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This could be my fav meal on your site. Whole family loves it and it was taken in a thermos for school lunch the next day!!
Lori
But November?!
Oh my gosh, it’s somehow already sweet, cozy November. It was like Sage just finished up being a ghost for Halloween while I took pictures and ate five million KitKats and then BOOM. Just like that. November and all its chilly pre-winter feelings were just HERE.
Do you have candles burning right now? Please tell me you have candles burning.
I know November can mean a lot of things to a lot of people, including but not limited to over-use of bootie slippers even when it’s not necessary (but obviously it IS necessary), pre-holiday ordering of minty mochas with pre-holiday listening to Christmas music – you think I don’t know you BUT I KNOW YOU, more and more and more candles, and a three second crush on the first supercold days of winter because the whole hats-and-mittens vibe really does start out being really adorable and fun. Key words: start out.
For my fellow Hungry Hungry Pumpkin Eaters, November means that we have entered the season of the year when it’s more than okay to embrace mashups of flavors, textures, and colors in recipes like Pumpkin Spaghetti with Garlic Kale. 😍 –> See also: Dinner Every Night for the Foreseeable Future.
And let’s be honest – that’s why I really love November.
How To Make Our Pumpkin Spaghetti:
This pumpkiny spaghetti sauce is totally not my genius. More like it’s inspired by my very regular laziness. I saw a jar of pumpkin sauce at Target when I was grocery shopping and it looked like a great way to NOT really have to fully make dinner from scratch and to create opportunities for us to eat pasta all in one fell swoop. Tried it, loved it, read the list of ingredients, and attempted to recreate it.
Pumpkin and tomato together in one sauce? Slow down, friends. I had the saaame questions and concerns.
Don’t let the weirdness on paper deter you.
This has been one of my favorite fall meals hands-down and you KNOW I’m serious about my sauces.
FYI: we first made this with spaghetti. Like, noodles. YUM. Then we made it with spaghetti SQUASH to be healthy, which was healthy and a little bit less perfect because, um, it’s spaghetti squash. And it gets watery and sad, unlike real carb noodles which love you truly madly deeply with their chewy-soft, sauce-soaking texture. So we made it ahhhgain with noodles. And it’s going to be pretty hard for me to go back to any sort of vegetable noodle situation after how hard I fell in love with the carb-sauce combo here (but I will confess that since the sauce is so good, it really does make a great pair for veg noodles of all types).
Okay now crew.
Let’s keep those candles burning, put on the bootie slippers (already wearing! you know me, always one step ahead! 🏆), and enjoy yoself a plate of steamy noodles with luscious pumpkin tomato sauce, spicy ground turkey, a dusting of Manchego, and a side of sautéed garlic kale.
November is the ultimate.
Creamy Pumpkin Spaghetti with Garlic Kale
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
Creamy Pumpkin Spaghetti with Garlic Kale – this is the most crazy good combination! Spicy turkey, creamy pumpkin sauce, and pasta!
Ingredients
For the Pumpkin Sauce
- 1 cup sun dried tomatoes packed in oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 sage leaves, minced
- 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
- 1 cup tomato puree or tomato sauce
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 cup cream or half and half
- teeny tiny pinch of cinnamon
For the Pasta
- 8 ounces bucatini, perciatelli, or spaghetti (I used DeLallo perciatelli)
- 1 lb. lean ground turkey
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
For the Garlic Kale
- 2 tablespoons garlic infused olive oil (see notes)
- 1 bunch kale, stems removed, leaves chopped
- Manchego or Parmesan cheese for topping
Instructions
- Sauce: In a large pot over medium high heat, add the sun dried tomatoes and a few tablespoons of the oil. Add the onion, garlic, and sage with the sun dried tomatoes and saute until soft and fragrant. Add the pumpkin puree, tomato puree, chicken broth, basil, and cinnamon. Simmer for 15 minutes or so, adding more water or broth as needed to keep the sauce from getting too thick. Puree in a blender or with an immersion blender directly in the pot until mostly smooth. Stir in cream and season to taste with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes for heat.
