How to make roasted pumpkin so much more fabulous with very little effort? A dash of maple syrup for extra caramelisation. Kick of fresh chilli. Plus a sprinkle of feta and shower of walnuts! Serve as a side, a meal, pile on toast or crostini. It’s delicious any which way!
Maple roasted pumpkin with feta and chilli
Something magical happens to pumpkin when you roast it. It intensifies the sweetness and caramelises beautifully.
I’d happily eat it plain. But here, we step it up a notch with a few simple additions that work so well with pumpkin. A dash of maple syrup for extra caramelisation. Plus a hit of fresh chilli, soft nutty crunchy of walnuts and creamy pops of salty feta…..you know this is going to be good!
That’s dinner, right there. Or a mighty delicious side.
Ingredient you need
Here’s what you need to make this.
The roasting stuff
Pumpkin – Any eating pumpkin. I typically use Kent or Jap which are common varieties here in Australia. Do not use pumpkin intended for Halloween carving, it’s not very pleasant to eat.
Alternatives – Butternut pumpkin (called butternut squash in the States) or sweet potato!
Maple syrup – or honey.
Dried chilli flakes – also called red pepper flakes. I use the regular type you get from ordinary grocery stores but you could absolutely use Asian or other types of chilli flakes. Just be mindful of spiciness!
Red onion – substitute regular onion, eschalots (US: shallots) or the white part of green onions (I often have bunches in the fridge with the green parts unceremoniously hacked off for garnish purposes so am always looking for uses of the white part).
Walnuts – Or other nuts of choice. Almonds and pecans come to mind first. Pinenuts, pepitas and other small nuts/seeds would also work but I’d toss them in partway through cooking so they don’t burn into tiny little black (bitter) pellets.
Finishes
Chilli – This is optional because it’s more for visual than spiciness, because we get enough spiciness from the dried chilli flakes. Large chillis, like the cayenne pepper pictured, aren’t very spicy. Good life rule to remember: the larger the chilli, the less spicy it is!
Danish feta – This is the feta type that is a bit more creamy than Greek feta. Greek feta also works, though I do like the way Danish feta sort of smears as it semi-melts on contact with the hot pumpkin.
If you are making to really impress, go premium by using goats cheese!
Parsley – For pretty green finish.
How to make Maple Roasted Pumpkin with Chilli and Feta
This is a recipe that’s more about the finishes. The pumpkin is roasted with onion and walnuts, all tossed with maple syrup. Then once cooked, sprinkle with feta, red chilli and parsley. Then get stuck in!
Cut the pumpkin in 2.5cm / 1″ cubes. To do this I cut into 2.5cm / 1″ slices first. Using a rocking motion as you slice down helps make this easy.
Cut the skin off.
Then cut into cubes.
Pile onto a large paper lined tray with the onion slices and walnuts. Toss with olive oil, maple syrup, salt and chilli flakes then spread it out. The more space between the pumpkin, the better. If the pumpkin is too cluttered, it will stew and go mushy instead of caramelising.
Roast for 30 minutes, tossing once at the 20 minute mark, until the pumpkin is light golden and cooked through. You won’t get intense golden colour on the surface, not like plain roast pumpkin cubes (such as in this recipe), because the maple syrup will burn on the edges of the cubes before the surface goes completely golden.
Also, the onion will get quite dark brown. If you notice at the tossing point that it’s getting a little too brown, just push/pile them all together or bury under pumpkin. This will protect them!
Finishing – Give the pumpkin a gently toss to coat it in all the tasty tray juices. Then transfer to a serving platter – single layer is nice for even sprinkling coverage and neat presentation. Sprinkle with fresh chilli, feta and parsley, then serve!
Or – jumble and pile
I know I said a single layer presentation looks nice and neat. But actually, for maximum flavour-melding-more-rustic presentation (aka Nagi style), do most of the sprinkling on the tray, reserving some for garnish. Then transfer into a serving bowl. Flavour jumbling will occur during transfer and piling.
Finish with reserved feta etc to pretty it up.
Whichever way you go, single layer neatness or jumbled piled up rustic-ness, it still rates the same on the deliciousness scale. Which is, in case you hadn’t guessed, very, very high.
