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’ve made this all but the chili flakes and now I can’t wait to try that. I’m a fiend for roasted veg – had some last night. What a lovely tray of pumpkin and I love maple syrup.
Thanks Maureen! I really do like the chili kick in this. You know how pumpkin can be a bit too soft/mushy/baby food like? This definitely is NOT!!
Wowzee! Roasting is the ultimate way to go with pumpkin! I miss fall now, 90″F in Cali today, yikes. I would kill that tray of pumpkin tough !
If anyone wants to “turn” a carnivore, THIS is the recipe to do it!! 🙂
I love your new recipe category idea: Meat-Free Recipes for Carnivores. They’re gonna be some of the most oft-googled recipes because they’ll be loved by EVERYONE! It always feels great, at potlucks, when people go out of their way to let you know that they’ve never liked a certain food, but that YOUR dish was the first they’ve enjoyed with that long-maligned ingredient–you’re going to create a lot of converts towards meat-free dishes! They’re going to learn that meat-free doesn’t mean boring, because all the flavor profiles and textures are there. Yet another winner, Nagi! 😀
Thank you Mo!!! You nailed it, I do want to share meat free dishes to “turn: carnivores!! It’s actually not that easy because (this is going to sound terrible) I have a theory that carnivores have a higher bar when it comes to food simply because we have a broader selection to choose from than vegetarians. Which means when it comes to Meat Free for Carnivores, we have a high standard!!! Only the best of the best. 🙂
Hmm, pressure is on! What to post next week??!! 🙂
I think the key to winning carnivores over is to make sure the “gnaw” factor is there.
Meat-lovers don’t typically rave about eating unseasoned meat. Unless the animal’s raised eating food that makes their flesh more tasty, meat without spices and sweetening is pretty much flavorless, so it’s really the texture that they’re after, which is why roasted veg is so satisfying. After evaporating all that water, the mouth feel develops that addictive CHEW…and mushrooms are the classic choice for replacing meat burger patties because they’re so convincingly meat-like in texture and flavor, once they meet the heat.
Taking away varying amounts of moisture from fruits and veg will pretty much yield that leathery gnaw that meat-eaters want. You’re such a magician at creating balanced flavors, that as long as you achieve the right mouth-feel, neither carnivores nor omnivores will miss the meat.
Oh my giddy Godfather! This is on the table tonight as a main meal for moi. Yum.
YES!! Timing is perfect, pumpkin is so cheap!!
I had a very early lunch and have now had a very early dinner. The only change I made is that I used honey as I didn’t have any maple syrup. My main problem now is how do I stop eating it? It is SO good. Thank you for yet another winner.
YAY!! SO glad you enjoyed it!! I know, it’s crazy good isn’t it? I ate it for lunch AND dinner the day I photographed it. I mean, what’s a girl to do with an enormous tray of roasted pumpkin? OH and I had it on toast the next morning too!! Pumpkin is so crazy cheap at the moment, I’m going nuts!
I love this! Great idea about posting a meatless recipe once a week! I love roasted veggies and how you combined the pumpkin with sweet, salty and spicy ingredients! Great flavors!
Neli, could you remind me that cookies don’t count as a Meat Free dish? Just to make sure I don’t cheat!! 🙂
Hehe, I will Nagi. No cheating allowed. 😉
This looks gorgeous, Nagi! I love roasted pumpkin and it sounds perfect with maple syrup and chili flakes!
Thanks so much Kelly!! 🙂
Simply YUM! I have become a sweet potato, yam, butternut squash and pumpkin fool lately. Funny how for years I disliked all of them so much. This is beautiful.
You disliked them?? How is that possible!! 😉
Oh my god YES!!! (I honestly don’t know what other words I can use here Nagi!)
Love the idea of Meatless dishes each week 😀 I’m on a mission to make the carnivore in my home to eat more meatless meals too! I’ll try this one out next week…
ME TOO!! I’ve started making vegetarian curries too (other than just typical lentil curry / dhal that everyone makes!) I made a cauliflower one the other day, didn’t even THINK about it being vegetarian!!
Holy moly this looks scrumptious! Great idea on making dedicated meatless recipes. I’ll look forward to seeing your creations! This one is a keeper!
Thanks Sandra!! 🙂
This looks great! Perfect way to use pumpkin. Although we love meat, we probably eat meat-free more often than not. So many great recipes don’t need meat! And this is one of them.
Thank you John!! I know you love your meat just as much as I do, so if this appeals to you too, I know I got it right!! 🙂
Hi Nagi! This makes me hungry! Only problem is that it’s Spring here, which means I have to wait until Fall to make this as that’s the only time I can get fresh pumpkin! To appease myself in the meantime I think I’ll sub in sweet potatoes and my husband just returned from a business trip to MI and brought back a bottle of fabulous Amish maple syrup! You are so creative in the kitchen! 🙂
Oooh YES!! Sweet potato is PERFECT for this – I must update the recipe to suggest that! (I’ll give you credit for it 😉 )
Love roasted pumpkin! Need to try this, looks awesome! I make similar dish with sweet potatoes 🙂 Pinned!
Thanks so much Mira!! 🙂
Ooh, you’re speaking my language with this, Nagi!
I remember the amazing Australian ‘pumpkin sales’ at this time of year in Coles and Woollies!
When I was there last year I made a salad with pumpkin, feta, pine nuts aaaand … chorizo!
All very tasty, but not so great for your new vegetarian ‘thing’! 🙂
Chorizo! Eeek!! It would be SO PERFECT in this!! (Actually, I think I could say that about anything?) 🙂
I like roasted pumpkin. Roasting brings such a sweetness. Maple syrup is great to go with pumpkin as well. Lovely side dish or main depends on how you want, right? Great recipe, Nagi!
Thanks so much Holly!! Pumpkin is one of my favorite veggies 🙂 Hard to go wrong with it!