This Healthy Fermented Pumpkin Recipe is a Twist on Preserving Squash

For an unusually flavorful way to add probiotics to your diet, try this easy fermented pumpkin recipe. It’s a tasty way to preserve pumpkin!

Pumpkins and other winter squash are a wonderful addition to any garden. Not only do they provide ample fruit, but their thick rind makes preserving squash and pumpkin easy. It stores effortlessly for anyone with a root cellar or cool room.

Preserving pumpkin

Fermentation isn’t really necessary for preserving squash and pumpkin – but it sure is fun in this healthy pumpkin recipe! [Click here for more fermenting recipes to try.] There’s not much prep work involved in making these healthy pumpkin spears. Just be sure you have a sharp knife to work with.

The extra probiotics and enzymes imparted to this yummy, fragrant snack food can’t be had in pumpkin pies or warming soups.

Cardamom is one of the spices that gives chai its intoxicating fragrance. Just a tiny pinch of these seeds imparts wonderful flavor to this fermented pumpkin and gives the pumpkin just a hint of those familiar fall flavors, even in this tangy ferment.

Try this small-batch fermenting recipe to preserve pumpkin or multiply the recipe to put up a bunch of golden fermented snacks. The key to successfully fermented pumpkin is to reserve a bit of the rind which will impart a bit of beneficial bacteria from the soil into the final ferment.

More recipes for fermentation: 

If you loved this recipe (and the idea of adding more probiotics to your diet!) there’s so much more exploring to do! 

These spicy fermented snap peas are a delicious addition to a salad, chop them in small bits and add to your deviled eggs, or serve them alongside a cold beer.

Try these fermented carrots with garam masala seasoning for something different. 

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Turn the heat up even more with this banana pepper hot sauce. 

Try fermenting cauliflower to serve with your favorite sandwich.

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Lacto-Fermented Pumpkin with Cardamom

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

These pumpkin spears are an unusual twist on fermentation, resulting in a firm pickle with a rootsy flavor. It's an easy way to preserve pumpkin.

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Ingredients

• Enough sliced pumpkin to fill a pint jar
• A sliver of pumpkin rind
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 8 cardamom seeds
• Water as needed

Instructions

1. Peel and clean out a small pumpkin, reserving a slice of the rind to lend bacteria to the fermentation process. Add salt, pumpkin rind sliver, and cardamom seeds to a pint-sized jar.
2. Slice the pumpkin into small sticks just tall enough to fit into the jar, leaving about 1" of head space. Pack tightly into the jar, much like making cucumber pickles.
3. Pour water over the pumpkin, salt, and cardamom until the pumpkin is entirely submerged. Place a lid on the jar so that it is airtight and leave to ferment at room temperature for 2-3 weeks. Check the jars daily, opening the jars to release pent up carbon dioxide each time pressure has built up.
4. After 2-3 weeks taste the pumpkin. If it is sufficiently tangy, you can eat it right away or move it to cold storage.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1 grams
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 27Unsaturated Fat: 0gSodium: 956mgCarbohydrates: 6gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 1g

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