Tell me if you serve this as a side or inhale it as a meal! – Nagi x
PS In case you didn’t know I have a whole category of pumpkin side dishes as part of the vegetable and salad side dishes corner of this website! Mostly relatively low effort, like this one, with a scattering of show-offs for special occasions.
PPS This is not the first time I’ve combined pumpkin. See also here and here.
Watch how to make it
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Maple Roasted Pumpkin with Chili and Feta
Ingredients
- 2 lb / 1 kg pumpkin , peeled, cut into 2.5cm / 1" cubes (whole, unpeeled weight – Note 1)
- 1 red onion , peeled, halved, then cut into 1cm / 0.4" wedges
- 1/2 cup walnuts , roughly chopped (Note 2)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp maple syrup or honey (sub brown sugar Note 3),
- 3/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1 – 1 1/2 tsp dried chili flakes , adjust to taste (Note 4)
Garnishes (Optional)
- 3/4 cup Danish feta (or Greek feta, or upgrade to goats cheese)
- 1 large red chilli (cayenne pepper), deseeded, finely minced
- 1 tbsp parsley finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F (180°C fan-forced).
- Toss – Place the pumpkin, onion and walnuts on a large, paper lined tray. Drizzle with olive oil and maple syrup, then toss to coat (hands really is best). Sprinkle with chilli and salt, toss again, then spread out on a tray. Don't crowd them else they will stew instead of roast!
- Roast for 30 minutes, or until the pumpkin is lightly browned and cooked through, tossing once at the 20 minute mark.
- Finishes – Remove from the oven. Gently toss again, then transfer to a serving platter in a single layer. Crumble over feta, sprinkle with parsley and chilli. Or do the sprinkling on the tray then pile into a bowl. Serve immediately!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Recipe update: This is an old recipe from 2015 that was in desperate need of spruced up photos, a recipe video tutorial and most importantly, recipe improvements! The same recipe, just tweaked to fix. 🙂
More delicious things to make with pumpkin
Life of Dozer
Don’t miss Dozer in today’s recipe video!! Did he get to taste test….??
I made this in a bit of a different ‘package’. I used filo dough (2 pcs lightly buttered) in a 24 cm spring form, with edges hanging over the side.
then I put in the filling and flipped the sides on top. I then used 2 additional filo sheets and scrunched them up and laid them on top sprinkling with some unsalted butter and fleur de Sel.
I also added caramelized chestnuts and roasted pine nuts to this mix.
The result was a crunchy outside and a yummy filling.
Sadly, I cannot attach a picture. But it turned out awesome!
When you say filo dough, do you mean the thin sheets or puff pastry? Or does filo always mean the thin one?
Def gonna steal this idea for Thanksgiving dinner. Wow.
What a great idea Maya! I have a couple of filo sheets left over from making Nagi’s spanakopita – not enough for any particular recipe, but absolutely enough to use the way you have here.
Thanks so much for sharing!
OMG Maya, that sounds amazing! I might make it this way for American Thanksgiving next month.
Thanks, Hollis,
Here in Europe we have some great Filo dough for making streudel and such. As I had some in the fridge that needed using, I have to say it came out amaaaazing!
Hi Nagi love pumpkin anything and trying this today…
My fav is pumpkin risotto. Where you mash pumpkin and roast cubes. Fry up onion add rice then hot chicken stock, usual risotto way 😋 not forgetting S&P
Finally add the mashed pumpkin, Parmesan. To serve top with roast cubed pumpkin, it’s delish.
NOW …..THANKYOU SO MUCH you are an inspiration and I love your recipes OH AND DROVER 🥰🥰🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶
Sweet, spicy, delicious!
This was so delicious and will definitely become a regular in our household.
Well, that was winner, thanks Nagi. Made today and have now added to the menu for Xmas. I can never get my pumpkin to brown tho, had to use the grill for a bit, so a little later, it was a bit too charred, but a bit of selective plating, and all worked out.
We had a pumpkin & sweet potato feast and served this along side the Honey-cinnamon pumpkin lentil salad. A tad too much chilli for me – but I just added extra feta to my serve! 2 teenagers & husband all gave thumbs up – to both dishes!
Nagi, this was so, so good! I love roasted pumpkin/squash & I never would have thought to add nuts (I used pistachios) or find another use for feta! Two thumbs way up!
