The first time I roasted pumpkin seeds, I burned the crap out of them.
It was heart-breaking, especially since I wasn’t convinced it was even worth the effort in the first place. All that seed cleaning and pumpkin de-stringing – I didn’t even get to enjoy the fruits of my labour. Hrmph.
Here is the part that no one told me about: The inner seeds cook much faster than the outer shell. I kept peeking in the oven and everything looked fine on the outside. Little did I know, the inner seeds were burnt to smithereens.
Well, thank goodness I didn’t give up after that first miserable attempt! My life just wouldn’t be complete without roasted pumpkin seeds.
I’m happy to say, the second batch didn’t just work, it blew my mind! The cup of seeds I roasted did not last long between the two of us. Every pass by the kitchen was an excuse to grab a crispy handful off the pan.
Today, I’m sharing my secrets for a fantastic batch of roasted pumpkin seeds. If you’ve ever doubted they were worth the effort or had so-so results, I beg you to try this one last time. Only I know it won’t be the last time, but the start of a life-long obsession. Watch out pumpkins, we’re coming for ya!
How To Roast Pumpkin Seeds:
1. Clean the seeds. The annoying-but-necessary task is that you have to meticulously clean the seeds until there are no signs of pumpkin guts. The best way to do this (that I have discovered from your comments!) is to plunk the seeds + guts into a big bowl of water and use your hands to break it apart. The seeds will float to the top of the water! They clean much faster this way.
Note: Some of you say that sugar pumpkin seeds yield much crispier seeds than carving pumpkins. I used sugar pumpkin seeds and mine were certainly super crispy!
2. Boil for 10 minutes in salt water. Using Elise’s method for inspiration, I added the pumpkin seeds to a medium-sized pot of water along with 1 tsp salt. Bring it to a boil and reduce the heat to simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes over low-medium heat. Apparently, this method helps make the pumpkin seeds easier to digest and produces a crispy outer shell during roasting. If you are short on time, you can totally skip this step! They will still turn out lovely.
3. Drain the seeds in a colander and dry lightly with a paper towel or tea towel. The seeds will stick to the towel, but just rub them off with your fingers. Don’t worry, they don’t have to be bone dry – just a light pat down.
4. Spread seeds onto a baking sheet and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil (I only needed to use about 1/2-1 tsp). Massage oil into seeds and add a generous sprinkle of Herbamare (or fine grain sea salt will do). Try to spread out the seeds as thin as possible with minor overlapping.
5. Roast seeds at 325°F for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and stir. Roast for another 8-10 minutes (if your oven temp is wonky, this bake time could vary a lot!). During the last 5 minutes of roasting, remove a few seeds and crack open to make sure the inner seeds are not burning (you don’t want the inner seed brown). Cool a couple and pop them into your mouth to test. They are ready when the shell is super crispy and easy to bite through. The inner seed should have only a hint of golden tinge to it. They should not be brown.
6. EAT! Remove from oven, add a bit more Herbamare, and dig in! Ah, so good, so good! There is no need to remove the outer shell; it’s quite possibly the best part.
I had no idea I was going to love freshly roasted pumpkin seeds so much. I love how crispy the outer shell is and how fun it is to crunch. They taste a bit like popcorn, but they are much crunchier, filling, and of course packed with nutrition.
Yes, pumpkin seeds are super healthy for you! They are packed with iron, magnesium, fibre, zinc, potassium, healthy fats, protein, and tryptophan (which can boost your mood and help you sleep). Vegans & vegetarians have been using pumpkin seeds for years as a natural source of iron. I think it’s just about my favourite way to get iron, next to Iron Woman Gingerbread Smoothies, of course. Be sure to pair it with Vitamin C to absorb the most iron you can.
7. Share with some very lucky people! (but chose them wisely…)
I promise you’ll never throw the seeds out again.
