Roast Pumpkin, Whipped Feta & Brown Butter
There are plenty of low FODMAP pumpkin dishes out there but none of them have excited our pallets. After rifling through our fridge (and our brains) for possible low FODMAP pumpkin dishes, we came up with this delicious pumpkin or butternut squash recipe with whipped feta and an aromatic brown butter sauce that will fill the air with a heavenly scent.
These are the main components of this low FODMAP pumpkin dish:
- The roast pumpkin
- Whipped feta
- The green beans (If you can tolerate it)
- Brown butter sauce
- The toppings*: optional but recommended
*We’re not finicky people, so yes, the toppings can be left out if you’re strapped for cash or not in the mood to make a run to the store. Pine nuts and cranberries are a staple in our pantry and we found that they paired wonderfully with this dish.
In this post, we’ll walk through the:
One Of Our Favorite Low FODMAP Pumpkin
What we like about this dish is that as far as ibs diet recipes go, this one is easy, quick, and cheap. Let’s be real, being vegetarian/vegan AND having IBS is not a walk in the park. There are only so many vegetables one can eat and when you’re on a budget, that makes things all the more difficult.
This roasted pumpkin dish was created on a cold autumn day with whatever leftovers we had in the fridge that week: half a pumpkin, feta, and a serving of green beans.
Beans low fodmap in the same sentence? Impossible, right? Not really. We know to anyone suffering from IBS, the mention of beans sets of alarms but two things need to be considered here:
- Every individual with IBS can tolerate different things
- Green beans are low FODMAP when they don’t exceed servings of 75 grams.
But that can be said for many things. There is a cornucopia of low fodmap vegetables where one needs to eat in moderation. Did you know that depending on if you buy fresh or canned produce, the serving size needs to be changed?
We’re not scientists though, just two people who love food and are trying to make the best with our dietary restrictions.
Now, back to the pumpkin or butternut squash low fodmap recipe.
Using Pumpkin or Butternut Squash
You’ll notice through this post, we haven’t stuck with either a pumpkin or butternut squash option and that’s because autumn is gourd season. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, jack-o-lanterns, you name it, there’s a pumpkin or butternut squash at every turn. This vegetarian low fodmap recipe works with whatever you have on hand. We happened to have butternut squash that day.
This recipe is great if you’re pinched for time and you’re not in the mood to slave away in the kitchen. All you have to do is slice your gourd of choice, season with salt, and Ras el hanout.
Fun fact: Literally translated as “head of shop,” or in Arabic, “top shelf,” ras el hanout is a spice blend that consists of up to eight spices including cinnamon, cumin, coriander, allspice, black pepper, and ginger. Ours had whole spices in it -as you can see on our pumpkin; there are whole coriander seeds.
Substitute
If you don’t have access to this spice blend, you can substitute the ras el hanout for cumin and cinnamon, or leave it out if you’re not one for ‘middle-eastern-esque’ flavors. A simple salt and pepper pumpkin is also delicious.
Once you’ve decided on your spice blend of choice, lather your gourd with olive oil and season to your liking. Toss it into the oven for 30 minutes at 180c (356f) and that’s part one of this low fodmap pumpkin recipe sorted.
The other elements of this dish can be completed in the time the pumpkin is in the oven and you’ll even have time to sit back and relax.
Making Whipped Feta
Feta is becoming quite famous these days, what with all these easy baked feta recipes on the web. We haven’t given those a try yet, instead, we opted for lemony whipped feta.
Whipped feta is super simple to make. All you need is a blender or food processor, feta of course, and a dash of your favorite plant-based milk or lactose-free milk. This has easily become one of our favorite low fodmap vegetarian recipes.
Place the feta into the food processor with a milk of your choice; we used oat milk.
Mix until a smooth consistency and scrape down the sides occasionally. When it looks like this, you’re done. It shouldn’t take more than 30 seconds.
Substitute
If you’re on the hunt for low FODMAP vegan recipes, you can substitute the feta in this recipe for vegan feta. It tastes delicious and does the trick!
Note: If you do use coconut milk, bear in mind that it will change the flavor profile of this dish and impart a coconutty taste into the whipped feta. If that sounds like something you’d enjoy, then by all means, go ahead.
Cooking The Beans
The addition of the beans was a happy accident. We had the perfect portion of green beans in our fridge and they had to be eaten. It gives the dish a crunch.
As mentioned before, an IBS-friendly portion of green beans is 75g. You may follow that recommendation or ignore it depending on how your bowels react to green beans.
For this dish, the beans are simply blanched in boiling water for 3-4 minutes and then tossed in the butter sauce before it is ‘pimped’ up if you will.
How To Make Brown Butter Sauce
We love this brown butter sauce or drizzle, it just ties the whole dish together. The butter is browned in a pan with garlic and chili flakes until frothy.
Any low FODMAP pumpkin dishes that have butter is a winner in our eyes but we are not kidding when we tell you that the smell of brown butter and spiced pumpkin will perfume the air and make your mouth water.
You’ll want to gently brown your butter until frothy, add in the sliced garlic until they’re a light brown color. Take them out to avoid burning.
The element of surprise in this dish: the chili. We used dried chili flakes, you can use cayenne if you don’t have that on hand, or just leave it out entirely if you cannot tolerate spicy foods.
