Air fryer pumpkin seeds are easy to make and SO much better than store bought! If you’re ready to make crispy homemade pumpkin seeds at home, this is how!
Ready to try air fryer pumpkin seeds?? We were and they were such a tasty healthy snack! They’re gluten free too! With just a few ingredients you too can make this east air fryer recipe. (participant in Amazon program, affiliate links present)
Pumpkin Seeds Air Fryer
October means all things pumpkin right??!! 😉 Don’t throw those seeds away this year, try this! It is basically free since you may have been throwing them away all these years and make a crunchy snack.
Ninja Foodi Pumpkin Seeds
There are lots of different brands out there and they all basically work the same by cooking food with hot air. If you use the Foodi it is the lid that is attached that you will use for this recipe.
If you love air fryer recipes too, here are some resources to start with:
- THIS is my Favorite Air Fryer!
- You can find more Air fryer recipes here, we have Ninja Foodi recipes as well; bookmark them both!
- Grab the best air fryer cookbook here.
- Here’s a printable air fryer cook times chart here for your fridge.
- It has temp. and times for making the best frozen foods for air fryer too.
Then join our Facebook page where you can share and find more ideas you’ll love. We have a Foodi social media group as well.
How do you clean and roast pumpkin seeds?
The first thing you need to do is carve a pumpkin and prepare the seeds. Set the rest aside and decide how you want to cook that. Either pressure cook, bake or air fry pumpkin slices or make puree.
- We share how to clean pumpkin seeds well here. It is important to follow these steps so they get nice and crispy once they’re cooked.
Then you can make oven roasted homemade pumpkin seeds, or follow this recipe for your air fryer.
I will tell you that separating the pumpkin pulp from the seeds is a little time intensive. So why bother doing this when you can buy a bag of salted pumpkin seeds at the store?? I will tell you the two are NOTHING alike.
Store bought seeds are VERY HIGH in sodium and not as crispy as you’ll get when air frying pumpkin seeds yourself. Homemade is always best, you have to admit that. Invest just a little time and you too will agree with me.
Air fryer pumpkin seeds
This is what you will need to prepare them for how to make pumpkin seeds in an air fryer. Gather these ingredients and tools to ensure a delicious and crunchy snack!
- A fresh pumpkin
- or a few if you want to make a larger batch
- each one will yield about 1 cup of seeds
FYI: Larger pumpkins don’t necessarily yield more, I prefer medium sizes.
- Carving knife
- Paper towels to dry seeds
- Butter or olive oil
- Salt – these are the Lawrys seasoned salt ingredients
- Ninja Foodi or other electric air fryer
- we’ve used our Ninja Foodi Grill machine too
I will say that we make them lightly salted. If you prefer heavily seasoned / salted seeds then add more salt.
Pumpkin seeds in air fryer
Let me answer a few questions you might have in mind right now as you’re reading this. Then you can move on to make your favorite snack perfectly! 😉
Eating them raw would never be something I’d do. Toasted, roasted, or air fried pumpkin seeds are best if you ask me.
YES, that’s the best way! I have tried them with the shell off and they are quite bland as all the seasonings are on the outside. Just eat them whole after you crisp them up.
They’re actually quite good for you. They contain antioxidants, magnesium, and zinc too. If you eat the outsides too they’re a great source of fiber.
Once your seeds are prepared it is best to preheat your air fryer at 360 degrees for about 4 minutes. That will ensure your air fryer basket will be nice and hot when you add them. This will help get them really crispy!
Pumpkin Seeds in Ninja Foodi
Can you double or triple this recipe? Yes!! Just make sure you only add about 1 cup at a time so they are in one layer and not overlapping much. This will ensure the hot air can circulate properly and they will become quite crispy.
Steps to follow:
- Put cleaned and dried seeds in a bowl with olive oil or butter and seasoned salt, stir.
- Preheat your air fryer for 4 minutes at 360 or 350 degrees (some set differently, we used 360)
- Pour seeds into basket and set for 10 to 15 minutes shaking the basket after 5 minutes.
- Cook for 5 more minutes and check.
- If they’re crispy enough to your liking remove and enjoy, if not toss the seeds and allow to cook a few more min.
- Then allow to cool and enjoy!
If you are making multiple batches this process could take up to 35 minutes shaking every 5 minutes with every batch.
Now are you ready? Make a bunch and save them in airtight baggies to keep them crispy and crunchy for longer. They’re a healthy snack with the shell on that we all 5 love so much. Give them a whirl this week and let us know what you think!
Looking for more pumpkin recipes? We have bunches and bunches!
Looking for more pumpkin desert recipes? We have bunches and bunches, including a delicious pumpkin seed recipe in air fryer!
- Pumpkin zucchini muffins are WILDLY popular.
- Our pumpkin apple bread is pretty great.
- Or make homemade pumpkin pie.
Use our pressure cooker pumpkin recipe to make homemade puree and use for lots of desserts.
Air Fryer Pumpkin Seeds
Equipment
- 1 air fryer
- 1 Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 c pumpkin seeds, cleaned
- 1.5 tbsp butter, melted, or olive oil
- 1/2 tsp seasoned salt, Lawry's was used, this comes out lightly salted, use more if you like heavily seasoned
Instructions
- Remove pumpkin seeds from pumpkin and wash off. Preheat air fryer to 360 degrees for 4 minutes.
- Pour rinsed seeds on a few paper towels and press down to remove excess water and dry seeds off.
- Melt butter and pour into bowl with pumpkin seeds (olive oil can be used), sprinkle seasoned salt on top too and stir together.
- Pour coated seeds into air fryer, sprinkle a bit of additional seasoned salt on top of them and close lid/drawer.
- Cook at 360 degrees for 10 minutes total, shaking basket after 5 minutes.
- Resalt if desired and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Your recipe is great. But that’s a Cosori, not a Ninja Foodi. I have that exact model & I love it. -Ken Miller.
Best pumpkin seeds I ever made. Thanks!
Yay!!
So excited to try this in my air fryer!
Totally the best way to roast the seeds. I added a little garlic powder & white pepper. So easy and they taste delicious. They do pop a little inside, but by checking them they turned out amazing. Thank you
Is there a certain way to store them after you bake them and they cool?
Do I have to store them in the fridge?
Best way personally is to put into quart freezer bags and suck all the air out every time you take some out to stay as fresh as possible for the longest time.
Actually Yes. I accidentally ordered these when I wasn’t paying attention: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B016OT7HCY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
so guess I’ll be roasting them in my air fryer (I tested a few and they worked fine).
Do they fly around in air fryer?
Wondering the same! Everything flies around in my air fryer!
Hmmm I personally didn’t have that issue and if they were flying around a bit inside it didn’t have a negative affect, you can see the results here.
This is such a wonderful recipe- who knew air frying pumpkin seeds was so easy and so delicious?! Thank you!
Yay!!
Wow, so easy to make pumpkin seeds in an air fryer. I just roasted pumpkin and save the seeds. I was going to roast them until I saw your air fryer method. Such a healthy snack!
I’m curious if you can get fresh pumpkin seeds without having to purchase a whole pumpkin?
Um, no