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’ve always boiled the pumpkin seeds first, before I roast them….. but I never put oil on them. Actually, there is really no need for the oil if you want to save calories. I am sure they taste great both ways.
just roasted seeds with cinnamon, chili, 5-spice, nutmeg, some sugar and some salt…i really wish there pumpkin were more seeds in the pumpkin
I carved pumpkins last night but didn’t have to roast the seeds so we put them in a large ziploc bag and put them in fridge over night…this morning I took them out and brought them to room temp…then rinsed them and the pumpkin slime and guts rinsed right out…took about 2 min….currently trying your recipe..over the years mine are never crunchy enough so I’m giving yours a shot! Thanks for the info…I’m sure the family will love em!
when i boiled them they turned grey, and boiling them made them chewy and yucky. I roasted them twice as long and they were sitll chewy. I didn’t like them at all. I will go back to my old way.
I baked my seeds but dont think I baked them long enough ( still a bit soft to chew) can I bake them again??
Thanks!
i make them with salt and pepper:D!!!
After removing the big pieces of pumpkin I gave the seeds a quick rinse in white vinegar followed by a couple rinses in water. It was fast and the seeds got very clean with little effort. I don’t think the vinegar affected the roasting at all.
I find the easiest way is to fill a large bowl with lukewarm water, add seeds and ‘scrub’ them between your palms. stirring them with a wire whisk also helps break apart the larger bits of guts
I just tried these! One batch with salt and pepper and one with cinnamon and brown sugar. They taste great, but a little tough on the inside, the outside is supercrispy though. Do you maybe have any ideas how to get them crispier on the inside? I already put a little extra time in the oven..
I found mine were like that too…Im not sure how to fix that unless maybe you dehydrated them? That would probably make them the most crisp of all.
Thank you for the quick reply :). I don’t have a dehydrator, but the temperature on my oven can be put very low, so maybe I’ll have to try that next time!
Yes that might do the trick! Goodluck
Cook them at 250 for 40-60 mind depending on the size of the seeds. Keep in mind though. Gas ovens create moisture during the combustion process. So if you have one you may want to take a ball of tin foil to prop the door of the oven open to let the moisture escape.
after I pick them out of the pumpkin gunk I lay them on a paper towel and rub the tops with a second towel. Everything comes off so easily! Would probably be even better with two tea towels
1-I will try to boil them…..I have made these now for 10 years.
2- I am curious about experimenting with different type of spices, BUT, I am not sure what to try, differently…..any ideas??
3-I after I pat them down, I put seeds in a container and put ALOT of butter on them and sprinkle them with some pepper, TINY bit of garlic powder…not really much salt because your salt is already buttered.
4-mix and spread out on cookie sheet. Slow roast about 325 degrees…turning maybe 1 or 2 times. Might add little more butter on pan and spread around.
5- you will hear them. “POP” in your oven. I just cook them slowly and they will brown…cook maybe 20-30 min….more or less….just look.
6- I put them on paper towels….they will be VERY crunchy. Will last ? A week…
ENJOY
This is just amazing. I wish I could do the same.
Hi!
In Step 1 “Clean the Seeds” you had asked if anyone could comment on an easy way to do such a thing you would be much obliged! I haven’t gone through all 130 comments and apologize for sending you ANOTHER recommendation if others have been posting about it(!), but here is a helpful and short YouTube clip from About.com (enjoy! And Thank You for such a splendid and enthusiastic instructional guide!!):
www.YouTube.com/watch?v=Cg1p09tngs
I just found this post and did some butternut squash seeds this way tonight and they were awesome! Particularly the ones that accidentally got some fresh-ground pepper on them. :)
I’m gonna do the method, but save the guts then add when i roast with some cinnamon ABCs stevia yum :)
When cleaning the pumpkin seeds. You should just put them in a large cool bowl of water. Then just rub the punkin residuals off of them. The effects should be easy to filter out with your fingers. Also, There is no real need to boil them, as long as you give them a “Brine” bath in cool water, and then bake them at 250 degrees for 40 – 50 mins. Taste to make sure that you have cooked them enough.
I have done this for a long time with a few alterations.
Cleaning the pumpkin seeds – drop them gunk and all into warm heavily salted water. Let sit an hour or so and the stuff comes right off.
Toss them into fresh water with a 1/2 cup of salt. Let sit a few hours or overnight.
Drain pat dry spread on a baking sheet bake slow and low 250 for 2 hours
I stuck a couple handfuls of seeds and guts (small amount of guts) in a salad spinner that had some water in it and had the kids spin it. It didn’t completely clean the but it did remove a good amount. the seeds floated and the guts sank.
Next time, try using sesame oil instead of olive oil…it makes them taste buttery and super yummy. I did this by mistake one day because I grabbed the wrong oil out of my cupboard and it was the best mistake I ever made!!!!!
Thanks for the tip Gina :)
The garlic is very tasty! Be careful though the garlic burns very quickly. I ruined a whole batch with garlic at 375*.