Is there any way to make jack-o-lantern pumpkins worth eating?

Admittedly our carving pumpkins in the UK are smaller than yours, which may affect the texture, but this year and last I made:

• three been and pumpkin chilli
• pumpkin tagine
• pumpkin spice cupcakes
• pumpkin curry
• pumpkin, pepper and mushroom fajitas

All of these get most of their flavour from other ingredients. All were successful.

The chilli, curry, and tagine all start by frying the diced/roughly chopped pumpkin until nicely browned with tasty ingredients (spices, onions, and plenty of garlic), before quite long simmering. The curry was last year but I think I went for quite hot, with a sauce based on tomato, coconut, and mango (I certainly did when I made it again this year). The fajitas were cut into strips and fried, just like the other veg, though I did the pumpkin first and reserved it, to be sure it was cooked through. Again, plenty of spices, garlic etc.

The cupcakes (for which there are plenty of recipes online) started by microwaving and pureeing, and ended up similar to carrot cake - moist and popular. I added latte buttercream.

In the US, Jack-o-lanterns are typically common field pumpkins and many of the larger and specialty ones are actually gourds. I cannot talk to some of the gourds, so if you are looking at some of the white ghost pumpkins and they very warty ones, use may vary. But the common field pumpkin is certainly edible, but not usually be best choice. The are hard, stringy, dry, etc. To use the, I would recommend roasting, steaming, microwaving or boiling then running through a food mill to break up the stringiness. Boiling of course will remove a share of what flavor they do have. At that point, you would have a puree that could be used in cookies, pumpkin bread, cake, etc. Flavor-wise and texture, you will probably be more satisfied to use what in the US we would call winter squash, butternut is highly recommended, for savory, and pie pumpkins for dessert applications.

You can use the Jack if you simply do not wan to waste it or have some you want to use, but in my mind, roasting, grilling and such will likely lead to the least satisfying results. If you do, lots of spice, as sauce, and lean towards applications you can use a food mill. My experience is it will end put being a much less consistent flavor and more of a base for your spice though. For consistent results, go with a culinary variety. Jacks will typically give the mealy, tasteless leaning results you have encountered.

Cinderella is one variety I know that is large enough for carving but is still recommended for culinary use. It is a very stylized and gets its name from the story. If really that variety, it is of French origin and is a deep orange flesh. It looks great as a decoration on its own, can be carved and works either savory or in deserts. I have seen it grilled with just a bit of spice and olive oil and is very tasty that way. But, many people sell less tasty pumpkins as that variety just because they have the right shape.

ETA: If you have, or know someone with farm animals, they tend to love field pumpkins, as do deer.

In Mediterranean cuisine there is a dessert made with pumpkins. You cut the pumpkin into large cubes, add sugar to them and wait overnight. They will release some liquid, and the next day you can cook them until they're soft and no liquid is left. Then you can add shredded coconut and/or walnuts and/or tahini to serve, depending on your taste. Lots of fiber is a plus, even if the taste is a little poorer than the pumpkins of middle east (they look same as American ones with a little more flavor).

In India, people use these huge pumpkins to make lentil stews. It goes a long way and is very delicious and nutritious. The bland taste of pumpkin is masked by the fresh seasonings and spices. The stew can be eaten with rice, but I like it just by itself as well.

The recipe, in a nutshell, calls for boiling the pumpkin cubes with yellow lentils(pigeon peas are preferred) and a pinch of turmeric and salt. Once the lentils cook, the stew can be seasoned with spices like cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and chilies (the red/green ones).

There is a detailed recipe on this page, https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/pumpkin-sambar-recipe/.