Fall is in full swing which means people are decorating and cooking all things pumpkin! This roasted pumpkin seeds recipe is the perfect way to use all of the seeds from your pumpkin carving, or from making Homemade Pumpkin Puree.
Whatever you do, do NOT throw the seeds out and miss the opportunity to bake them for a delicious bonus snack.
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Roasted Pumpkin Seed Recipe
My mom has a pumpkin patch and we always look forward to dishes we can make from the homegrown pumpkins, like Pumpkin Waffles or Pumpkin Pie, but we especially love the seeds! Crisp, baked seeds are perfect to snack on from a bowl or toss into a beautiful autumn salad like our Roasted Sweet Potato Salad or a warm Roasted Butternut Squash Soup.
We have perfected this recipe over the years to achieve the perfect pumpkin shells that pop right open and don’t crumble or break the seed inside. The shells are lightly salted and make a great snack to have on your buffet or charcuterie board.
Cleaning out a pumpkin can be ewwy gooey, get the kiddos involved and let them reach in and scoop out the seeds.
Ingredients
The key to making roasted pumpkin seeds, also known as pepitas, is to have clean, dry seeds before roasting. More on that process below…
- Pumpkins – obviously, but this recipe also works great with acorn, butternut, delicata, and other winter squash seeds
- Water – to boil the seeds before roasting, which will help them roast evenly, and for some folks who struggle with digesting whole seeds, helps the digestion process
- Olive Oil – for roasting, holds the salt or seasoning onto the seeds
- Salt – fine salt, for flavor
Flavor Variations
Pumpkin seeds have such a mild flavor so they are easily elevated with a few teaspoons of your favorite seasoning. If you want to kick up the flavor, before roasting, just sprinkle your pumpkin seeds with:
- chili powder
- curry powder
- ranch seasoning
- cajun seasoning
- cinnamon and sugar
- pumpkin spice
- garlic powder and parmesan
- wasabi powder
- Maple syrup and cinnamon
A few teaspoons should do the trick, but add them to taste.
How to Remove Pumpkin Seeds
- Prepare and Carve– Preheat your oven to 300°F. Using a sharp knife, cut into your pumpkin to retrieve the seeds. If you are using small sugar pumpkins, slice the pumpkin in half. If you are carving a large pumpkin, cut the top off around the stem creating a lid for your jack-o-lantern.
- Scoop and rinse – Remove the seeds and pulpy strings from your pumpkin using a large metal spoon or scraper. Put the fresh pumpkin seeds into a large bowl and submerge the seeds in water. Remove any debris and then drain in a colander, giving them a good rinse to remove any leftover stringy pumpkin guts.
Roast Pumpkin Seeds
- Boil and dry – In a large saucepan, add the water, salt, and clean pumpkin seeds. Bring to a boil, and continue boiling for 10 minutes, then drain. Lay the clean seeds on a kitchen towel and pat dry with a second towel, removing as much excess water as possible.
- Season and Bake – Drizzle a rimmed baking sheet with extra virgin olive oil. Add the pumpkin seeds and stir to coat in oil. Spread the seeds in a single layer and sprinkle with salt or your preferred seasoning. Place the seeds in the oven to bake and stir every 15 minutes. Remove from the oven when they are barely golden and have reached your desired crispness.
Pro Tip:
Line your baking sheet with parchment paper to make this recipe less messy. After cooling, lift the paper and use it like a funnel to pour the seeds right into your airtight container for storage.
For a more golden tint, broil for a few minutes, but remember pumpkin seeds can burn crazy fast so stir them after a minute and check on them often!
Common Questions
Yes. Get them as clean and dry as possible before putting them into the oven to roast. The extra moisture from the pumpkin guts will prevent the hulls from getting super crisp.
Your seeds might be a little bit chewy right out of the oven. As they cool they will become even crispier. If they are still soft after fully cooling, pop them back in the oven for 5-10 minutes. The seeds from sugar pumpkins will roast faster than large carving pumpkins, or maybe the seeds were not fully dry when they went into the oven.
You sure can! Prepare your seeds and put them into your air fryer basket instead of the oven. Bake at 350°F for 10-15 minutes, being sure to stir the seeds halfway through.
Shells on or off is a matter of personal preference. Like sunflower seeds, the shells can be eaten. Peeling each shell is a lot of effort, and with the shells on, you get more of the yummy seasonings.
Storage
Once the pumpkin seeds have cooled to room temperature, store your roasted pumpkin seeds in an airtight container or jar at room temperature for several weeks or refrigerate them for up to two months.
Pumpkin seeds are not only a tasty treat, but according to Medical News Today (2023), they are also nutritious and packed with fiber, iron, magnesium, antioxidants, zinc, and more. They are a great alternative for a crispy snack if for those with nut allergies.
More Great Snack Recipes
If you love this Roasted Pumpkin Seed recipe, then consider adding these easy recipes to your holiday Charcuterie Board.
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups pumpkin seeds, from 1 large or 2-3 small sugar pumpkins
- 4 cups water
- 1 Tbsp fine sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F. Remove the top of the pumpkin, cutting into it at an angle towards the stem. Use a large metal spoon to scrape out the seeds.
- Submerge the seeds in water and pick out the strings and pumpkin debris, then drain.
- In a large saucepan, add 4 cups water and 1 Tbsp salt. Add the pumpkin seeds, bring to a boil, and continue boiling for 10 minutes then drain and thoroughly pat dry with a kitchen towel.
