Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
Creamy pumpkin mac and cheese will warm you up on cool fall evenings. This easy pasta recipe comes together in one pot and tastes incredible.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 29, 2024
59Comments
Jump to recipe
This creamy pumpkin mac and cheese recipe comes together in one pot. It’s really quite easy to make. You don’t even drain the pasta cooking water.
Thanks to the pumpkin, this dish is extra creamy, golden and flavorful. Naturally, it’s lighter than your typical homemade mac and cheese. On cool fall evenings, this mac and cheese will warm you up without putting you to sleep.
This easy autumnal pasta recipe will delight the whole family. Leftovers reheat well for the next few days, and even freeze well enough for our toddler’s future meals.
This recipe is a derivative of my Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese recipe, which has been a big hit. While that recipe relies on roasted butternut squash for depth of flavor, this recipe calls for canned pumpkin purée.
To make up for the roasted flavor, this recipe benefits from deeply toasting spices in butter—pumpkin spice blend, garlic powder and onion powder. Then, we cook a can of pumpkin purée in the flavored butter for a minute before adding pasta and water. Later on, we’ll stir in some cream cheese, sharp cheddar cheese and Parmesan. The end result is magical.
Pumpkin Mac and Cheese Ingredients
You’ll find the full recipe below. Here’s what you should know about the key ingredients before you head to the store.
Canned Pumpkin Puree
This recipe conveniently uses up one entire can of pumpkin purée. Be sure to buy plain pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie filling, which contains sugar and spices.
Not all canned pumpkin purée is created equal. I’ve enjoyed this recipe with Whole Foods 365 brand, and Libby’s is reliably good as well.
Short-Cut Pasta
You have quite a few options here. For best results, choose a noodle that cooks in about 8 minutes or less, according to the package directions. We used casarecce for these photos, or you could use macaroni noodles for a more traditional mac and cheese look. Other options include cavatelli, fusilli, pipe rigate, etc. To make this recipe gluten free, we successfully used Jovial brand’s brown rice-based fusilli.
Tip: “Short-cut” pasta refers to compact noodle shapes, as opposed to long strands like spaghetti or fettuccine.
Cream Cheese
We’ll stir cream cheese directly into the pot. The cream cheese makes this pasta ultra creamy, lightly tangy, and luxurious. You’ll use half of a standard block of cream cheese for this recipe. Spread the extra on tomorrow morning’s toast!
Cheddar Cheese and Parmesan
Use a high quality, sharp cheddar cheese so you can really taste the cheddar in the end result. Parmesan cheese further amps up the flavor. Dust your individual servings with a little more Parmesan, if you’d like.
Tip: Grate your own cheese rather than buying pre-shredded cheese. Pre-shredded cheese is coated in powder that can cause the cheese to clump when it melts (plus it’s more expensive, per ounce).
Butter and Spices
You’ll also need butter, pumpkin spice blend, garlic and onion powder, water and salt. Pumpkin spice blend is absolutely key in this recipe because pumpkin alone doesn’t offer much flavor.
Tip: See the note below the recipe to make your own pumpkin spice blend from ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and clove or allspice. You can make exactly as much as you need for this recipe by following the note, or follow my pumpkin spice blend recipe to make extra spice blend for your pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins.
Watch How to Make Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
Serving Suggestions
Serve a green salad on the side. Try my Super Simple Arugula Salad, Favorite Green Salad with Apples, Cranberries and Pepitas, or any improvised salad with a classic vinaigrette.
This recipe yields a lot of pasta (eight servings). It reheats well for packed lunches and leftover dinners. I’ve even frozen the leftovers in this large silicone ice cube tray—once reheated in the microwave, the texture isn’t quite the same, but it’s still nice enough for our toddler to enjoy.
Love this pumpkin mac and cheese?
Here are more savory squash recipes to try. For pumpkin treats, check out my pumpkin recipe roundup.
- Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese
- Creamy Pumpkin Marinara
- Creamy Roasted Pumpkin Soup
- Perfect Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
- Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto
Please let me know how your pumpkin mac and cheese turns out in the comments! I love hearing from you.
Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
Creamy pumpkin mac and cheese will warm you up on cool fall evenings. This easy autumnal pasta recipe comes together in one pot and tastes incredible. Recipe yields 8 servings (quite a lot!) and leftovers are great.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin spice blend*
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons onion powder
- 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 pound short-cut pasta (pipe regate, macaroni noodles, casarecce, cavatelli, fusilli)
- 5 cups water
- 1 teaspoon fine salt, to taste
- 4 ounces cream cheese, cubed
- 8 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- ½ cup (2 ounces) finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the pumpkin spice, garlic and onion powders and cook for 2 to 4 minutes, stirring often, until the butter is very fragrant and you see many little brown flecks in the pan. Stir in the pumpkin and let it cook for a minute, while stirring.
- Pour in the pasta, water and salt. Cover the pot and bring it to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, remove the lid and set the timer for 8 minutes.
