Roasted Air Fryer Pumpkin Slices

Air fryer pumpkin can be sliced and cooked to a golden brown to enjoy as a vegetarian side dish or mashed and made into a puree to bake with. Along with our pressure cooker pumpkin this is our favorite way to roast this in slices.

How to Cook Fresh Pumpkin

If you loved our pumpkin seed in air fryer recipe from last year, this will show you how to cook the whole thing so no parts get wasted. I will say that is one of my favorite things to crisp in this baby and enjoy as a healthy snack but now we have two things to enjoy from this gourd.

It’s now a tasty side dish or blend when it is tender to make pumpkin soup with pumpkin puree in the Fall months. There are so many possibilities way beyond just carving them y’all.

Ninja Air Fryer Pumpkin

Maybe you’ve only cooked acorn squash in air fryer so far, that is super yummy. This one is sliced and prepared very similarly. Neither one do you want to chew or consume the outside rind.

Pumpkin Slices in Air Fryer

Think of it like a melon. You slice that in half and then into chunks that are easy to pick up right? Do you eat the outside rind? NO, you’d cut it off or eat around it.

Is pumpkin considered a squash?

It is! It’s also considered to be a gourd too but yes it is in both families sorta speak. The latter fits better though because this orange vegetable is both used as an ingredient and as a decorative piece during the holidays.

To fit really well you’ll want to buy small Jack Be Little or pie pumpkins they sometimes call them. You can see what I mean down below. That way you can cook the whole thing at the same time once you’ve seeded it and sliced it into pieces.

How to soften pumpkin for cutting?

Use a sharp knife or fork to pierce the pumpkin in several places. This allows steam to escape and prevents the pumpkin from exploding in the microwave. Place on a microwave-safe plate and microwave on high for 3 to 5 minutes. In the oven preheat to 375°F. Pierce in several spots with a knife or fork. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 15-20 minutes.

Take the top off like you would if you were going to carve it and then slice it in half. It is easier to scoop the goop out and clean pumpkin seeds in preparation for baking them or throwing them into your Cosori. Do NOT, I repeat do not throw them away though. Seriously I will take every single one if you don’t want to roast them yourself.

Now decide what you want to do with the flesh once it is tender. If you want to blend it to make pumpkin soup or puree it to make pumpkin butter you’d skip the olive oil spray at the end. That is merely to crisp the outsides more and you really just want it as tender as possible.

How long should a pumpkin be cooked for?

That depends. It takes 45 minutes or so when sliced in half and baked in the oven. To make Instant Pot pumpkin it is closer to 10 minutes. Now when we air fry pumpkin like we are doing here it is about 12 min.

Pumpkin in Air Fryer

Now if you just came to this post because you want to make homemade pumpkin puree, no problem, BUT you should try these as well. Each one is only a few dollars a piece so it is so worth it to buy more than one and give this other method a whirl. You may find it is your new favorite quick easy side dish. This is what you’re going to need to get it tender. If you are making something else with it after it’s done then obviously you would switch to that recipe next.

Ingredients

1. Fresh small pumpkin
   • Spoon to clean out the insides and sharp knife to slice it
2. Salt and pepper to season outside if eating it as is, others like garlic powder work great too
3. Olive oil spray will make the outsides golden brown as you see here

The thicker your pieces are the longer they will take but also the more soft insides you’ll have use. If you want to make them similar to french fries then slice ’em thin and crisp ’em up!!

There really isn’t a huge need to preheat air fryer for this one. Like butternut squash you want the temperature to be a bit lower to get each piece fork tender. Another tip is to make sure you have each piece be the same size so they cook evenly in your air fryer basket.

How to Roast Pumpkin in Air Fryer

• Cut the pumpkin and slice in half lengthwise. Remove the insides and set them aside.
  • roast oven baked pumpkin seeds later
• Slice the halves into slices and then remove the rind on the outside. Sprinkle with oil and seasonings and spray basket with olive oil spray.
• Lay pieces in without overlapping and cook at 380 degrees F for 12 minutes or until as tender as you’d like. If you want more golden brown on the outside spray with olive oil spray on top for the last 2-3 minutes.

For pumpkin fries slice them quite thin, to make a puree later to be used in another pumpkin recipe slice them thick.

If you add them thick in order to mash or blend them into homemade pumpkin puree I would recommend using a blender. Don’t brown the outsides more than needed in order to get the insides tender. Then throw them into your machine with just a bit of water or even apple juice to make as smooth as you’d like it to be.

What Can You Make with Roasted Pumpkin

You could add some pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, allspice, any of the Fall flavors you like in your mix and make Pumpkin Jam out of them too.

I hope I’ve answered all your questions so you know how many variations of air fryer pumpkin there really are to choose from and create this way. You can now jump to recipe below and print it out or just come back to refer to it again later.