Healthy Pumpkin Pie (Low Calorie, Gluten Free)

This easy healthy pumpkin pie is a slimmed-down version of the classic recipe using reduced sugar and evaporated skim milk. It’s the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving table topped with whipped cream, and can be made gluten-free as well!

Homemade pumpkin pie is such a seasonal comfort food! And this year it gets a healthy makeover this holiday season! This low-calorie, healthy pumpkin pie recipe is so tasty, you will never guess that this homemade version is lightened-up. It’s easy to make, has only 20 minutes of prep time, but will be a star at your Thanksgiving table.

One of my favorite parts about Thanksgiving is dessert – and it’s hard to keep from devouring a whole slice of pie (or more than one slice!). This is why I’m always looking for healthier holiday dessert recipes that taste just like the original but are lower in calories or lightened up.

Most traditional pumpkin pie recipes clock in at over 300 calories a slice, and that’s assuming the pie is cut into 12 pieces (the calorie count goes way up if you have an 8-slice pie!) But this perfect pumpkin pie recipe has only half the calories and is lower in fat than the traditional version, which means you can enjoy your favorite fall dessert without the guilt!

👩‍🍳 Why This Recipe Works

• Healthier version than traditional recipes
• Tastes like a classic pumpkin pie
• Easily made gluten free
• Flaky crust
• Made with wholesome ingredients
• Perfect for beginning bakers
• Great recipe for the holidays
• Best healthy pumpkin pie ever!

🍽 Equipment

• Pie Baking Plate
• Set of Mixing Bowls
• Set of Silicone Spatulas
• A good quality Whisk
• High Speed Mixer
• This Gluten-Free Pie Crust Mix (if you’re making this recipe gluten-free)

🥘 Ingredients

Frozen Pie Crust: This recipe is super easy in that it doesn’t require you to make a homemade pie crust. I use a standard frozen pie dough that you’ll easily find at your local grocery store. However, feel free to make your own homemade pie crust if you have a favorite recipe!

Pure Pumpkin Puree: You’ll need 15 ounces of canned pumpkin puree. Be sure that you buy pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. You can also make your own puree using fresh pumpkin. Libby’s pumpkin puree is easily found in most grocery stores, but I recommend buying an organic pumpkin puree if you can find it.

Brown Sugar: I use organic brown sugar.

Eggs: You’ll need a total of one large egg and two egg whites. This is about the equivalent of two eggs, however, using more egg whites reduces the overall cholesterol and calories.

Evaporated Skim Milk: By swapping out regular evaporated milk or heavy cream for evaporated skim milk brings down the total calories.

Spices: Finely grated orange zest, vanilla extract, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt make up the spices. You could substitute the cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg for pumpkin spice.

📖 Variations

Vegan Pumpkin Pie: Use coconut sugar as a substitute for brown sugar, and substitute the evaporated skim milk with 12 ounces of coconut milk or almond milk. Instead of using egg, use one of the recommended egg substitutes mentioned in the FAQ section. For example, if you choose to use arrowroot powder you would use 2 tbsp of arrowroot powder combined with 3 tablespoons of water for each egg in the recipe.

Make it Gluten-Free: Instead of using a traditional frozen pie crust, use a gluten-free frozen pie crust. An almond flour crust is a good substitute. There are several varieties available in most local grocery stores. Another option is to make your own gluten-free pie crust.

🔪 Instructions

Preheat oven & make healthy pumpkin pie filling: Position the oven rack to the lowest position. Preheat oven to 425° F. Combine all ingredients except pumpkin in a large mixing bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add pumpkin, and continue stirring until smooth. You could use a food processor to combine all the ingredients if you choose.

Prepare pie crust dough: Dust a large cutting board or baking sheet with flour. Roll out a room-temperature pie crust sheet until it spreads to a little less than 12 1/2 inches in diameter. Place into a 9-inch pie dish, cutting off the excess dough that hangs over the side (this will get rid of about 20 percent of the dough, saving you a ton of calories!).

Add the filling: Pour the pumpkin mixture into the pie shell.

Bake: Bake for 10 minutes at 425° F, then reduce oven temperature to 350° F (do not remove pie from the oven); bake an additional 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack. Bring to room temperature until it sets. To prepare the topping, beat cream with a mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form. Serve with cream (1 Tbsp per slice).

🥧 What Makes This A Healthy Pumpkin Pie Recipe?

Most of the ingredients in a pumpkin pie are actually healthy. What makes pumpkin pie less than healthy is the added sugar, cream or evaporated milk and the pie crust. These ingredients increase the calories and fat. Here are some of the healthy swaps I made to lighten up this recipe but keep all of the decadence of the traditional version!

• Less sugar: By reducing the sugar, in both the pumpkin pie filling, and eliminating the sugar in the whipped topping I was able to reduce the calories per slice in this healthy pumpkin pie. There’s enough sweetness in the pie filling that there’s no need for more sugar in the whipped topping.
• Pumpkin Puree (instead of pumpkin pie filling): Canned pumpkin puree is actually really good for you – it’s rich in Vitamin A, antioxidants, fiber, Vitamin C and potassium. The key is to get pumpkin puree instead of pumpkin pie filling!
• Skim Evaporated Milk: Most pumpkin pie recipes use whole evaporated milk. But I was able to get the same creamy texture of the filling by using skim evaporated milk, cutting fat and calories from this dessert.
• Less Eggs Yolks: I used 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites instead of the typical 2 whole eggs. By eliminating an egg yolk I was able to reduce the overall cholesterol and calorie count. For the whipped topping I didn’t include any added sugar.
• An organic or gluten-free crust: This helps to eliminate the amount of processed ingredients or hydrogenated fats you might find in other prepared pie crusts at the grocery store!