I want to buy pumpkins just to be able to roast another batch of seeds. And of course, make homemade pumpkin puree. I’m already looking forward to making some different flavour combos – maybe garlic powder, cayenne, rosemary, brown sugar or cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, etc would both be nice to try out? I can’t wait to experiment…many ideas are a-swirlin’ in my…stomach.
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What spices would YOU put on your roasted pumpkin seeds?
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How to Roast Pumpkin and Seeds
Yield
4 cups flesh, 3/4 cup seeds
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
This is my go-to method for roasting a sugar pumpkin and its seeds at the same time! Most recipes tend to provide instructions on roasting them separately, but I wanted to come up with directions on how to roast them both simultaneously. And, luckily, I've discovered it couldn't be easier.
Ingredients
- 1 sugar pumpkin (2 1/2 to 3 pounds)*
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Pink salt, fine sea salt, or Herbamare
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C) and place two racks near the centre of the oven. Grab two rimmed medium-sized baking sheets and line one of them with parchment paper.
- Fill a medium-sized bowl with water and set aside. Lie an absorbent towel onto the counter next to the bowl.
- Slice off the pumpkin stem and discard.
- Place the pumpkin, cut side down, onto a cutting board. Carefully slice the pumpkin in half.
- Scoop out the pumpkin seeds and flesh/strings and place it all into the bowl of water. The seeds will float to the top (like magic!). Using your hands, grab the big chunks of flesh and pick off any attached seeds. Place the seeds back into the bowl of water. Discard/compost the chunks of flesh.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the seeds. Let excess water drip off and then place the seeds onto the towel. Blot dry (the seeds don’t have to be bone dry and it’s okay if there are some strands attached—they add flavour!).
- Spread the seeds onto the baking sheet without the parchment and toss with 1 teaspoon of oil. Spread the seeds out into a single layer and sprinkle with salt.
- Mist or spread oil all over the inside of each pumpkin half and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place each half cut-side down onto the lined baking sheet.
- Place both sheets into the oven with the seeds on the lower rack. Roast at 325°F (160°C) for 20 minutes then remove the seeds and taste test a couple. As long as the inner seeds aren't tasting burned, you can keep roasting them. I usually return the seeds to the oven for another 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the seeds and cool.
- Leave the pumpkin in the oven and increase the oven temp to 350°F (180°C). Continue roasting the pumpkin for another 12 minutes or so, until fork-tender. (The timing may vary based on how large and fresh your pumpkin is.) At this point you can slice it up and serve it as a side vegetable with your meal, or process/blend the flesh to make homemade pumpkin purée.
Tip:
- * One sugar pumpkin (roughly 2 3/4 pounds) yields about 4 cups (720 g) of roasted pumpkin flesh and 3/4 cup (75 g) seeds.
I have never boiled them before either. I always figured they were great roughage and as my father used to say, “good for the bowels!”
I made these with the hands on help of my 14 month old.
I am a novice and I am please fly suprised they cooked to perfection! If I can cook them to perfection, anyone can!!!
I did modify after washing the seeds In the colendar I left them spread out on foil to air dry overnight before tossing in olive oil and it the oven.
*pleasently
If the seeds lose their “crunchyness” can you put them back in the oven?
Easy way to remove pumpkin pulp from seeds is actually to remove the seeds from the pulp. use small sharp knife to cut it out, rather than spoon. Over a colander, under running water, grasp a hunk of pulp in one hand and “milk” or strip the seeds from it with the other. keep your hands down in the colander as much as possible because the seeds are sligtly slimy and you don’t want to be popping those puppies all over your kitchen.
if you put the seeds/pulp in a bowl of water and mix with hands the pulp will go to the bottom of the bowl & the seeds will sit @ the top
An easy way to remove the seeds is take a handful of the pulp and seed guts in your hand and squeeze hard. Most of the mature seeds will squish out between your fingers. (The rest of the seeds are then easier to pick out of the pulp, if you want to.)
