Best homemade pumpkin seeds baked in the oven or your air fryer! Don’t throw out those tasty crunchy snacks, here’s how you cook them.
Homemade pumpkin seeds are the best!! If you’ve been throwing these out when carving a pumpkin please don’t! You’re missing the best part and I bet your kiddos will love this snack too.
- If it’s Fall you’re probably thinking about your favorite pumpkin muffins you want to make.
- I like to make my own homemade Instant Pot pumpkin puree first because it’s SO easy and cheap to make.
- Then it’s ready for all the other easy pumpkin desserts I want to make in the months thereafter.
How to Make Homemade Pumpkin Seeds
First you’re going to need to cut the top, or bottom, off and scoop out all the yuck. It is handy to have a large strainer in your sink ready to throw all the gunk in there and separate it from what you want.
- Go ahead and read our post on how to clean pumpkin seeds now and then come back.
Well besides the fact that they are a tasty snack with lots of fiber (if consuming it with the shell) it has B vitamins, magnesium, iron and protein too.
Actually, if you weren’t aware, they’re a great source of tryptophan which can help promote a sleepy state. SO, eating them before bed is a good idea, but any time of day is great if you ask us.
Yes. Soaking and/or boiling them gets rid them of enzymes in order to make them easier to digest.
Why are my roasted pumpkin seeds chewy?
Let them rest first! If you eat them right out of the oven when they’re still hot or warm they will likely have a softer chewier texture.
Wait until they’re cool and try again. You’ll be more pleased with them.
Is it okay to soak pumpkin seeds overnight?
You can in some warm water with some salt. Just make sure they’re submerged with about 1 tbsp salt. Then the next day, drain, pour on to a bunch of paper towels and allow to dry for the day if you can.
- To be honest I don’t usually take this much time.
- I like boiling them as opposed to just soaking because it gets all the strands and gunk off easily.
- Seeds get as clean as possible as you see below.
- Then I just pour on a wad of paper towels and press out as much water as possible.
- If I have a few hours I will leave them on the baking sheet to dry out in the kitchen a bit longer.
The longer to allow them to dry before baking the crispier they will become.
Of course you don’t want to waste the vegetable itself though. Set that aside and decide whether you want to pressure cook, bake or air fry pumpkin to enjoy that too.
Time needed: 25 minutes.
Homemade pumpkin seeds
- Rinse the seeds
Clean pumpkin seeds from your pumpkin. Remove gunk and discard orange mess. Use hands to separate and scoop the seeds into a bowl.
- Boil
Put pot of salted water in pot on stovetop and wait until it is at a rolling boil. Add seeds and allow to boil for 4 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove and put on a few paper towels.
- Dry the seeds
Press as much water off seeds as possible with towels. Lay on new dry towels and let them sit to dry as long as possible, or as long as you have time for.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or non stick spray. - Toss
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss the seeds with melted butter (or olive oil) and toss. Add 1/2 tsp seasoned salt and mix. Spread the seeds in a single layer on a non stick prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 tsp of salt.
- Bake
Put into oven for 15 minutes, then use spatula to move around so they can crisp and brown on both sides.
Continue cooking for 5-10 minutes or until they’re as crispy and golden brown as you’d like. Allow to cool completely and then snack!
About 3 cups of seeds fit on my cookie sheet at a time without overlapping. This is important because if they’re on top of one another they won’t get really crispy.
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Things you will need to make these are simple. I use the simplest of seasonings but I have other ideas below you could try too. Mix it up and make a few batches with different flavors to see which you love best.
- Cleaned seeds
- Strainer to separate seeds from gunk
- Water and salt for boiling
- Paper towels for drying
- Melted butter or olive oil (I personally prefer butter)
- Baking sheet for cooking
- Seasonings of your choice
Pumpkin Seed Seasonings
For more oomph you can add just about anything you’d like. I make it easy on myself and just use Lawry’s salt, but you could use:
- Curry powder
- Olive oil and salt instead of butter
- Garlic salt
- Truffle salt is great
- Old Bay
It’s super easy to do and in about 30 minutes baking and cooling time you can have a healthy snack for everyone to enjoy.
- To take it a step further we wondered about how air fryer pumpkin seeds would turn out. They were great too!
- I actually think they turned out crispier than in the oven. If you have a hot air machine I’d try it out.
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Below we share detailed step by step directions. You can print it out too if you’d like to keep it in your recipe book but feel free to come back a few times this year and next because we love “seeing you” of course.
Let us know if you use something else different this season to spice them up. If you loved how they turned out we might too and we’d love to try your creation as well. Happy holidays with your family, we will y’all the best! 😉
Homemade Pumpkin Seeds
Ingredients
- 1 c pumpkin seeds out of pumpkin, cleaned off
- 1.5 tbsp butter melted, or olive oil
- 3/4 tsp seasoned salt
Instructions
- Clean pumpkin seeds. Put pot of salted water in pot on stovetop and wait until it is at a rolling boil.
- Add seeds and allow to boil for 4 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove and put on a few paper towels.
- Fold towel and absorb excess water on seeds until they are dry. Put on new dry paper towels and leave to sit and dry as long as you can, or have time for.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Put seeds in a bowl with melted butter and toss. Add 1/2 tsp seasoned salt and mix.
- Pour coated seeds on a non stick baking sheet and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 tsp of salt.
- Put into oven for 15 minutes, then use spatula to move around so they can crisp and brown on both sides.
- Continue cooking for 5-10 minutes or until they're as crispy and browned as you'd like.
- Allow to cool and then snack!
MaleSensePro
Saturday 3rd of October 2020
These sound it taste good, Thanks for sharing I think something I can't resist not trying...