four buttercup winter squash sitting on my sideboard and was trying to think what to do with them. Here’s the answer! Thanks, Susan.
Susan, your photos are just spectacular. Can you write a blog post sometime about your evolution as a photographer? How you learned to take such gorgeous food photos, what equipment you use? I would love to know some of your photo tips, too. Thank you!
Debra
I’ve been lurking in your site for awhile and have only had success with your recipes. I love this one because I live in Germany and getting a “fix” of Mexican food can be tough (tortillias are hard to find). I happen to have a pumpkin (no canned pumpkin in Germany) and a can of black beans, so I’ll be making this tomorrow. Now, I just need a substitute for corn (which is also rare, but sometimes available in cans). Thanks again for all your contributions to my menu.
Christy
Wow… this was REALLY good! It is a definite winner! Incredibly filling and hearty. I had run out of cornstarch, so I used flour instead, and I added the tahini. It was indeed a little ugly, but the second we started eating it, we forgot it. All of the seasonings were just right. Thanks for this delicious recipe!