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Roasting Pumpkin Seeds

Reader Contribution by Erin Sheehan
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Roasted pumpkin seeds are delicious and good for you. They are high in Magnesium, Iron and protein. For years we discarded ours as we processed pumpkins from the garden. This fall we realized that we have been throwing away usable (and yummy!) food all this time, so no more!

Here’s an easy how-to for roasted pumpkin seeds. Next time you process a pumpkin or a squash, hold onto those seeds!

How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds:

  1. Cut pumpkin and remove seeds, working them out of the pulp as much as possible.

  2. Clean the seeds using a colander and running water. You aren’t going to get them perfectly clean, but at least get the chunks of pumpkin off of your seeds.

  3. Dry the seeds on a small towel. They don’t have to be totally dry, but not soaking wet either.

  4. Preheat your oven to 400 F. Place oven rack on top shelf.

  5. Spread the seeds onto a baking sheet in a single layer. If you have too many seeds to spread in a single layer use two baking sheets. Some recipes call for oil but I’ve never found it to be necessary and adding oil can even make your seeds chewy instead of crispy, which you don’t want.

  6. Sprinkle the seeds with salt to taste.

  7. Roast from 10 to 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so with a spatula. How long you roast depends on how large the seeds are and how crispy you want them. I like them very crispy and go the full 20 minutes, but you don’t want them to burn, so be careful!

I hope this inspires you to never throw away the good food lurking inside of your pumpkins and squash ever again!