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.
Made these tonight and they turned out great. Whenever I roasted pumpkin seeds before I always burned them. Thank you! I never knew about boiling them first.
Delicious. It took another 10 minutes; total 20 to cook. Tried sprinkling garlic powder on some, cayenne pepper on another section and sea salt on the rest. Each has a unique and great aftertaste. Thank you for the clear directions.
I used this on pumpkin seeds last fall (fabulous results) but have been using it on my butternut squash seeds after making soup and it’s every bit as tasty — love it!
Mine are in the oven right now and I just taste tested….the outer part of the seed is like a hard shell…..its like biting into a shell…..the middle tastes good
have I done something wrong?
Hey how about cleaning the seeds, boiling in water to clean off, then adding back a LITTLE of the pumpkin gook for flavor? am I overthinking this? but i do like the flavor the gunk provides but then they take a long to bake AND they run risk of overcooking…. i’ve used soy sauce with some sciracha and they were quite good..
Just don’t clean or boil them. Remove chunks and strings off seeds but leave gook on for flavour. I add a little salt and nothing else. Let then dry out good on a tray for a day a couple of days, stirring occasionally to keep then from sticking to the tray and each other. Then slow roast at 250 for a couple of hours. Finish at a higher heat for a few minutes if you like them a bit browner.
I wasn’t definitely in the category of burnt them the first time around. I hope I have better luck next time!
just used this recipe and it was perfect!!! the tip about boiling the seeds before putting them in the oven was great….they may or may not have been eaten in one sitting…….. thanks!!!
Perfection! Thanks for saving halloween …. these are my treat to myself this year because I’m off sugar right now. :)
Hope you enjoyed them, Tori. and had a Happy Halloween!
Here is what i am doing with pumpkin and squash seeds for a long time.
Once the seeds are roasted and cooled, I grind it to a powder form. This PPS (pumpkin powdered seeds) are transferred into a glass jar and in one of the small glass containers that is typically used for spices.
I use PPS, and you may wish to use it, as an additive into many cooked and cold meals, serials, drinks, smoothies, yogurts, kefirs, over the bread spreads, all at your choice. Just shake the container (something like a salt shaker) and insert or spray the PPS over the meals/drinks as desirable.
I also combine the PPS with other plants and fruits powders in one container. One of my favorite, which few other people also like it, is a mixture of PPS and roasted powdered hemp seeds with 2% of spearmint powder or with 2% of xylitol natural sweetener. For those of you who did not know, Xylitol actually kills bacteria in mouth and its degree of sweetness is equal to that of regular sugar.
Hello,
I want to thank you for helping me make truly addictive seeds!!! I just took them out of the oven and I can’t stop eating them!!! I did, however, do something a little different from your recipe. I let them dry out completely over night. They are so crispy and delicious. They also didn’t take very long to roast. I’m so glad I bought 6 pie pumpkins!! There will be so many to go around!!
Thanks again!!!
Robin
So glad you found this helpful, Robin. Enjoy those pumpkin seeds!
Thank you for sharing
I have tried multiple different cooking methods for pumpkin seeds: boil in salt water first, don’t boil, roast at high temp for a short time or lower temp for longer time… in all cases, the seeds I get from my small sweet cooking pumpkins come out so woody that we cannot eat them.. they all end up in the garbage.. any clues? I have spent hours on the internet reading different things and none really address this well.. one person was even a bit snotty and commented “maybe you don’t really like pumpkin seeds?”! I have bought them seasoned in the States and used them on salads and none were woody and inedible like the ones I’m trying to make (and yes, the ones I bought still had the shells on..)
Hey Jean, Wow, I’m really not sure why that keeps happening to you despite trying out all different kinds of methods. How strange! Could it be that you prefer pepita seeds (which are shelled pumpkin seeds) rather than the whole pumpkin seeds? Pepitas are light to dark green and much softer
Jean, I just saw your note in passing and thought I would comment even though its been a year since you raised the question.
There are multiple species in the pumpkin/squash family, and many selected varieties in each. Seeds vary by species from thin-shelled like pictured in this post, to some that are very blocky and thick-shelled. On the latter, I shell each seed as I’m eating them, like I do sunflower seeds. On the former, I find the shell tolerable to eat. Maybe you have had one of the ones with the woody, thick-shelled seeds?
My personal favorite are the “naked-seeded” varieties, which I have grown in my garden. They grow no hull on the seed at all! But the trade-off is that the flesh of the pumpkin is very bland.
Hi Julie, This is so interesting! Thank you for sharing your wisdom :)
In the process of roasting seeds – going to give it another try. To clean, I threw the seeds into a ziplock bag with a bit of water, sealed it up and rubbed the baggie on the counter top. The pulp cane off very quickly. Added a little more water to the bag to get some space between pulp and seeds, and voila less than 2 minutes and i’m Scooping the floating seeds from the baggie! Clean and easy!
Great trick! Thanks for sharing Danielle
These were brilliant, I also added a bit of sugar to the final product to add a bit of a sweeter vibe and this is great because it means I don’t have to throw away the seeds!
NOOOOOOOO don’t take away the flavor! My seeds go out of pumpkin, out of guts, on to oiled cookie pan, salt cayenne pepper, into oven. Pumpkin “slime”? I love it, the seeds taste so much better. All the cleaning in really unnecessary, the seeds do not need it, nor do they need drying, or any other treatment. Really it is just that easy.
I’ve since tried them this way and I have to say this method is delicious! I’ll have to update my post.
I used this recipe to add a roasted pumpkin seed roof to my gingerbread house. They made perfect shingles for the roof.
haha that’s so cute…love it :)
they look delicious :)
I’ve been using this recipe for several years now, since I found it on Google. Whenever I follow it right (I’ve been accidentally using waaaaay too much olive oil; a little goes a lot farther than I think!), it makes absolutely fantastic pumpkin scenes! Last year, I made garlic powder with cayenne pepper and *loved* it, but had several requests for the standard salt. My favorite part of pumpkin carving is pulling out the guts and roasting the seeds, so this year I plan to make several batches with all sorts of yummy things on them. Thanks so much for the recipe!!
Great recipe and instructions.
I thought roasting pumpkin seeds would be super simply. The first time I made them, I did not look up for any directions. Dump in the pan and roast. I got burnt seeds.
These instructions worked perfectly and the seeds were sooooo good.
Thank you!
karry
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!