The Best Canned Pumpkin Is Libby’s

Thanksgiving is around the corner, and you’ve likely got pumpkin pie on your mind. Maybe you’re wondering if there really is such a thing as good canned pumpkin. Is the best canned pumpkin actually better than a lovingly crafted homemade pumpkin purée?Listen. You could track down a sugar pumpkin, cut it open, scoop it out, roast it, purée it, and strain it. But we recommend you open a can instead.Specifically, Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin, the familiar orange can that’s long been a go-to in the BA Test Kitchen. It’s thick, smooth, and consistent—the qualities you want when you’re making pumpkin pie, where excess moisture can mean the difference between a silky filling and a watery one.This isn’t just brand loyalty: When our colleagues at Epicurious blind-tasted nine canned pumpkin purées, classic Libby’s came out on top, earning praise for its concentrated pumpkin flavor and velvety texture.Why do we like Libby’s canned pumpkin?Here’s the thing about homemade pumpkin purée: Its texture and water content depend on the squash variety you use and how you cook it. Libby’s, meanwhile, grows a proprietary strain of Dickinson squash—a tan-skinned variety that’s actually more closely related to butternut squash than to the jack-o’-lantern pumpkins you might be picturing. That squash is what goes into every can of Libby’s pumpkin purée.Canned pumpkin takes the variability of homemade purée out of the equation. You just pop the top, and you’re working with the same product our editors used in the Test Kitchen to create any of our favorite pumpkin purée recipes. As BA senior test kitchen editor Jesse Szewczyk explains in his ode to canned pumpkin, that consistency matters: When you’re baking from one of our recipes, your purée should behave like ours did.Smooth as buttah, pumpkin. Photo by Laura MurrayIs canned pumpkin really better than homemade?We’ve actually gone down this road before. Bon Appétit once pitted pumpkin pie made with homemade purée against one made with Libby’s canned pumpkin. The homemade version required roasting, puréeing, and straining fresh pumpkin before anyone even got around to making the pie—and after all that, our tasters liked the Libby’s version just as much or better.Sure, there’s something romantic about making absolutely everything from scratch. But romance has nothing on a perfectly smooth, luscious slice of pumpkin pie. We say if the shortcut works, there’s no reason to bypass it.Just make sure you’re buying 100% pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling, which comes already sweetened and spiced. Then grab another can while you’re at it: one for Thanksgiving, the other for pumpkin pasta tonight.About that pie:Silky filling, flaky crust, a whisper of spice: This is pumpkin pie done right.View RecipeEditor’s note: This article was first published in November 2017. It has been updated for style with additional reporting by Joe Sevier.