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 use blue pumpkins(we use them for the best pumpkin pies) love the seeds out of them. I think they are better then the pie or craving pumpkins!!! :) however the pumpkin it’s self to cut up is more difficult but it’s not stringy or real gooey inside.
I just made these (after roasting some sugar pumpkins I bought following your directions!). They are yummy! I’m now digging into your vegan pumpking mac’n’cheeze recipe for lunch. Thanks for sharing them!
Fantastic! Thank you so much for posting this…. boiling them first is obviously the trick! So crispy – yum yum yum :)))
omg i abso lute luv thw pumkinz ther so freakin good omg i like to lick them when they come out of the oven cuz their hot like my boyfran. i add extra salt on min cuz i like to pretend im at the ocean in the fall tim. omg try it!!11!!!
I used this recipe with Dumpling Squash seeds! I shortened the time a little bit and it worked just as well! Thanks (: I’ve only tried pumpkin seeds one other time, and I burnt them! And I had a hangover from a Halloween Party that day, and boy let me tell you, the smell of them was horrible to my hungover head.
I use my salad spinner to clean seeds. It works like a charm!
Hi Angela. I really appreciate your method; the boiling never occurred to me. So, in answer to your question about cleaning, this is what I did… I just spooned out the seeds into a bowl, pulled the excess pulp off and let the rest of the small, sticky pulp come off in the boil. It worked perfectly. After I strained the water, I made sure there was no pulp left on the seeds when I dabbed with the paper towel. There was some tiny stuff left on that the towel got off, but almost everything came off in the boil! I even strained the boiled water into another bowl when I was done, added chai tea and pumpkin spice,and made a pumpkin chai tea out of the water… Hope this helps.
You can also roast other squash seeds like acorn and butternut. Use the same method as describe in this post. I just finished roasting acorn squash seeds and they are delicious.
I’m for my first time EVER at this moment using this recipe except instead of olive oil using buyer and salt hope it still turns out, as a kid my mom never boiled them n I remember them being a little chewy all the time *shhhh don’t tell my mom* lol
Anyone got a tummy ache by under cooking them?
I made these and they came out PERFECT! Thank you for these instructions! I used kosher salt and Old Bay to flavor mine, very tasty!
Last fall after my family and I got pumpkins, I decided I didn’t want to let all the seeds go to waste, and that I would try making pumpkin seeds a go. This recipe is awesome! Pumpkin seeds are now my favorite fall snack, and I’m so glad I stumbled upon this website. All summer I have been dying to get pumpkins again, and I guarantee that I will never throw the seeds out again! I highly recommend this recipe. Although the seeds take a while to prepare, trust me, it’s definitely worth it!
Hello,
I believe I may have just found a fast way to clean pumkin seeds!! As you’re cleaning the pumkin, try to get the majority of the seeds along with some of the guts and put them in a large bowl. Fill the bowl with water. As you’re doing so, squish the seeds in your hands so they squeeze out through your fingers. Keep stirring and mixing the seeds up until the bowl is about full. Let the seeds settle and you will notice the majority them float and the guts sink. I scoop the seeds out of the bowl with my hands because any slime slips right off. My seeds were so clean after this process, I didn’t even need to rinse my seeds before boiling them! Hope this helps.
Remove the pumpkin seeds easier:
The seeds are in ridges along the pumpkin wall. I learned this when I halved a pumpkin to make a pie.
If you reach down into the seed ridges, you pull basically seeds only, minimal guts.
So pull the seeds first and the then clean out the guts. Happy Thanksgiving.
You should try seasoning with salt cinnamon and sugar it tastes amazing
You asked if there was a more simple way to take the pumpkin strands away. I can’t tell you it’s a whole lot easier, but if you separate the seeds from the main part manually beforehand, you can soak them in a large bowl of water, swish around, and scoop them up in your hands. The strands drop to the bottom of the bowl, and the floating seed is easier to clean.
I tried using coconut oil. You can’t roast them in very high temps or it will smoke, but the added flavor is wonderful!
Child labour! If you have access to one or more they love separating gunk from seeds!
the easiest way to clean a pumpkin for seeds is to gently bounce it on the floor or table ,only raise about 3″ high and bounce in all directions.Now cut the top off and dump the seeds out.
if the pumpkin did not mature the seeds wont let go but ,then they weren’t quality seeds anyway
Excellent! I have always botched pumpkin seeds. This is the best recipe!
These turned out wonderfully! So good! Perfectly crunchy. Will be making more as soon as I get my hands on another pumpkin!