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.
What I did to clean them was get hot water out of the spikit into a bowl with the seeds and the seeds rise and the guts sink. Do it twice. It works pretty well
Easy cleaning- place seeds in collander, place in plugged (clean) sink, fill with enough water to float seeds. The pulp is denser, and the seeds float. Hand skim seeds, drain water and remove pulp. Ta-da
I find that a baking scraper is helpful to separate the strings from the seeds. Simply splay them out on a cutting board and use the scraper to “cut” the strings.
To clean them…I get the majority of the strands off, wrap the seeds in paper towels, put them in zip lock baggies and “squish” them around for a bit. (great for the kids to help, they love it) most of the strands stick to the paper towel. :)
Omg thank you so much ive been looking forever for how to make these seeds im going to try them out right now all i have to do is clean them and ill be ready to start !
Rather than first spreading the pumpkin seeds on a cookie sheet, then tossing with olive oil, I put the seeds in a plastic bag, add the olive oil, toss to coat, then spread on cookie sheet. Covers all the seeds evenly and easily.
CLEANING Pumpkin seeds: I found that putting them in a big bowl of watter the seeds are lighter then the pulse so i just scooped them off the top. WORKED LIKE A CHARM. <3
To Clean …. or Not To Clean …..
Just did a side-by-side taste test; 1/2 guts-n-all (some with significant ‘guts’ !) with light garlic powder mixed in and spread with fork on Pammed sheet. 1/2 cleaned, boiled then simmered in tbsp salt to 2c water for 1/2 seeds 10 mins, pat dry, mixed garlic, Mrs Dash, little parmesean in melted butter, spread on sheet. 325 10 min, stir then another 10.
Both were great. Guts-n-all definitely had a slightly sweeter and more pumpkin flavor…and crispy. Clean and boiled seeds were also crispy and seemed ‘lighter’ and a little easier to chew.
Anxious to try some of the wonderful suggestions found here.
Thanks for sharing your results, Jennie!
Thank you so much for the tips – I never considered boiling the seeds first – good idea. The first time my friend made roasted pumpkin seeds, I was immediately obsessed. WAY better than popcorn. I can’t wait for the day after Halloween!
Just tried your method for roasting pumpkin seeds and it came out wonderful!
I sprinkled Pumpkin Spice on them while they cooked . When they came out of the
oven, I sprinkled them with sea salt and organic sugar. Making more tomorrow!
A quick way to clean the seeds is to play around with the pumpkin guts! My nephews and I were carving a pumpkin and we accidentally discovered this. They’re 4, 5, and 11 so you can easily figure out how we came up with this. Throw it all in a bowl using a knife to help cut them out. After you get the strings and seeds in a bowl, just play with it. Mash it, string it through your fingers, squish it up with your hands, whatever! My nephews pretended they were smashing each others brains like zombies (in the spirit of Halloween). The guts get absolutely ruined though. So if you’re one of those people that cooks the stringy stuff, this won’t work for you. They turn into a watery foamy mess in like 15 minutes and the seeds fall right otf
Definitely the best results! Yum! Thank you.
Never boiled seeds before but it did make them crunchy. As mentioned, they reminded me of popcorn. So good. My husband and I really like them with a little sea salt and the receipe recommended amount of olive oil. Would like to try a spicier version next. Time.
Hiya – I just slow roasted a huge Butternut Squash and a small Pie Pumpkin. The aroma was glorious! Soups surely to follow. I tried roasting the seeds using the boiling method suggested. They’re OK but I find them quite woody. Now, I’m an old grannie and can surely use all the fibre I can get but that texture akin to wood chips is a bit much! Were my squashes overripe do you think?
Love all the suggestions for flavour combos. I usually spend my winters in the Algarve, Portugal. They have the most incredible array of squashes & pumpkins all winter long so I know that I’ll be doing more seed roasting over there. The squash seeds seem to be as good and flavourful as the pumpkin seeds, by the way, even though they’re smaller.
My first batch was not edible. Taste was good, but was left with a mouth full of grit. I had already started without boiling before coming to this site; will have to try it out. The seeds were nowhere near as plump, either, so it may have been the type of pumpkin I had. A small minority of the seeds didn’t have an inside at all; I threw those out before roasting.
EASY CKEANING toss vigorously with spaghetti scoop, fill sink with water, toss in all the stuff and run your hands through it n the seeds float to the top. Use a slotted spoon to skim the seeds off the top.
To clean the seeds I used strainer and put the faucet on high, every once in a while I would run my hand through the seeds.
tamari sauce!
I sprinkle with seasoned salt. Taste amazing.
Yes! I make many recipes that you post and Pumpkin Seeds will be no exception!! Whoot! I’ve never “boiled” my seeds before – but they are tumbling in hot water as I type. I’m excited to see how this all turns out..Thanks for posting! It was your enthusiasm that locked me in on this recipe…fingers crossed =)