- Cook, stirring often (more often as the time goes on), until the timer goes off. Turn down the heat as necessary to avoid scorching but maintain a steady simmer. When the time goes off, do not drain the water. Stir in the cream cheese. Continue simmering until the cream cheese has melted and the pasta is al dente (careful when you taste, it’s quite hot), about 4 to 5 more minutes.
- Reduce the heat to low. Add the cheddar and Parmesan, and stir until the mixture is melted and creamy. Remove the pot from the heat.
- Season with salt, to taste (I usually add ¼ teaspoon or more). Serve the pasta in bowls with extra Parmesan grated on top, if desired. Leftovers keep well, covered and refrigerated, for up to 5 days (or freezes relatively well for up to 3 months).
Notes
Recipe adapted from my Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese.
*Pumpkin spice amounts: To make just enough pumpkin spice for this recipe, use ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, and a little pinch of allspice or cloves.
Make it gluten free: Gluten-free pastas vary widely. Choose a spiral-shaped gluten-free brown rice pasta, such as fusilli, over other pasta types (my tester was pleased with Jovial brand). Stir gently and don’t cook the pasta any longer than necessary or it may start to lose its shape.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
What about putting whole thing in glass baking dish, top with toasted panko, put under broiler for one min? Yummm
Can’t wait to try this!
You could do that! I believe someone successfully did that in the comments of my butternut squash mac and cheese recipe.
I was craving mac and cheese and let me tell you, this hit the spot! Super easy to make and I love that it uses one pot. I added some fried sage and toasted panko crumbs on top to give it more of a baked casserole feel.
Hi Kate, Would I be able to use from raw pumpkin for this recipe? What’s the best way to make the puree? Thank you!
Hi Gitan, you could! I would suggest following my roasted butternut squash mac and cheese recipe for guidance on how to roast the pumpkin and mash it up. Just add the pumpkin spice called for in this recipe to the melted butter.
Thank you! I love that recipe so much too :) We are a huge fan of Cookie & Kate!
Delicious! It was so easy to make, and cleanup was a breeze since it’s all in one pot. The pumpkin gives it some nice complexity and depth. I didn’t have cream cheese on hand, so I substituted plain Greek yogurt, which worked well. Will definitely be making this again!
Thank you, Alley! Great idea to use Greek yogurt.
Cookie and Kate recipes are my absolute favorite, so I was super excited to try this! Mine didn’t turn out great though. I maybe expect a bit of sweetness when pumpkin spice is used, so it tasted different than I thought it would. Also, unsure whether to turn the heat down from high when the noodles are cooking? My water evaporated a bit too much. Finally, an important note: Use yellow cheese, not white! I think I burned my spices a bit, and then used white sharp cheddar, so it looked the color of baby poo. I added a touch of maple syrup, and both my (very picky) kiddo (6 yo) and my husband liked it. Another 6 yo visitor did not.
Hi Janelle, thank you for your feedback! You’re right, this pumpkin recipe is a bit unusual since it’s savory rather than sweet. I just tweaked step three to offer better guidance upfront on decreasing the heat as necessary.
Delicious. Followed recipe exactly and wouldn’t change a thing.
Hooray! Thank you, Heather.
Very tasty and easy to make! I love all your recipes, thank you!
Thanks so much, Christine!
This was so good! Perfect for a rainy autumn Sunday meal.
Thank you, Mary! Happy to hear it!
Kate! This was so delicious! My whole fam loved it, and I loved that it came together so quickly and easily in just one pan. Thank you!
Thanks, Jesse! Delighted to hear it!
can this dish be frozen?
Hi Nancy! It freezes and defrosts pretty well. The texture isn’t quite the same afterward, but it’s still quite nice. I have frozen individual portions for our toddler in large silicone ice cube trays, then transferred them to a freezer bag. I haven’t tried freezing the whole dish—it would take quite a while to defrost that way.
Pour la première vraie journée d’automne en France, ce plat était parfait. j’ai fait une purée de potiron maison car on ne trouve pas de purée en conserve ici. Le résultat était délicieux!
This recipe is a winner! I decided to replace the spices with a packet of taco seasoning and threw in a can of black beans at the end. It’s so creamy and delicious, and I love that it all comes together in one pot. My toddler loved it, too.
This was absolutely incredible! Wouldn’t change anything. Loved how savory and creamy and cheesy it was. Yummm!
I made this vegan: – Myoko’s butter
– Soy cream cheese with chives and onion (cut onion and garlic powder in recipe back to 1/2 tsp)
– home made parmesan (3/4 cup toasted almonds, 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast, 3/4 tsp sea salt, 1/4 tsp garlic powder – pulse in blender and store extra in frig)
– 8 oz tub of vegan nacho cheese
Placed in 8X8 casserole, sprinkled with bread crumbs, and baked at 400F for 15-20 minutes until browned.
Total winner.
Thanks so much for sharing your vegan variation, Bonnie! I’m sure other readers will appreciate your notes, too.