The chili cuts through the richness of the feta and butter, leaving your taste buds tingling -that’s if you put as much as we do though. Thread with caution and season to your own preferences.
Substitute
As low fodmap vegetarian recipes don’t incorporate lactose or garlic, this part of the recipe might make you feel iffy. We have tried this brown butter sauce with vegan butter and can report that it is just as delicious -less nutty but that’s because vegan butter doesn’t brown like regular butter.
Luckily for us, we fare pretty well with garlic! But if your bowels are aching just at the mention of garlic then we recommend substituting the fresh garlic in this recipe with garlic oil.
The Toppings
We love low fodmap recipes with a little bit extra. Regular folks get to have all sorts of fancy-schmancy gourmet recipes, why can’t we? That’s why gluten free low fodmap recipes like this one make us do a little dance. It’s all about simplicity but the end result is so very rewarding.
Without the toppings, this dish is a warm, salty, and savory symphony but the toppings just give it that extra touch. The pine nuts are toasted lightly on medium heat in a dry pan. This takes no longer than a minute. We like ours a little darker:
The pine nuts reinforce the nuttiness of the browned butter and the cranberries add that famed sweet and sour notes that dried cranberries are known for. It’s little things like this that really make the dish as a whole stand out.
Assembly
“We eat with our eyes?” is a popular saying. We love ‘ugly-delicious’ but we also enjoy a dish that is presented with finesse.
To achieve the same results as our pictured dish, first, start by placing two tablespoons of the whipped feta onto the plate. Create a little well in the middle of the whipped feta with your spoon.
Then, lay the green beans in a pile over the whipped feta, followed by two pieces of pumpkin. Drizzle over the aromatic brown butter sauce -be generous. Finally, top with toasted pine nuts and dried cranberries, and enjoy!
Well there you have it, whether you searched ‘low FODMAP pumpkin dishes’ or ‘low fodmap recipes vegetarian’ we are delighted you ended up here. This recipe was created out of leftovers but it has become a staple in our recipe book.
It’s actually one of our favorite vegetarian low FODMAP Christmas recipes.
If you try this recipe out, be sure to leave a comment and let us know if you liked it (or not) but we’re sure you will.
Looking for more low FODMAP recipes? Try out some of our all time favorite vegetarian low FODMAP recipes:
Malaysian low FODMAP Bee Hoon Goreng
Panko Crusted Eggplant Bao Buns
Spiced Low FODMAP Pumpkin, Whipped Feta & Brown Butter
This roasted pumpkin dish is the perfect recipe for a cold autumn day. It's quick, easy, and yields wonderful results with minimal effort.
Ingredients
- 500 grams pumpkin or butternut squash
- 1 tsp ras el hanout spice mix (optional) OR 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- Salt to taste
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 100 grams feta
- 60 ml plant milk
- zest from half a lemon
- 2 tbsp butter OR vegan butter
- 2 tbsp garlic oil
- 1 tsp chili flakes (optional)
- 75 grams green beans
- A handful of pine nuts and dried cranberries (optional)
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 180c or 356f.
Cut pumpkin or butternut squash into wedges, coat with olive oil, and spice mix of your choice. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes.
Place the feta and plant milk of your choice into a food processor or blender and mix until smooth. Scrape down the sides occasionally. When you're satisfied with the consistency, grate in the zest of half a lemon.
In a pan, boil some water. When it comes to a rolling boil, throw in your green beans for 3-4 minutes. Drain the beans and set them aside.
In the same pan, on low heat, add the butter. Toss the beans through the butter and take them out of the butter mixture to set aside for plating.
You can now add your garlic oil into the butter until golden brown. Turn off the heat and add in your chili flakes or cayenne powder.
To serve
Assemble the dish by placing two tablespoons (or more) of the whipped feta onto the plate.
Create a little well in the middle of the whipped feta with your spoon.
Lay the green beans in a pile over the whipped feta, followed by two pieces of pumpkin.
Drizzle over the aromatic brown butter sauce.
Finally, top with toasted pine nuts and dried cranberries, and enjoy!
Notes
FODMAP NOTES:
- Butternut Squash: Low FODMAP serving size at 1/3 cup (45 grams) Only Japanese pumpkin or kabocha is low FODMAP
- Feta: low FODMAP at 1 ½ ounces (40 grams) per serving
- Green Beans: low FODMAP in servings of 15 beans (75 grams)
4 Comments
May Johnson
October 18, 2021 at 2:00 pmSo happy to see a low-fodmap recipe that is vegetarian and tastes so delicious! Thank you for your descriptions, all the pictures & the recipe. I’m so excited to make it for my friends. My family loved it (even my child!).
yummyble.food
October 19, 2021 at 7:17 pmWe are both so glad to read this! Keep an eye on the website, more delicious vegetarian low-fodmap recipes will be added soon!
Meylin
October 18, 2021 at 9:02 pmThis is amazing! I love that you are exploring vegetarian and vegan, low fodmap recipes. My boyfriend has IBS and I’m vegetarian. And it has been quite a struggle to find recipes that we can both eat. So I’m very excited about this recipe and all the vegetarian and low fodmap recipes to come! I’m sure it’s going to taste amazing!
yummyble.food
October 19, 2021 at 7:19 pmThank you for your comment meylin, We are so happy to help! We will be posting more vegetarian low-fodmap recipes soon. Hopefully you can enjoy them together! 🙂