Hey Cleanish Squad! It's pumpkin spice season again! We looked at what's actually in your Pumpkin Spice Latte, and want you to know, too. Spoiler: A grande has about seven and a half teaspoons of added sugar.

We lined up all eight pumpkin drinks on the Starbucks fall menu by sugar. Also, your can of pumpkin puree is legally allowed to be squash, and the FDA is fine with it. Plus we share a homemade latte that takes just seven minutes, and five more pumpkin recipes worth making.

Let's get into it!

— Lacey Baier, Dustin Baier

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There's a day every fall when I want the candle lit, fire glowing, and something warm and sweet in my hands.

In Austin, that day always showed up while it was still at least 80 degrees outside. I'd be standing in my kitchen with a hot drink and the AC running, deciding it was fall because I said so.

This year, I get to have that day in the mountains of North Carolina. Actual cool air, actual leaves turning. I know I’m going to love it every second of it.

For a lot of people, the first Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL) of the year is how they mark that day. It's a ritual, even if it is commercial, and rituals are good. I have my own.

But, I looked at what's actually in our fave PSL, and I wanted you to know, too.

You may have heard this one before, but Starbucks changed the sauce in August 2015. They added pumpkin purée and dropped the artificial coloring at the same time. Real pumpkin has been in there for over a decade, which is pretty cool.

Starbucks’ pumpkin spice sauce lists sugar first. Then condensed skim milk. Then pumpkin purée. Since ingredients are listed in terms of weight, and we all know how heavy pumpkin purée is, that means it’s got a lot of sugar in there for it to be listed first. It's essentially a dessert sauce that has some pumpkin in it.

A grande PSL from Starbucks has 390 calories, 14 grams of fat, 50 grams of sugar, 14 grams of protein, and 0 grams of fiber.

Umm…that's enough calories for an entire meal and waaaay more sugar than anyone needs in one sitting.

Now, let’s break down that 50 grams of sugar. Roughly 18g of it is lactose, the sugar that's naturally in milk. The rest, about 32 grams, is added sugar. That's the added sugar.

Since not all of us understand what grams look like, here it is in teaspoons: Seven and a half (or two-and-a-half tablespoons).

If you watched the barista add in that many teaspoons of sugar into your cup, would you be okay with that?

For context, the American Heart Association's daily limit of added sugar for women is 25 grams. One grande is more than a full day, in a drink, before you've eaten anything.

I'm not telling you to give it up. A PSL is a high-sugar, high-fat dessert drink. That's it. That's the whole thing I want you to walk away with.

Once you call it a dessert, a lot of decisions get easier. You stop asking it to be your daily coffee. You stop trying to make it your breakfast. You stop wondering why you're starving and irritable an hour later.

1. Order it smaller

A tall is about a third less of everything and tastes exactly the same, because it's the same sauce and the same espresso.

2. Ask for fewer pumps

A grande comes with four pumps of sauce. Ask for two. It still tastes like a PSL, it costs you nothing, and it’s an easy order. It also cuts the added sugar close to half.

3. Decide whether you actually want the whipped cream

Some people love it. If that's you, keep it and take a pump off instead. If you're only getting it because it comes that way, that's a free one to ask them to leave off.

4. Don't have it on an empty stomach

Seven and a half teaspoons of sugar with nothing else in you is a rough way to start a morning, and it usually sets the tone for what you reach for the rest of the day. Eat something with protein in it first.

5. Make it at home if it's a habit instead of a treat

Once or twice a season, go buy the thing and enjoy it. Four mornings every week from September to February is a different math problem. That's roughly 30 teaspoons of added sugar a week from one drink.

There's a homemade version further down in this issue. It takes about seven minutes, it uses real pumpkin purée, and you decide how sweet it is.

6. Look at the rest of the menu

The PSL gets all the attention, but it isn't the only pumpkin drink up there. We ranked all eight of them by sugar in the Data Point section of this issue, and the results may surprise you.

If I'm at Starbucks, I get an Americano.

I just like it, and I'd rather spend the sugar on something I'm actually going to sit down and eat.

But I'm not going to leave you with "order black coffee and like it," because that's not useful and it's not how I eat, either. I went through the whole menu and pulled the ten drinks that are the healthiest, hot and cold, plus the five things you can ask for at the register that change almost any drink on the board. See the whole list here →

Here's what I want you to take from this: the PSL was never the thing standing between you and what you're working toward. Not knowing what was in it was. Read the order of the ingredients. Call it a dessert. Then go enjoy your fall.

Sources: CSPI, "How Much Sugar Is in a Pumpkin Spice Latte?" · American Heart Association, "How Much Sugar Is Too Much?" · Starbucks published nutrition

Open a can of pumpkin purée and there's a good chance you're looking at squash.

Believe it or not, the FDA has allowed this since 1938. Here's the rule: A can that says "pumpkin" can be real pumpkin, sweet golden squash, or a mix of the two. All three are legal.

If you've only ever used canned purée, roast your own pie pumpkin once. The dry heat caramelizes the sugars in a way a can never will, and you taste it immediately. One pie pumpkin makes about four cups and it freezes for months. Here's how I make it →

Ten reasons pumpkin is worth eating, from reducing inflammation to improving heart health, and more. Watch on YouTube →

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200%

of a day's vitamin A in a single cup of pumpkin

Vitamin A is what your eyes and immune system run on, and one cup of pumpkin covers a whole day of it, doubled. That same cup is about 50 calories, 3 grams of fiber, and 16% of your daily potassium. Canned pumpkin also counts.

Source: Cleveland Clinic, "6 Major Health Benefits of Pumpkin"

I'm a huge fan of turning the recipes I love into healthy versions, and this one gets there with real pumpkin purée instead of the syrup. It's easier than you'd think. Get the recipe →

There are eight pumpkin drinks on the Starbucks fall menu this year. We lined them up by sugar in a grande. The pumpkin spice latte came in fourth, actually.

The iced pumpkin cream chai tops the list at 66 grams, and the frappuccino that everyone treats as the indulgent order comes in below it, although still a lot of sugar.

If you want a pumpkin drink and the least sugar, get the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew. Thirty-one grams is still a lot, but it's less than half of the chai at the top of this list.

Note: These are total sugars, so they include the natural sugar in the milk along with everything else in the drink.

Sources: Starbucks published nutrition for standard US grande orders, as compiled in this fall 2026 menu breakdown on 28 August 2026.

I lost 50 pounds in seven months and the fight in my head never stopped. Food had too much power. What finally changed it wasn't a meal plan, it was something that hit me in the middle of a strength workout. Read it →

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🍞 One Bowl Healthy Pumpkin Bread

This is the one that started my pumpkin addiction, back when Dustin brought home a pie pumpkin to roast. One bowl, coconut sugar instead of white, and out of the oven in under an hour.

🥞 Healthy Pumpkin Pancakes

Fresh purée or canned both work here, though fresh makes them fluffier and the flavor more mellow. There is vanilla protein powder in the batter, so two pancakes contain 12 grams of protein.

🧁 Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

This one leans on mashed banana and pumpkin for its sweetness instead of refined sugar. Spelt flour rather than white, and under half an hour from start to finish.

🥣 5-Minute Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats

Five minutes the night before and pumpkin pie flavors are waiting for you at breakfast. Eleven grams of protein and fiber a bowl, plus it keeps four or five days in the fridge.

🎃 How To Make Pumpkin Puree

One pie pumpkin gives about four cups of purée. It keeps four to five months in the freezer.

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