- Drizzle a rimmed baking sheet with extra virgin olive oil. Add the pumpkin seeds and stir to coat in oil. Spread the seeds in a single layer and sprinkle with salt.
- Bake at 300°F for 30-40 minutes, depending on the size of your seeds, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from the oven when they are barely golden and have reached your desired crispness.
Nutrition Per Serving
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Very easy and practical recipe!! My seeds came out perfect!! Thank you for sharing!!
That’s wonderful to hear. You’re very welcome.
Perfect toasted pumpkin seeds, delicious and very easy. Your 50 character minimum comment length is annoying though!
My love loves having these roasted pumpkin seeds after lunch! He is addicted to them. Thanks for this wonderful recipe!
That’s great, Sharina!
Our new favorite snack! So easy to make and healthy too. Perfect for my gluten free son, thank you!
You’re welcome, Paige!
IVE BEEN MAKIN THEM FOR MANY YEARS ,,I NEVER USED WATER BUT I’M GONNA TRY IT THIS WEEK….I LOVE YOUR RECIPES…THANK YOU,,,
I hope you love this recipe Raymond.
Being from a Baseball addicted family and coaching several hundred players we have consumed a few million sunflower seeds. Never saw or heard anyone eating them shells and all. Pumpkin seeds are eaten whole in the off season.
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Oh wow, thanks for reminding me–I’ve been so busy lately I forgot all about pumpkin seeds! I usually stock up on pumpkins from a farmers market in November when they’re trying to get rid of them just so I can roast the seeds.
That’s smart!! I hadn’t thought of that.
I just made these, followed the whole recipe. Cooked for 3 hours in 200 degree oven and the seeds are really hard to peel. The inside feels done but the shell is super hard and the seed is just stuck to the sides. What can it been? Are they under cooked? I had to turn them off cause they were turning medium brown already and didn’t want to burn them. Any advice? I still have 3 more pans to make and want to make them just right! Thanks.
If they are already browning, taste test them at an earlier interval- like at 2 hrs then 2.5hours. The timing can vary by seeds as well since they aren’t all exactly the same.
It took me a long time to get to the actual recipe and the oven setting (degree). So many pop ups and adds. Also the sight sent me to another blog page that I did not recognize.
HI Cindy, that is definitely not normal. I have reported this to our tech team and they will troubleshoot. Thank you for letting me know!
Did you figure out why the seeds were stuck to the shells? I’m having the same problem!
Hi Natasha,
I just watched your spinach dip video on youtube. It was amazing. I found it just because I was looking for some recipes and I saw your video. Just wanted to let you know that I love your videos as much if not more than I like the step by step photos because it’s even easier to follow when you demonstrate how to make it. Are you going to have anymore videos on youtube? If yes, would you be able to tell us on your site to look for your videos so we would know exactly when you have a new one posted?
Thank you so much for all the hard work that you put into your site and your videos.
Thank you Sarah; I’ll put up a link to youtube soon; probably when this video officially goes “live”; I’m waiting to get it approved by Kettle 🙂 I’m still trying to get my footing with videos, but I am enjoying it 🙂 I’m glad you liked the video; I appreciate the feedback. There will be more videos this coming year; we are going to be investing in a better camera and lens (our current camera doesn’t shoot video).
We love pumpkin seeds here…..we had about 8 pumpkins on Halloween so my husband, daughter and I saved all the seeds and roasted them. My husband being of Turkish background munches on pumpkin seeds all the time…..actually his friend in Turkey rents out land in the Ukraine to grow pumpkins for seeds. He said they are the best…..and then wholesales them in Turkey. If you ever go there to Turkey they are all cracking the pumpkin seeds at the movies and not popcorn like here.
Thanks you for sharing your recipe.
That’s cute; pumpkin seeds at the movies 😀
My parents used to roast pumpkin seeds when I was little, and I loved to crack them and get the seed out of each one. 🙂
Same here! It’s awesome to have fun memories like that 🙂
Ps I love your blog. Lovely photos!
I love pumpkin seeds! I made some this year and wanted to blog them too but, I just got back into the swing of things today. I guess I’ll wait and we’ll have to enjoy yours! 🙂 I love kids hands too…so sweet!
Thank you Suzie 🙂
I’ve only done it once, I tossed them with oil and taco seasoning and called them “scabs” on our Halloween table. LOL! Yours are lovely.
Thank you Veronica, I also made some before with cayenne pepper, paprika and garlic salt. They were pretty good too :).
I have a request for you!! Do you have a recipe for Pumpkin kasha with rice? My mom used to make it, and I never thought of getting the recipe.
My husband has been after me to make a pumpkin kasha. We’ll see if we can come up with something postworthy :
Mmmmmm 🙂 I made some recently they were SO GOOD. I sprinkled mine with some salt before baking. I actually had some acorn seeds left over from my butternut/acorn squash soup, so instead of tossing them I put the seeds in the oven and wallah a taste snack. Next time I will try your suggestion of 200 degrees, I did mine at 350 some were kinda burnt lol. Thanks Natasha keep ’em coming =)
I’ve never tried seeds from a butternut squash. Are those good too? I actually have oen of those lying around in my garage; don’t know what I’m going to do with it! 🙂
Yes they are good!! They are like mini pumpkin seeds. In this weather I love to make squash soup, I put lots of spices in it like nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice. I usually roast my squash in the oven with other veggies then blend it in a pot with some chicken stock and some cream. Really filling and satisfying on a cold day 🙂
Oh yum. That does sound so good! Thank you for sharing. I’ll try that soon!