The Perfect Pumpkin Salad: How to Prepare the Most Easy & Delightful Salad of the Year!
Pumpkin Salad is one of the best salads of the season. It’s unusual, diverse, easy to make, nutritious, beautiful, tasty, and steamed, not sautéed. I will show you how to make it!
My choice of pumpkin is Kabocha, or in Korean, we call Danhobak. It is sweet and fluffy, just perfect for any savory or sweet recipe you want to create. But you can also use butternut squash, regular pumpkin, or sweet potato! Either way, it will be scrumptious, and you will make this festive salad over and over again during this holiday season!
Cranberries make this pumpkin salad extra festive, but you also could use raisins too. I used sliced almonds, but walnuts or pecans would be great too!
Are we ready to start the Most Easy & Delightful Salad of the Year? Let’s get started!
Bring water to boil in a steamer pot over high heat.
Carefully cut danhobahk (pumpkin) in half. It will be tough to cut the pumpkin when it’s raw, so I recommend microwaving it for 1 to 2 minutes first. Remove seeds and strings with a spoon. Now, cut them into 8 pieces.
Make sure water is boiling, and you can see the steam is coming through the steamer before you place the pumpkin. Steam for 10 to 12 minutes or until fully cooked. If you don’t have a steamer, place the pumpkin in a microwave-safe plate and cover then microwave for 5 to 7 minutes or until it’s fully cooked.
Meanwhile, thinly slice 1/2 of onion. Place onion and 1 tsp salt in a bowl, mix well, and set aside for 5 to 10 minutes.
Poke the thickest pumpkin with a chopstick to see if it’s fully cooked. If it goes through the skin smoothly, then it’s done. Remove from steamer and let it cool before handle.
Peel the pumpkin’s skin with a knife or scoop out with a spoon if desired. (It’s edible, so it’s up to you to leave it or remove it, I like to remove it for a smoother texture.) Place cooked and peeled pumpkin in a large mixing bowl.
Squeeze salted onion to get rid of the excess liquid as much as possible and add it into the mixing bowl. It’s very important to squeeze the onion as much as possible (tap with a paper towel if needed). Otherwise, your pumpkin salad might turn out watery.
Add the rest of the ingredients below…
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup sweet corn, drained
- 1/4 cup sliced almond
- 1/2 cup plant-based mayonnaise (I like Follow Your Heart brand. Will share my vegan mayo recipe soon!)
- 2 tbsp oat milk
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp agave nectar or maple syrup
Season with salt and pepper to taste. I personally like adding only salt and skip pepper. Place in a refrigerator at least 2 hours to overnight before serving.
Enjoy!
Pumpkin Salad
- Total Time: 12 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- 1 Danhobahk, aka Kabocha (approximately 3 lb)
- 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup sweet corn, drained
- 1/4 cup sliced almond
- 1/2 cup plant-based mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp oat milk
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp agave nectar or maple syrup
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring water to boil in a steamer pot over high heat.
Cut danhobahk (pumpkin) in half and remove seeds and strings with a spoon. It will be hard to cut pumpkin when it’s raw, so I recommend microwaving it for 1 to 2 minutes first. Now, cut them into eight pieces and steam for 10 to 12 minutes or until fully cooked. If you don’t have a steamer, place pumpkin in a microwave-safe plate and cover, then microwave for 5 to 7 minutes or until it’s fully cooked. Poke with a chopstick to see if it’s fully cooked. If it goes through skin and everything smoothly, then it’s done. Remove from steamer and let it cool before handle. - Meanwhile, combine thinly sliced onion and 1 tsp salt and set aside for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Peel pumpkin’s skin with a knife or scoop out with a spoon if desired. (It’s edible, so it’s up to you to leave it or remove it, I like to remove it for a smoother texture.) Place cooked and peeled pumpkin in a large mixing bowl.
- Squeeze salted onion to get rid of excess liquid as much as possible and add into mixing bowl along with rest of ingredients. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (I personally like add only salt and skip pepper) Place in a refrigerator at least 2 hours to overnight before serving. Enjoy!
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
1 comment
This salad is the bomb!!! Sweet, savery, and salt, and balanced. Taste similar to a mixture of really good potatoe salad and egg salad. Could easily put it on some buns and make a sandwich. Will be making this again thank you so much for the recipe.
★★★★★