- Pasta: Boil the pasta according to package directions. While the pasta is boiling, brown the turkey in a large skillet with the onion, chili powder, and garlic powder. Add a few tablespoons of water if necessary to keep everything moist.
- Kale: Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the kale and saute until wilted.
- Toss the turkey, sauce, and pasta together. Serve with the kale. Top everything with the cheese.
Notes
You don’t have to use garlic infused olive oil, but that was the easiest way I found to get a nice light garlic flavor without having little pieces of garlic in the kale. If you don’t have garlic oil, just use regular minced garlic cloves and throw it in with the kale. Another option: gently heat the oil, add the whole smashed garlic cloves whole and saute for a few minutes to impart some flavor, and then remove the cloves before adding the kale.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: pumpkin spaghetti, pumpkin and kale spaghetti, pumpkin noodles, pumpkin pasta
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our collection of yummy kale recipes. Check it out!
Very tasty! However I did get confused with the 4(!) cups of chicken stock. I ended up with a ridiculous amount of (quite runny) sauce. I added some cornstarch slurry and I guess I have a good amount of sauce for the freezer for another time :). I’m just wondering if I did something wrong?
This made soup, not a sauce. Do not use 4 cups of broth!! It’s interesting that I couldn’t find any comments from people who have actually made this. They all just say they bet it’s good. No amount of simmering thickens this much liquid and I’m upset I wasted so many ingredients.
This is sooo good! I made it exactly as you intended, and I’m getting a little bit of a Moroccan vibe. It’s so warm, and yummy and perfect for cold nights!
One suggestion… I often look at the comments for reviews on the actual meal. However, it seems majority just comment on how delicious is looks. It would be great if there was a system to separate those who have actually made it and those who are just commenting because it looks good. Not sure if this is possible but would love to know peoples actual feedback and potential alterations they’ve made. It can’t be a 4-5 star meal just based solely on how it looks – Even though it does look/sound absolutely delish! Thanks for reading!
This has been a meal our family has enjoyed for a long time. So good, feels elevated and interesting, and works in extra nutrition with the pumpkin. I find the it makes a ton of sauce, so I portion it into 4, use one portion to add to the 1 lb of ground turkey and onion, and then freeze the other 3 portions. Then when I pull out that already made sauce, it is ridiculously easy just doing the meat, onion, and pasta. Very delicious!
Hi, I think this was the recipe I once made I made it last year just like this and kale and my whole family loved it. I forgot to save it so I hope this one is the one as I want to make it tomorrow. One question in the recipe it says cup of cream or d half.. what’s d half? Or is it typo?
Hi Miriam! It should read 1/2 cup of cream or half and half.
My whole family really enjoyed this dish last night. I do think, though, that the chicken broth amount might be too much. I am thinking only one cup of broth was needed? The recipe says 4 cups and there was a whole lot of sauce compared to noodles. I used only 1/4 of the sauce. It still turned out delicious and I will make it again. I love your recipes and use them often in our house! Thank you.
This is an annual fall meal in my house, and since it was just two of us we have enough left overs for at least two more meals each and we had lots of sauce so I froze the extra.
Look. This recipe is great.
If you read through it, it feels super intimidating because there’s a lotta-pot-situation going on and if you live in a small house, with a 4-burner induction stove, and a child under 13 months, you’re gonna wanna skip something like this. Where are my one-pot options. By don’t do it. Don’t do it if you’re vegan / vegetarian either. Don’t sweat the garlic oil (have it in your pantry or skip it all together), mis en place your garlic, onions, seasonings, and your protein out of its package. The sauce will probably take much-much longer than 15-minutes on medium-high to reduce. Just stick with it, pass out vegetables for your people to snack on, and give the baby a ladle to play with. None of you will regret it.
If you’re lucky enough to have fresh, homemade pasta show up in your CSA for this recipe, USE IT.
