I *love* cooking with pumpkin puree–and love that it’s so easy to make homemade pumpkin puree for dogs. Besides the fact that it’s loaded with nutrients, it also creates tasty and moist treats and entrees for our dogs.
Amazingly, pumpkin can also be helpful for both constipation and diarrhea, thanks to its fiber. It’s also another excellent food for making your dog feel full, even with diminished meal proportions, if you are trying to help your dog lose weight.
Giving Pumpkin Puree to Your Dog
Are you interested in giving your dog pumpkin puree for diarrhea and other health benefits? Fed along with a bland diet (like chicken and rice), pumpkin can help soothe your dog’s stomach.
Generally 1-2 tablespoons, depending on the size of your dog, should be fed to your dog. Some dogs like to lick it right off the spoon; other dogs prefer it be mixed in their meal.
Can I Just Use Canned Pumpkin?
You can purchase canned pumpkin puree for your dog–but never buy pie filling which includes sugar and spices. You’ll find both in the baking aisle at your grocery store so be careful to get the one that’s just plain pumpkin.
Which Pumpkin Should You Buy?
The best pumpkins to purchase for pureeing are the smaller pumpkins intended for eating rather than carving. (Not the very small decorative pumpkins.)
What You’ll Need
For this you’ll need:
- 1 large, ripe pumpkin
- 1 baking sheet
- parchment paper
- large knife
- spoon for scooping seeds
Before you start, you’ll need to cut the top off the pumpkin. This is the only difficult part of pureeing pumpkin is in this part of the process: cutting off the top of the pumpkin. Cutting into the pumpkin takes some muscle!
How to Make Pumpkin Puree
- Wash the pumpkin.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Divide the pumpkin into quarters. You’ll need about 1/4 of a pumpkin for this recipe; save the remainder for more recipes!
- Cut the quarter into smaller pieces.
- Scoop out the seeds. Save the seeds to wash then roast!
- Place pumpkin slices on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake about 45 minutes (the pumpkin flesh should be fork tender)
- Removed from the oven to cool before removing the baked pumpkin skin (and discarding it).
- After removing the outer skin, cut the baked pumpkin into small chunks and toss in the blender, gradually adding water to puree the pumpkin to the consistency of baby food.
- Freeze puree into one-cup containers or in ice cube trays.
Cooking with Puree
Pumpkin puree also makes a great ingredient in dog treats any time. On DogTipper you’ll find numerous recipes that include pumpkin such as Pumpkin Doggie Ice Cream, Peanut Butter & Pumpkin Dog Treats and Bowser’s Birthday Cake.