I added sliced pears to this roasted with the pumpkin and served it as part of my first ever completely vegetarian dinner party and it was very well received, and so quick and easy.
Woo hoo!! I’m glad you all enjoyed i t Clare! N x
This was delicious and we’ll make it again. Used cashews instead of walnuts, otherwise followed recipe. Not huge pumpkin fans but knew the “Nagi treatment” would yield great results.
I’m so glad you gave it a go Emjay!! N x
Yummo!! Never been a big fan of pumpkin but this is really good. Didn’t have walnuts si used pine nuts…did have to cook it 20mins longer to get onion more caramelised. What an awesome dish…feels like eating dessert. Another hit Nagi, thank you once again🙏
I used sweet potatoes for this dish and the results were delicious. Loved the use of the maple syrup and especially the feta.
Wahoo, sounds perfect Nancy! N x
Amazing! I added almonds, pepitas and sunflower seeds. A hit with my husband and kids.
Fantastic Elissa! N x
I have never been a big fan of pumpkin.. but this converted me and I think i’ve made it three times in the last week! I’m a big fan of pine nuts so I used those instead and have used blue cheese at the end when I didn’t have feta handy. Yum! Highly recommend
So yummy, but I don’t like walnuts so sprinkled with toasted pine nuts at the end, also tossed through some baby spinach. I’ve also made it with sweet potato. Great with BBQ pork or chicken but super as a vego dish.
Sounds perfect Heather!
Hi Nagi
Would this recipe work with sweet potato? Would you please advise. If not I will need to go to supermarket. Thanks for your help. Just love your recipes. Have signed up to have recipes delivered to email.
Hi Tania – it will absolutely work with sweet potato! Perfectly – exactly as written 🙂 N x
Made this wonderful dish for a party and then had to fight off the hordes to get some. Every one is away at the moment so I am making a batch just for myself. In the unlikely case that there is some left over I am going to try to freeze it.
I love this Kat!!
I was just wondering if you think this would go well with some pesto pasta?!
Yes definitely!!
Made this recipe yesterday for large gathering of almost septuagenarians. Everyone loved it! I made as per recipe (double quantity hoping to have leftovers 😏 but no luck there🤣) …will definitely make again and have sent link to others who also enjoyed it. Thanks Nagi.
Wahoo! You nailed it Elizabeth!
It’s beautiful autumn here in New England. What better dish to bring to a potluck than pumpkin with maple syrup? I found your blog while searching for a recipe–this sounds fabulous! Such an interesting combination of flavors. Is it OK to use melted butter instead of oil? Since I’ll have to make it ahead of time, how good will it be if I can’t reheat it at the party? How long should I reheat it if I’m able to? I also wanted a stuffed cheesy bread recipe and found yours,so I’m making that for dinner tonight. Thanks Nagi!
Hi Chris! Butter is always a fab option but I’d add some oil too because it has a lower smoke point than oil 🙂 Unfortunately I don’t recommend reheating because it can go quite soggy!
Hi Nagi, If I;d seen your response before I bought the squash, I might have made something else because it had to be served cold. But I took this to the potluck today and it was a hit! I had a couple of apples so I threw them in too. I loved it, and I’ve always hated butternut! But that salve-y quality was gone. And from now on when I roast onions I’m adding some maple syrup! PS: it took at least 45 minutes to caramelize, and that was after turning the heat up to 450.
I’m so pleased to hear that Chris! Thanks for sharing your feedback! N x 😊
I made this tonight. Despite halving the amount of dried chilli it was still too hot for us but the flavours were lovely enough for me to want to try the recipe again sometime. On the first turning I noticed that some liquid was accumulating and it was all starting to look soggy. I felt the baking tray was overcrowded so split everything onto 2 trays. The wetness dried up and the pumpkin caramelised and browned up nicely after that. I tried this recipe because it is similar to a favourite of mine: Pumpkin, chorizo & feta salad by Scrummy Lane. Not meatless but low meat and good for a main! 🙂
I’m glad you were able to sort it out Donna. And Scrummy Lane is fantastic! Helen is a wonderful cook!
We had the leftovers for lunch today. Overnight the chilli decreased and the flavour increased and it was better.
Oooh I love leftover roasted pumpkin!! N xx