How to Make Dinner in a Pumpkin- An Easy Halloween Tradition

Carve out time for this fun Halloween dinner: cooking dinner in a pumpkin!  Your family will fall in love with this festive Halloween tradition. 

this awesome idea!

MAKING DINNER IN A PUMPKIN IS EASY PEASY! 

Looking for some fun Halloween dinner recipes? Wondering what to cook for dinner? 

Besides the popular Witch's Brew Stew and our Halloween Mystery Dinner Ideas, this Halloween meal will become a favorite! 

A few years ago, we were the lucky dinner guests of a good friend who let us be a part of one of her family's favorite Halloween tradition: Making Dinner in a Pumpkin. I had always wanted to try making dinner in a pumpkin, but it seemed way to complicated. Until I learned from my friend that it was actually quite easy.

NO FANCY SKILLS OR INGREDIENTS REQUIRED

Even if you are not a gourmet cook, making dinner in a pumpkin is simple and delicious. There are just a few steps to follow and before you  know it, you'll have a festive dinner for your family or friends.

STEPS TO COOK DINNER IN A PUMPKIN

There are lots of Halloween recipes dinner in a pumpkin out there, but we always use this one from my friend Alli because it's simple and delicious. The full recipe is below, but here is the rundown:

• Pick out a medium-size pumpkin. You'll want to be sure to get one that will fit in your oven!
• Clean out the pumpkin, removing all seeds as best you can.
• Draw a Jack-O-Lantern face on the outside with permanent black marker. Place on a large cookie sheet-- this is the one we use!
• Brown the meat and onions, and then combine all the rest of the ingredients.
• Place the dinner mixture into the pumpkin and bake.

HOW TO DRAW A PUMPKIN EASY 

Click here for an entire post about how to draw a pumpkin. 

The fun part is drawing on your pumpkin! Here's how to draw a simple pumpkin face. 

First, make 2 rainbow shaped lines for the eyes. Then draw a smaller rainbow shaped line in the center. Connect the two lines and fill in to draw a pumpkin eye. 

Next, draw a triangle for the nose. 

Finally, make 2 zig-zag lines about 1 inch apart. Connect the ends with a single line. Then fill in with the permanent marker. 

And that's how to draw a Halloween pumpkin! 

WHAT TO SERVE WITH YOUR JACK-O-LANTERN DINNER

Make your entire dinner festive by serving these sides with your dinner in a pumpkin.

• Rolls (buy premade or frozen roll dough for simplicity's sake!)
• Salad or veggie like corn
• 5-Minute Jello Spider Cups
• Decorate The Best Halloween Sugar Cookies 

Dinner in a Pumpkin Recipe

What to make for dinner? Solved. Here's the recipe! 

Dinner in a Pumpkin

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• Yield: 6 servings 1x

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Description

A fun Halloween tradition your family will fall in love with.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 small to medium pumpkin (always go with smaller and round so that it will fit in your oven)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 ½ to 2 lbs. ground beef
• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 4 oz canned or fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 ½ cups cooked rice
• 8 oz water chestnuts, drained

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Instructions

1. Cut off the top of the pumpkin and thoroughly clean out the seeds and pulp. Paint a Jack-O-Lantern face with a permanent marker.
2. Preheat oven to 350.
3. In a large fry pan, saute onions with ground beef until browned. Drain any fat. Add in soy sauce, brown sugar, mushrooms, and soup. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in cooked rice and water chestnuts.
4. Spoon the mixture into the pumpkin shell. Replace pumpkin top and place entire filled pumpkin on a baking sheet.
5. Bake 1 hour or until meat of the pumpkin is tender. Put pumpkin on a platter to serve.

Notes

Original recipe from Allison Grow

Be sure to tag your dinner in a pumpkin on social media with @sofestive and #celebratesimpler. I'd love to feature you! 

 Check out all 31 Days of Simple Halloween Ideas Here