One of my very favourite things about Halloween is carving pumpkins and baking the seeds into a yummy snack. My mom used to do it every year when we were growing up and I loved it! The only problem is, that for years I had no idea how to properly bake pumpkin seeds and they never turned out properly. So I’m going to share a few tips with you about how to bake your own pumpkin seeds.
Recipe: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Freshly roasted pumpkin seeds are delicious and are so easy to make!
[EDIT October 2015: Thanks to all the wonderful people who commented below, I’ve found an even better recipe than the original one posted below! I’ve used this method the last two years and the seeds come out PERFECT! To make the BEST pumpkin seeds, do this instead:
- Add about 1-2 teaspoons of salt to a bowl of water.
- Add the pumpkin seeds to the water, stir them up and let them soak overnight.
- Gently pat the seeds dry with a paper towel.
- Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray and spread the seeds out in a single layer.
- Sprinkle some extra salt on top.
- Bake for 45 to 50 minutes at 325F until golden.]
Original Recipe:
Ingredients
- 3 cups fresh pumpkin seeds
- 1-2 Tablespoons canola oil, butter, or olive oil
- Salt
Instructions
- When carving your pumpkin, separate the seeds from the pumpkin pulp.
- Rinse the seeds in a colander under cold water.
- Pat the seeds dry with a paper towel.
- Add 1-2 Tablespoons of oil and mix to coat.
- Add salt to taste and mix to coat.
- Spread onto a baking sheet
in a single layer. - Bake at 325F for 45 minutes, stirring once, until golden.
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
First things first, when you are carving your pumpkins you are going to need two bowls – one for pumpkin pulp, and another for the seeds. Yes, it’s a little more work to separate the seeds, but Halloween only comes once a year, so it’s totally worth it!
Take out the big chunks of pulp where ever you can. It’s never going to be completely clean, but do your best. We carved two pumpkins and got about 3 or 4 cups of seeds from them.
Run the pumpkin seeds under cold water to rinse off the excess pulp. I was pretty surprised how much orange stuff could just be rinsed away. You can definitely see a difference from the photo above vs the photo below.
Squeeze out any excess water. I’m not sure this part is 100% necessary, but it makes me feel better. I was really worried my pumpkin seeds would have too much moisture in them to cook properly. They were by no means dry when I finished, but I did manage to get some of the moisture off of them.
This next part is important. Add about 1-2 Tablespoons of oil (or butter, or olive oil, etc) to the seeds and mix them until they are coated. Also add a generous amount of salt to them and stir that up too.
This part may have been where I’ve gone wrong in the past. Normally I’m lazy and I just pour all of my seeds onto a baking sheet, no matter how many I have. They always took a really long time to cook, and eventually they would just dry up. So now I’ve realized that you have to put them on a baking sheet
in a single layer… even if it means you have to bake them in several batches.
Bake at 325F for 45 minutes, stirring them once about half way through. They will be slightly golden and crispy. Let them cool for a bit, pour them into a bowl, and enjoy!
Pumpkin seeds are delicious, they are healthy, and there is something about them that is so comforting for autumn!
They are high in fibre, zinc, copper and energy producing iron. Plus, kids love them! So save those seeds when it’s time to carve your pumpkins and enjoy some delicious, freshly roasted pumpkin seeds.
I put them in a dehydrator for about 2-3 hours, then they are dry before I put them in the oven for about 1hour @ 225 degrees. (After they are dry in dehydrator, you can turn it off and leave them on it until morning to roast
oh ! i definetly gonna try this !
Is there an easy way to shell the roasted seeds to use on food? We eat them as a snack but I would like to shell them to sprinkle on a salad and I have not found a way to do that where we end up with the intact kernels and it doesn’t take forever to do.
Hmmmm… no, I can’t say I’ve ever tried shelling them? Something tells me the effort required for that might not be worth it? I’ve only ever enjoyed them as a snack and have just bought the other ones from the store.
I tried these once, but mine didn’t turn out great. I think I should try again with your help! Thanks for sharing.
Growing up I know we never used oil and did a long low slow approach and they always turned out great. Last year I tried a method pretty much the same as this one and they were awful. Maybe my issue was that I had too many on the tray, I might give it one more try this year.
I was raised out in the boonies.. this was an every year experience. The trick to great pumpkin seeds roasted is to soak them in salt water overnight and then drain and use only butter to roast .. canola is all gmo .. and olive oil really changes the taste of them.. only way is real butter. salt sprinkled to taste as they should be soaked first..
Do you towel dry them before roasting?
Hi Carla , after soaking just let them sit on a clean towel or clean paper towel and then set them onto baking sheets with melted butter .. if you chose to go half and half with butter and vegetable oil it works ..the butter really adds great flavor and soaking provides a good crunch.. they will disappear fast.. 🙂 have a wonderful Hallowe’en
What temperature did you bake them at and for how long?
I’m trying your recipe except I’m adding a bit of cheyenne to the butter 🙂
hi there .. i would start them slow about 275 degrees and do this until they appear to be getting crisp.. about 35 minutes to 45 minutes turning once every 15 minutes or so and then when you see them start to brown up just give the temperature to 300 or 325 and just for about 5 mins to brown up .. they will be awesome .. thanks Lin.. hope they turn out great .. 🙂
These were good – thanks for the simple tips. We did a batch with cinnamon and sugar too. Yum!
I tried something new this year. I boiled water and put the seeds and pulp in the water. As they heated up the seeds floated to the top and the pulp went to the bottom. I skimmed the seeds off with a wire ladle. The seeds just seems to float in to it and takes all the work out of cleaning them. Will start doing this every year from now on.
thank you
Can I still bake the seeds after I bake the pumpkin whole in the oven?