Jump to Recipe
After you’ve carved your jack-o-lantern for Halloween, it’s time to roast perfect pumpkin seeds! Use this pumpkin seed recipe to make this salty and crunchy snack, that’s healthy too!
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One of our Halloween traditions has always been to roast the pumpkin seeds that come out of the pumpkins that we carve. For as long as I can remember, we always did this as kids and then I started and continued the tradition with my own kids. In our house, there is no way you carve a pumpkin without also roasting the pumpkin seeds afterward.
How To Clean Your Pumpkin
The first step to getting perfect pumpkin seeds is cleaning yourpumpkin!
- Set up a work area: We usually lay down newspaper or an old plastic tablecloth to keep our area clean.
- Cut off a lid to your pumpkin: Cut a 2-3″ circle radius aroundthe stem to do this.
- Clean outthe inside of yourpumpkin: This is where you get all the seeds from.You can use a metal spoon or an ice cream scooper to scrape and scoop the insides, but we think apumpkin scoopworks better. Want the very best option? If you have a drill, then the “Pumpkin Gutter” attachment is awesome — makes the job super easyand less messy.
Best Tips for Perfect Pumpkin Seeds
Making your own roasted pumpkin seeds is really easy, but there are three steps that are most important:
#1. Clean your pumpkin seeds well: You really want to wash them well and discard of any and all pumpkin fibers. Over the years, I’ve had a time or two when I didn’t clean the seeds well enough and they really don’t turn out as well. So, grab your colander and clean them…and then clean them again.
#2. Boil pumpkin seeds before roasting: If you are short on time, you could skip this step, but we highly recommend that you boil your pumpkin seeds before roasting them. We have more details below about why.
#3. Keep a watch on them when they are baking:I’m really bad at getting sidetracked, so I set my kitchen timerfor 10 minutes. This way, it will alert me and I can go in and move the pumpkin seeds around on the baking sheet. I repeat this every 10 minutes until they are done. I’m very serious about using the timer — there have been times when I didn’t do it and sure enough, I let them burn.
Why Boil Pumpkin Seeds Before Roasting?
There are a couple reasons why we recommend that you boil pumpkin seeds before roasting. Boiling before roasting pumpkin seeds helps to cook the insides of your pumpkin seeds so when you do roast them, you will get perfect crunchy pumpkins seeds. Boiling will ensure that the insides are cooked.
Also, roasted pumpkin seeds are full of nutrients, but they also contain phytic acid, which is naturally found in nuts, whole grains, and seeds. Phytic acid can prevent the absorption of some nutrients, like iron, magnesium,and calcium. By boiling the seeds before roasting, this them removes most of the phytic acid that they contain helping you to get even more nutrition out of them!
How To Eat Pumpkin Seeds
If you are new to roasting pumpkin seeds, you might be wondering just how to eat them. If they are nicely roasted, I like to eat them whole, as does most of my family. If you wish, you can also eat them how you would eat a sunflower seed, by cracking the outer shell open slightly with your teeth, eating the seed on the inside, and discarding the outer shell.
How to Make Perfect Pumpkin Seeds
Here is the full recipe and instructions for roasting perfect pumpkin seeds – ready for you to print!
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Perfect Pumpkin Seeds
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4.9 from 22 reviews
- Total Time: 85 minutes
Description
After you’ve carved your jack-o-lantern for Halloween, it’s time to roast perfect pumpkin seeds! Here’s the recipe for how you can make this salty and crunchy snack.
Ingredients
Scale
- Seeds from 2 large pumpkins
- ½ teaspoon Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- Dash of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Scrape out and remove seeds from your two pumpkins. Wash and clean your seeds from your pumpkin, making sure you remove any unwanted pumpkin rinds or deformed seeds. Wash in a colander and once again remove any unwanted items.
- Soak the clean seeds in a bowl full of water for 1/2 hour on the kitchen counter or overnight in the refrigerator. Drain the seeds, discarding the water.
- Fill a pot with water and a dash of salt (enough water so that it will cover the seeds). Bring the water to a boil. Place seeds into the boiling water and boil gently for about 10 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and drain the seeds and place back into your empty bowl. Toss seeds with olive oil. Lay out seeds in a thin layer onto a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with Lawry’s Seasoned Salt. Place in oven and move and turn the seeds over about every 10 minutes, making sure they are not burning. Seeds are done after about 40 minutes or when they become firmer and are no longer soft. You do not want dark spots on your seeds, you want them to be a darker yellow.
- Season with additional salt if desired. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Place into a clean mason jar or another food-safe storage container. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 45
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Snack
- Method: Roasting
- Cuisine: American
Thank you to our contributor,Leah Wood, for this recipe & photos!
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