I was a little nervous to try this, but I have made dozens of Kate’s recipes and each one has been amazing (probably a third of the meals I cook are Cookie and Kate recipes). This one was no exception! Holy cow! By far, the best homemade mac n’ cheese I’ve ever had. Pinky swear, it taste like mac n’ cheese, not like something healthy masquerading as its more delicious name sake. Yet it’s more subtlety interesting than most homemade mac n’ cheese recipes, let alone the boxed stuff. If you have pumpkin in your pantry, make this! If you don’t have pumpkin in your pantry, go buy some and make this!
Yesssss! Thank you, Joanna! Your comment made my day. :)
I was curious about this recipe but unsure if I’d like it, so I made half of a batch tonight. I loved it and will make the other half tomorrow. It’s easy to make, so creamy and delicious! I forgot to add the parmesan but didn’t miss it. I love black pepper and a generous pepper sprinkle on my serving made it taste even better. Thank you!
That’s so good to hear! Thank you, Ellie.
This Mac and Cheese was excellent and quite easy to make. My husband and I loved it and will for sure make this again.
Hooray, thanks Joan!
Very easy! Super creamy. A nice fall-time variation! I was concerned about putting the pasta into non-boiling water and setting a timer for a definite number of minutes given every type of pasta will be al dente in a different number, but it worked out. Phew! I enjoyed it. Thank you for another great recipe! Your page is my go-to! I am interested in trying the butternut squash variation given this one came out nice. Thanks again!
Thank you, Kathleen! I was excited to discover this cooking method. Hope you get a chance to try the butternut squash version soon—the roasted squash offers a lot of flavor!
Delish! Made it exactly as described. Perfect for one of the first cool fall days here in Ohio.
Happy to hear it, Anne! Thank you for taking the time to let me know. :)
Enjoyed this so much. I have leftovers and would like to reheat. What is the best way? (
It looks like I need to add some liquid.)
You can gently reheat microwave or stovetop. I always find mac and cheese is best right away.
I made your olive tapenade recipe and made a friend out of the deal, so I tried this. My 18 year old grandson ate so much I had to make more. He is a sweet sweet kid but has autism so he hates change. This is his new favorite, replacing the godawful chemical.orange box. You are truly enriching my life with your recipes. Thank you.
I’m glad this has been a hit! I appreciate your review, Rhiannon.
This is a really interesting dish! I was a bit skeptical because I couldn’t really imagine the pumpkin spice flavour and sharp cheese coming together but WOW! So delicious! Absolutely loved it, I ate it all week and was still loving it by the end. Definitely would be a hit for any holiday gathering.
I’m glad you tried it and enjoyed it, Anna! I appreciate your review.
Wonderful! I’m always nervous when cooking pasta in fluid that includes things other than water. But this was perfect. And the finished flavor was yummy! Thank you for the recipe.
You’re welcome, Alex! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I am new to your site, made your pumpkin bread which was yummy!!! then I found the pumpkin mac and cheese and was intrigued. made it tonight and it too was delicious. added a littl.e salt and fresh pepper. thank you so much. cordially and wnderfully sated, Kay preston
Do you mean a cup of cheese or an eight ounce block, shredded? Making this now and unsure. Thank you.
Yes, one 8 oz block shredded. I hope you enjoy it!
Absolutely love this pumpkin mac and cheese recipe! It’s become a staple for autumn evenings at my place. The one-pot prep is a time-saver, and the taste is out of this world.
So easy and so delicious! We don’t have toddlers (anymore), so I added a pinch of cayenne after adding the cheese just to bring a little bit of heat. Great comfort food for cool nights!
I agree! Great comfort food on colder days. Thank you for your review, Kristin.
Since so many people said they stuck to the recipe and loved it, I did just that. It tasted a little too sweet for me (I am a spicy person). I sprinkled a bit of cayenne over mine and loved it! My husband liked it, too (without the cayenne). That’s saying a lot because he doesn’t usually like anything made with pumpkin other than pumpkin pie. Mac and cheese, to me, is not so healthy. But this recipe adds some “healthy” to mac and cheese. Thanks for this recipe. It’s definitely a “make again” recipe!
I’m glad you plan to make this recipe again, Kathy!
This looks amazing. I am new to this lifestyle and have been animal products from my diet. I love to cook and love your recipes. Thank you! Angela
Kate, I made this today and it initially was very creamy. Not long after though it became less creamy. I’m wondering if cooking the pasta separately and draining the water would decrease the starchy like consistency. I used cavatelli. When I reheat it I may have to add some milk to get that creaminess back. Not unusual for a Mac and cheese recipe. Overall, it did taste good though.
Thank you for sharing, Deb!
Can the sauce be made separately from the pasta and refrigerated? I don’t like reheated pasta and usually store leftover sauce and make fresh pasta, but I wanted to ask whether it would change how it turned out if i did it this way (after the adding pumpkin puree step, just adding the cream cheese and cheddar, and maybe something to thin it a bit because of the missing pasta water)
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure. Let me know if you do and what you think!
I have no cream cheese can I substitute mascarpone instead???
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure. If you try it, let me know!