4 cups of chicken broth is way too much took like 45 minutes to reduce
Not sure how it should have worked, but with 4 cups of stock and a cup of Tomato sauce mine turned into a soup. Had to reduce it for about an hour to get it to a consistency that, when blended, would stick to the noodle. Other than that though turned out great and would remake (with half the stock)!
This was so delicious, I’m vegan so I substituted the turkey for TVP (textured vegetable protein), such a nice change from the typical spaghetti
Glad you liked the recipe, Veronique!
This looks insanely good! Question – Would I be able to substitute Coconut Cream or Milk for heavy cream? Looking for a dairy free substitute!
This recipe is absolutely amazing!! It’s June, in Oregon and the weather is kooky and Fall-like, so I’m embracing it with cozy, delicious recipes like this.
You guys have to try this!
I have made it several times, I’ve stuck to the recipe exactly, or added tomato paste, freshly ground nutmeg in place of the cinnamon, wine in place of some of the broth, changed up the herbs a bit…. Following this recipe or substituting, it’s great!
Thanks for the great recipe Lins!
From one Lindse(a)y to another…
Haha! The perfect dish for embracing the fall-ish weather!
Oh. My. Goodness! This is just amazing! This sauce is simmering on the stove right now and I. CAN. NOT. WAIT. to grab a big bowl of this! My 5 year old even gave it 2 thumbs up…he’s my “quality control tester.” 😉
I made a few tweaks…I roasted a head of garlic and threw in, added an extra pinch of cinnamon, plus a pinch of nutmeg, and a few extra sage leaves. I also left out the cream…not because we’re non-dairy, but because it was so creamy with the pumpkin and blended tomatoes I didn’t feel we needed it. We’re having this over some GF noodles along with the kale. This would also be soooo yummy over zoodles or kohlrabi noodles.
THANK YOU for sharing this one!!
Always good to have a lil’ quality control control tester in the kitchen. 😉
This is one of my favorite things I’ve ever made!! I didn’t make the kale part (ran out of time) but the pasta sauce is incredible! I had to substitute coconut cream for the half and half since my son has a dairy allergy. My picky kids ate it up fast! Thanks for this recipe, I think it’ll become a fall staple for us!
Glad you enjoyed this, Monica!
So glad you re-posted on Instagram yesterday. It caught my eye and with only one significant substitute I was able to make this sauce from my pantry. I scrolled through some of the comments to see if anyone had tried using regular bulk breakfast sausage. Didn’t find a mention, but decided to trust my gut and went with it. Turned out very well, it’s definitely a keeper. I didn’t find it overly pumpkin-y, which is good for me. Subtle differences from the usual pasta sauce that made for overall warm flavors the family couldn’t quite pinpoint but totally enjoyed. Thank you.
Loved this recipe! So yummy and creamy 🙂 the kale went perfectly with it! I’m glad you thought of it , it’s so easy to get stuck on rich dishes as the weather gets colder, and leave out leafy greens. Very excited to try more pumpkin recipes from you all!
Glad you enjoyed this, Reshmi! Tis the season for all things pumpkin!
This look amazing and I want to try it. Anything I could sub for the sage? My husband is allergic.
We think rosemary would work well instead of the sage here. Let us know how this goes for you!
Has anyone actually tried it. That would be more helpful.
This was a great recipe, and will definitely make again. I only added like 1/2 cup of broth — 4 cups would make this recipe way too thin. I don’t think the sauce needed cream (it was delicious without it) but I did add a little almond milk. Truly excellent dinner!
This was delicious! Thank you so much for this recipe – you’re right totally not weird! I have wanted to try this from the grocery store but I have found it to be very expensive. This was a great make at home version and I found I had extra to freeze!
Glad you enjoyed it, Hilary!
This recipe is a new family favorite!
Hi – this looks great but my husband doesn’t like sundried tomatoes – would it ruin it to not have them? How strong is their taste in this recipe? Any substitution recommendations?
Totally fine to omit!
Can the cream or half and half be substituted with almond milk or coconut milk? I have somewhat of a lactose intolerance and I really really want to try this recipe.
I used coconut cream and it was delicious! My son has a dairy allergy. 🙂