How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds

How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds

Posted by Julie on Oct 21st 2019

As the calendar turned over to October, we started wondering about two things. One, is it too early to buy Halloween candy? Two, is it too early to carve pumpkins?

We have answers to these two questions. If it’s not the day of Beggar’s Night, it’s too early to buy candy. In our house, someone is bound to break into those bags. But we can start carving pumpkins anytime, because we have plans for those pumpkin guts. Instead of tossing them directly into the compost, we roasted the seeds. We spent some time learning the ins and outs of roasting pumpkin seeds, and we hope you’ll give it a try too.

Why Eat Pumpkin Seeds?

While we wouldn’t suggest buying and carving pumpkins specifically to harvest the seeds inside, they will make a good snack. You can season them in a variety of ways, depending on your taste (more on that in a bit). Even better, pumpkin seeds are packed with protein and minerals like magnesium and zinc. In fact, you’ll want to roast your seeds so the shells are worth eating too; they add a ton of fiber. The American Heart Association offers great information about how magnesium and zinc are good for us.

Follow these steps to clean, dry, season, and roast your pumpkin seeds. We hope yours turn out as well as ours did!

Remove and Rinse Your Pumpkin Seeds

When you cut a hole in the top of your pumpkin for the lid, scoop out all of the seeds and set them aside. Before you begin carving your pumpkin, take some time to scrape as much of the soft pulp and flesh out of the inside as you can. Bacteria like to feed on it, and the warm, moist environment will foster their growth and start to rot your pumpkin.

How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds: When you cut a hole in the top of your pumpkin for the lid, scoop out all of the seeds and set them aside. Your pumpkin seeds will still have some pulp attached. Rinse the seeds in a colander and remove the bits of pulp.

Your pumpkin seeds will still have some pulp attached. Rinse the seeds in a colander and remove the bits of pulp. You can also scoop the seeds and pulp into a stockpot filled with water. As the seeds float to the top, remove them from the pot. The pulp will sink to the bottom of the pot. You may need to help the process along by squeezing the seeds from more stubborn bits of pulp. Kids might find this process more fun and less tedious than adults; see if you can outsource this part.

Prep Your Pumpkin Seeds

Not every source we found agreed on this point, but enough of them did that we will pass it along. Before you dry your pumpkin seeds in advance of roasting them, boil them in salted water. Boulder Locavore even recommends boiling before you remove all the pulp; boiling will help separate the seeds. But the primary reason to boil your pumpkin seeds is to kick-start the cooking process. Food52 explains how the inside of pumpkin seeds cooks faster than the outside. Boiling helps even out the process so the outside of the seeds will roast fully, without burning the inside of the seeds. Both parts turn out crisp instead of charred on the inside, raw on the outside. Just like you would salt pasta water, remember to salt the water for boiling your pumpkin seeds. Then boil them for ten minutes.

How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds: Before you roast your pumpkin seeds, boil them in salted water. Then dry them thoroughly before roasting.

After boiling, let your seeds dry on paper towels or a kitchen towel. You can pat or rub them dry, or you can let them sit undisturbed while they dry. You can even pop them into a low temperature oven to dry before roasting, or use a hair dryer (on low speed, of course) to speed up the process. The objective is to dry the pumpkin seeds as thoroughly as possible before you season and roast them. The seeds need to be dry so the oil will coat them and the seasonings will stick to them.

As for our pumpkin seeds, we boiled them for ten minutes. Then we let them dry on a kitchen towel for an hour before transferring them to a low temperature oven for another hour.

Season Your Pumpkin Seeds

Here’s the fun part: You get to decide what these seeds ought to taste like, starting with the oil. Choose vegetable or canola oil if you’d like a more neutral flavor that won’t compete with your seasonings. Try sesame oil if you’re going for an Asian flavor, walnut or hazelnut oil if you’ll add sweet flavors, or olive oil to complement Italian seasonings.

We found some great ideas on Delish and Food Network. Dust your seeds with a packet of ranch or taco seasoning, or try mixing up your own spice blends. Cinnamon and sugar make for a sweet twist on roasted pumpkin seeds. You can always add other mix-ins too, like nuts or dried fruit.

We kept our seasonings simple, with a tablespoon of vegetable oil, a teaspoon of kosher salt, and a generous shake or two of garlic powder. Next time, we will branch out and try some different combinations.

Roast Your Pumpkin Seeds

It’s finally time to roast your seeds! Don’t crank up the oven too high; 325ºF is hot enough to roast them without scorching. Spread them out on the pan in a single layer so they roast evenly. Sources disagree on how long you should roast pumpkin seeds. Serious Eats allows for 25 minutes, while Food52 cautions they may be done in only 10-12 minutes. We advise checking on your seeds every five minutes to stir and turn them. Like browned butter, pumpkin seeds can quickly go from browned to burnt. Boulder Locavore suggests gauging your seeds’ doneness by color: Let them keep roasting if they’re still white, but pop them out once they turn golden brown.

How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds: Gauge your seeds’ doneness by color: Let them keep roasting if they’re still white, but pop them out once they turn golden brown.

Transfer your roasted pumpkin seeds to a separate clean baking sheet to cool down. Feel free to enjoy them while they’re warm, but if you plan to store them, wait until they are completely cool. Otherwise, the moisture will be trapped in the container and turn your crisp seeds into chewy ones. If you follow all the steps above, we bet your seeds will be gobbled up right away.

Our pumpkin seeds took about 20 minutes to turn golden brown. We checked on them frequently to stir and turn them for even roasting. We couldn’t wait until they were cool before tasting, and we were thrilled by the results. Our seeds were crispy, savory, and gone within an hour. That’s how tasty they were!