A step-by-step guide to perfectly crispy roasted pumpkin seeds.
I love the month of October for so many reasons but carving pumpkins with my dad definitely ranks up there. Every fall, some time between my birthday (October 20th) and Halloween, he would gather me and my sisters and we would all head out to the driveway. When we saw the big round pumpkins and the piles of newspapers, we knew it was time.
We would lay the paper out on the ground to collect all of the seeds and grab the biggest metal spoon we could find in the kitchen for scraping. My younger sisters would use the protective kiddy knives and eventually I was able to use a real chef’s knife. The leaves were bright orange, the air smelled like wood-burning stoves and it was cool enough to wear a jacket but not too cold that you needed gloves. It was perfect.
Of course, in case you haven’t figured it out by now, I am not crafty and I do not come from a crafty family. We are foodies, thru and thru. At the end of the day, we carved pumpkins with one goal in mind: roasted pumpkin seeds.
Over the years, I’ve perfected the crunchy, savory, addictive snack. Here are a couple tips:
1) Heavier pumpkins = more seeds. It’s a labor of love and these crunchy, salty seeds will be eaten in no time so I always suggest getting the heaviest pumpkin you can carry.
2) Boil the seeds first to ensure even baking. Since the inside of the pumpkin seed takes longer to cook than the shell, boiling them in a bit of salty water ensures a crispy pumpkin seed that won’t be burnt.
3) Season them any way you wish but we grew up tossing them in a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder. You can use just salt and pepper or kick them up a notch with curry powder and cayenne. The options are endless.
Whatever you do, I encourage you to grab the family, head out to the driveway and make some delicious memories.
No forks required.
- seeds from one large pumpkin
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne optional
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Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
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Bring a small pot of salty water to a boil and add pumpkin seeds. Boil for 9-10 minutes then drain. Carefully pat pumpkin seeds with paper towel to remove any excess moisture.
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In a medium bowl, whisk together all remaining ingredients (olive oil through cayenne). Add pumpkin seeds to the bowl and toss until evenly coated.
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Spread seeds in an even layer on a large baking sheet. Roast in the oven until crispy, 15-20 minutes depending on oven.
Roasted seeds can be stored in an air-tight container for up to 7 days.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Allrecipes. The opinions and text are all mine.
thank you for making this seem easy enough to try. I’m going pumpkin shopping and look forward to trying these.
I hope you love them!
what is the olive oil used for? I don’t see you reference it in the instructions. Is it used in the worstershire mixture. It says to mix from worstershire to cayenne pepper. The olive oil is listed before the worstershire.
My apologies, Stacey! It’s mixed with the Worcestershire and the other spices. I’ve updated the recipe – so sorry for the confusion. :) Happy Halloween!
My son and I cleaned out the pumpkin tonight and he has never tried the seeds. I am going to make them with salt and with cinnamon and sugar to see how he likes them best, if at all. I am also taking the rest to my preschool class for a taste testing. Thank you so much for the step by step. I have always just winged it.
Oh I can’t wait to hear what he thinks!! Sounds so tasty!
The very first pumpkin seeds I proudly “harvested” as a child I discovered got moldy soon after although I had thought I had dried them enough in the sun before putting them in a jar. Never thought of roasting them nor did I know one could eat them …
No way!! Too cool!
Yum! We love pumpkin seeds! Super idea of worcestershire with garlic powder–kind of a Chex Mix-y flavor.
Question: has anyone ever tried roasting them in a microwave? I put a bowl of acorn squash seeds to soak one night (I was trying soaking them in salt water before roasting to see if it made them crispier) and that night our oven door ended up breaking so we don’t have a functioning oven currently. Or maybe a flat electric griddle? Would love any tips from someone who’s tried a non-oven method!
I’ve never done the microwave but that’s a great question!! I’m thinking it might work but I really don’t know?
awesome post! never tried to roast my own seeds but I will def now!
I hope you like it!
this is going to sound crazy…but I’VE NEVER ROASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS. That feels a little bit like a blogger fail.
What in the heck!?!?!?! ROAST THEM NOW!
What irks me about pumpkin seeds is the slimey insides that get stuck to all of them! Suck a pain in the butt! Do you get all the slimey stuff out?
If you soak them in water it really comes off quickly!! Try it!
A few minutes of proof reading would have been worthwhile…
Hi Dave – Forgive me for missing it but I don’t seem to see any type-o’s in this post. Can you be more specific so that I can edit the post? Thanks so much!
I’m not Dave, but under tip #2 it does say “slaty” instead of salty. He could have been a little more helpful and pointed it out specifically so you could correct it.
Thanks so much – I corrected it. :-)
You brought me back with this one! I’ve always only salted my pumpkin seeds…will be trying the Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder!
Woohoo!! Let me know what you think Annie!!
Pumpkin seeds are one of my favorite snacks this time of year!
Mine too Steph – I wish I had some more right now!
OMG! LOVE this step by step guide…there’s nothing better than roasted pumpkin seeds after carving pumpkins!
There is seriously nothing better!! Can’t wait to see you soon!!
I love pumpkin seeds and have just realized that I have never made them for my husband. I am going to buy a pumpkin today!!
Did you get the pumpkin?? :)
Great post! Your pictures are so pretty!
Aww thank you my friend.
Boiling them?! Is that what I’ve been missing? Headed to the pumpkin patch this weekend, so we’ll have to give this a try with the littles!
YES!! Let me know if you try it and what you think!!