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.
Thank you. They turned out great. They will be gone tonight. :-)
Hi! Just tried your recipe and absolutely loved it! I added a healthy dash of tabasco sauce to the seeds while they were boiling and used seasoned salt instead of just plain table salt. I also experimented with roasting the seeds in a sauce pan. After boiling in some lightly salted water, I melted half a cup of sugar in a pan and stirred in four cups of seeds. They became sugar glazed and when they were browned and crisp I set aside to cool! Amazing! I also sprinkled some red pepper on a sugared batch and they became salty, sweet and a tad bit spicy! Best ever!
Turned out great, thank you !!!
If you submerge the seeds and pulp (I do in smaller portions) in water and mix up like a washing machine motion with your hands the seeds will float to the top. Then, you can scoop them with a strainer. I place them all in a bowl, then do with rest of my pulp. I just discovered this and it saves so much time and mess. Then repeat with the full bowl of mostly clean seed and you should get all of it. Sooo much better!
To clean the seeds easier, why don’t you boil them instead of washing them off in a strainer? when you boill them with the residue on the seeds the residue will come off and you saved a step.
Thanks for the info, carving my jack o lantern and am going to roast the seeds. Also going to try and make something from some of the pulp. Did you know pumpkin seeds are also high in selenium which is is beneficial for warding off cancer? We bring back Austrian Pumpkin Seed oil from Germany.
Easier way to get your seeds…..pull them out of the flesh of the pumpkin before you scoop it out. It took only a few minutes to do it and minimal cleaning after I got them all out! It was super easy!
Easy way to clean seeds, fill a large pot with warm water, dump in guts, mush up the guts with your hands, the seeds will float, easily catch the seeds with your hands and transfer into a bowl :)
I just wanted to say how great this recipe was. This is the first time I ever roasted my own pumpkin seeds and I have to say they were 100 times more delicious then what you would buy in a store. Thanks again for posting this and helping my make my first time roasting pumpkin seeds a success!
I grew up eating roasted pumpkin seeds. I have always seasoned mine with season salt just like my grandmother did when I was a child.
Hi there. I just de-gutted a pumpkin and the way I cleaned the seeds is by putting all the guts in my cleaned sink and just kind of man-handling the guts and pinching off the seeds. The seeds float. The guts seem to sink for the most part. Then I put the seeds into a colander (like for spaghetti) and I rinsed them. I then hand-picked out the very little remaining guts. The whole process took me maybe a half hour.
Thank you so so much for sharing!! Ours turned out amazing and it was my first time!
I haven’t boiled mine before but I will try it. I soak mine in water and salt over night. Then strain it works so well.
this is so freaking easy to do. even for a 13 year old, like myself.
The way i clean the seeds ( the same way i learned to clean coffee beans) discard all the little traces of pumpkin and rinse the seeds in a container a couple of times and then put them in a strainer.
Spread the seeds on a tray covered with paper towels and let them dry for a couple hours. Remove the paper towels and put the tray with the seeds in the oven, but dont turn it on, the warm temperature will help the seeds dry more. I actually left the seeds there for 4 days because I forgot to check them before, you will see a kind of plastic film on the seeds, all you have to do is put them on a strainer ( is better if you work outdoors) and squeeze the seeds, the thin film will become loose easily, keep squezing, shaking the strainer and blowing the scraps away, and you will have perfectly clean seeds.
I was very leery about the boiling of the seeds. Never heard of it . But OMG what a difference! They are nice and light and crunchy. I made savory , rolling them in a little olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Next will be sweet with cardamom and cinnamon. Yeah!
I followed this recipe tonight with coconut oil and they are still slimy an hour and a half later! Ugh! Not sure if it is the coconut oil or just too many seeds so they aren’t a single layer.
2 comments:
1) I found the easiest way to get the seeds off the pulp is to do it by grabbing a handful and rubbing and rinsing under running water. The seeds slide right off! The pulp is in your hand just throw away .
2) after boiling I rinse them again running them around in a strainer, it .takes another layer of sticky off. Then I wadded up a couple of paper towels and spun around in there and it comes out with no seeds stuck on the paper !
They ended up chewy. Disappointed.
Your recipe and instructions were terrific and the pumpkins seeds turned out perfect! Thank you so much!