❓Recipe FAQs

👪 How To Serve

The best way to serve this low fat pumpkin pie is with whipped cream of course!

To make the whipped topping, all you need to do is pour the chilled heavy whipping cream into a large bowl. I find it also helps to chill the bowl before whipping. I like to use a hand mixer for whipping cream — it works better than a stand mixer. With the hand mixer, I recommend whipping the cream on medium-high speed until medium peaks form. Serve immediately, or refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 24 hours.

You can also serve with ice cream, a dusting of pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, or powdered sugar, or just on its own!

💭 Expert Tips

• Use an organic prepared pie crust like this one from Wholly Wholesome (also available at Whole Foods), or a Gluten-Free Pie Crust Mix to save time. When it comes to Thanksgiving, it’s always a good idea to save some time where you can. 
• If you have the time roasting your own pumpkin and making a puree provides enhanced pumpkin flavor. You’ll need to roast the pumpkin the night before you plan to make this pie.
• If you choose to use canned pumpkin puree, look for an organic brand, and make sure it’s not “pumpkin pie filling”.
• To make this low calorie pumpkin pie even healthier you can reduce the sugar — moving from 3/4 cup to 1/2 cup reduces the amount of sugar by 5g per slice!
• Another way to lighten this recipe up is by allowing the pie crust to thaw and then rolling it out to make a thinner crust. You’ll need to use a pie crust that comes in a sheet rather than in the pie plate to make this work.
• For best results, make sure to cook the pumpkin pie at 425 F for the first 10 minutes. Don’t forget to reduce the heat to 350 F for the remaining 50 minutes
• Leftovers can be stored covered in the fridge for up to 4 days, and eaten hot or cold.
• Pumpkin pies can be frozen, though they may lose some texture – wrap tightly in plastic wrap and foil and place in a freezer bag.

🎃 More Healthy Pumpkin Recipes!

• Healthy Layered Pumpkin Brownies
• Vegan Pumpkin Bread
• Pumpkin Greek Yogurt Parfait
• 30 Healthy Pumpkin Desserts
• Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread (Pumpkin Coffee Cake)

📋 Recipe Card

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5 from 8 votes

Healthy Pumpkin Pie

This healthy pumpkin pie is a delicious, slimmed down version of the classic recipe using less sugar and evaporated skim milk. It’s the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving table topped with whipped cream.

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time1 hr

Total Time1 hr 20 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: 12 servings

Calories: 162kcal

Author: Anjali Shah

Ingredients

For the pie

• ▢ ¾ cup dark brown sugar packed
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 2 large egg whites
• ▢ 12 oz evaporated skim milk 1 can
• ▢ ¼ tsp finely grated orange zest
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ▢ 1 tsp ground ginger
• ▢ ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• ▢ ¼ tsp salt
• ▢ 15 oz pumpkin puree 1 can
• ▢ 1 frozen pie crust thawed to room temperature

For the topping

• ▢ ¼ cup whipping cream

Instructions

• ▢
  Position oven rack to lowest position. Preheat oven to 425° F.
• ▢
  Combine all ingredients except pumpkin in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add pumpkin, and continue stirring until smooth.
• ▢
  To prepare crust, dust a large cutting board or flat surface with flour. Roll out a room-temperature pie crust sheet until it spreads to a little less than 12 1/2 inches in diameter. Place into a 9-inch pie dish, cutting off excess dough that hangs over side (this will get rid of about 20 percent of the dough, saving you a ton of calories!).
• ▢
  Pour pumpkin mixture into the crust.
• ▢
  Bake for 10 minutes at 425° F, then reduce oven temperature to 350° F (do not remove pie from oven); bake an additional 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack. To prepare topping, beat cream with a mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form. Serve with pie (1 Tbsp per slice).

Notes

• Use an organic prepared pie crust like this one from Wholly Wholesome (also available at Whole Foods), or a Gluten-Free Pie Crust Mix to save time. When it comes to Thanksgiving, it’s always a good idea to save some time where you can. 
• If you have the time roasting your own pumpkin and making a puree provides enhanced pumpkin flavor. You’ll need to roast the pumpkin the night before you plan to make this pie.
• If you choose to use canned pumpkin puree look for an organic brand, and make sure it’s not “pumpkin pie filling”.
• To make this pumpkin pie even healthier you can reduce the sugar — moving from 3/4 cup to 1/2 cup reduces the amount of sugar by 5g per slice!
• Another way to lighten this recipe up is by allowing the pie crust to thaw and then rolling it out to make a thinner crust. You’ll need to use a pie crust that comes in a sheet rather than in the pie plate to make this work.
• Make sure to cook the pumpkin pie at 425 F for the first 10 minutes. Don’t forget to reduce the heat to 350 F for the remaining 50 minutes
• Leftovers can be stored covered in the fridge for up to 4 days, and eaten hot or cold.
• Pumpkin pies can be frozen, though they may lose some texture – wrap tightly in plastic wrap and foil and place in a freezer bag.

Note: If you use just 1/2 cup of packed brown sugar (instead of 3/4 cup) you reduce the calories and sugar even further. Nutritional info for one slice would be: 145 calories, 25.3g carbs, 13.9g sugar, and the same fat, sat fat, cholesterol and sodium, fiber and protein as the original.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 162kcal | Carbohydrates: 31.4g | Protein: 4.5g | Fat: 4.6g | Saturated Fat: 1.2g | Cholesterol: 15.5mg | Sodium: 207.5mg | Potassium: 141.7mg | Fiber: 1.5g | Sugar: 18.4g

Anjali Shah