I decided that I wanted to make pumpkin seeds this afternoon with the two small pumpkins I got at the pumpkin patch a few weeks ago. I googled how to make pumpkin seeds and found your blog. I followed your directions and ended up with some yummy pumpkin seeds. Then I thought, I should do something with the pumpkin itself, so I thought I would roast it. I noticed on this post you mention roasting it, so I decided to follow your directions for that as well. At the time I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do with my pumpkin puree, but your post on roasting the pumpkin then lead me to your pumpkin butter recipe. I was like, heck ya! I love pumpkin butter. So not only did you inspire me to make the pumpkin seeds, you inspired me to use the whole pumpkin! I feel very accomplished thanks to your blog.
After boiling, I put the seeds back in the strainer and hit them with a blow dryer rather than pat drying. :)
I just tried this recipe and I have no idea how other people got such great results. I’ve been roasting them in the oven for over 45 minutes now and they still aren’t cooked yet. They are soft and hard to chew, not crunchy at all. This is the first time I’ve ever tried boiling first and it didn’t work for me at all.
When trying to remove the stringy pumpkin from the seeds in preparation for roasting, try running warm water over them. The warm water helps break up the sticky, slimy consistency and the seeds are so simple to separate.
I’m sorry if someone has already posted this trick. I didn’t have time to sift through the 300 some posts.
I clean the seeds by putting all of the guts and seeds into a bowl of water; then you can scoop the floating seeds into your hand – grab a handful with wet hands, then pour them from hand to hand, rinsing the hand without them each time. The strings and guts seem to stick to your hand, while the yummy perfect seeds will easily slide from hand to hand. I literally just did this and it didn’t take very long at all! Hope it helps :)
Best recipe for roasting pumpkin seeds that I’ve ever tried. Consistently non-burned seeds. Finally! Thanks.
we loved this recipe! the seeds tasted amazing. the only thing was that we had to cook them longer then said. otherwise, PERFECT!
Making a batch as I type after getting nearly 2 cups of seeds from 3 baby pumpkins that I used as butternut squash and black bean chili bowls. TWO CUPS!!!! I’ve seasoned them with my most favorite seasoning ever: smoked paprika. It’s brilliant on popcorn (with butter and salt, of course)… I can imagine it is going to be divine on these pumpkin seeds! I’ve never tried the pre-boil method before. Can’t wait to see how they turn out.
As far as cleaning I just dump everything into the sink. Most of the seeds float. I just scoop up those that don’t. Rinse and repeat until clean. I had a problem with this recipe though and I don’t know why. After 20 minutes at 325 my seeds were still raw. I had to keep roasting again at 10 minute intervals. It wasn’t until after an hour that the seeds became crunchy. Still this is a better and healthier way than I used to do it. I used butter instead of olive oil and they would burn easily.
When I clean my pumpkin seeds I use a large bowl and a strainer fill bowl with water put strainer in bowl of water and pour seeds in the strainer. The seeds will float to the top and most of the pulp will sink to the bottom of the bowl. Just scoop the seeds out onto paper towels or dish towels and the strainer keeps the pulp from going down the drain.
I followed this recipe exactly but with a carving pumpkin. I bought the pumpkin before finding this recipe and it DOES NOT work the same with them. After boiling for 10mins, using 3/4 tsp of Virgin olive oil that I massagesd on them in the strainer, then spread them flat onto baking sheet and 20mins of baking at 325, they were still uncooked. I guess I’m going to have to go to my usual recipe of baking them at 325 for 45mins. Normally I use a carving pumpkin and just wash, dry really well with a paper towel and let them also air dry for a few hours then I sprinkle garlic salt on them and cook for 45 mins at 325
Hmmm. just a thought- after reading of ppl putting their fav popcorn flavour on… mine would have to be Maca & coconut oil! Yum! Can’t wait to try them all!!! Thanks for sharing, Angela! :)
Absolutely delicious pumpkin seeds; they are crispy. I think the
boiling made the difference. Thank you.