Pumpkins are abundant in the fall, and drying pumpkin seeds can be a great way to make the most of these yummy treats! Here are some pumpkin seed recipes for various flavors as well.
Table of Contents
Quick Guide to Drying Pumpkin Seeds
Drying pumpkin seeds at home takes just a few simple steps:
- Rinse raw pumpkin seeds and pat dry completely with a towel.
- Toss seeds with vegetable oil and desired spices.
- Spread in single layer on a baking sheet.
- Bake at 250°F for 1-2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes.
- Pumpkin seeds are done when crunchy and golden brown.
- Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
Customize your flavors with different seasoning blends.
What Kind of Pumpkin Seeds Can Be Roasted?
Seeds from most pumpkins can be roasted. You will get more seeds from the big “jack o lantern” type pumpkins, but you will get nicer, smaller seeds from the pie-type pumpkins.
What is the Difference Between the Green and White Pumpkin Seeds?
White Pumpkin seeds are seeds that still have the hull on them.
Green Pumpkin seeds have had the hull removed.
If you plan on making seed butter or don’t like the hulls, you will want to try to find or make raw green pumpkin seeds. The white seeds are exactly how they will come out of the pumpkin most of the time. Some varieties of pumpkins, such as Styrian and Kakai pumpkins, have hull-less seeds!
Can you Air-Dry Pumpkin Seeds?
If you don’t want to roast and leave them raw, you can air-dry the seeds. This will not work well if you live in a humid climate.
Just spread the pumpkin seeds out to dry on a clean towel or paper towels in an area in your kitchen that won’t be disturbed for a few days. If needed, you could speed up this process by drying them at a low temperature in the oven or the dehydrator.
Ways to Use Pumpkin Seeds
They aren’t just for snacking! Here are some other ways you can use Pumpkin Seeds.
- Soups. Use the seeds as a topping for soups to add a little texture.
- Salads. We love using pumpkin seeds on top of salads to add more nutrition.
- Granola. Our favorite use for pumpkin seeds is adding them to Homemade Granola.
Ingredients for Basic Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
- Pumpkin Seeds. If you want to use the hull-less kind and can’t find a pumpkin with them, I have bought the Terrasoul brand here before. These seeds are raw, so they can still be roasted with your flavors.
- Cookie Sheet or Baking Sheet. Something sides will be good since you need to move the seeds around and don’t want them falling off.
- Garlic Salt. This is the basic seasoning that I would give savory pumpkin seeds, although if you prefer, you can also use plain salt. Some other fun seasonings include black pepper, curry powder, chili powder, cinnamon, and brown sugar.
- Olive Oil. This is for roasting. This will also help to give the pumpkin seeds more flavor.
How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds Step by Step
Clean all the seeds out of a pumpkin. You can use the seeds from Sugar Baby pumpkins or the big ones like a jack-o-lantern for pumpkin carving; it doesn’t matter.
You can also roast the seeds from winter squash, such as butternut squash, acorn squash, or whatever you grew. Check out my post on Uses for Squash Seeds for more details!
Wash the seeds and clean out the chunks of pumpkin or the pulp of the pumpkin. Don’t worry about it being completely perfect.
Spread out on a cookie sheet. It does not have to be greased since you will move the seeds around. You may want to cover it with parchment paper.
Put your pumpkin seeds in a large bowl and sprinkle with a bit of olive oil. Sprinkle garlic salt onto the pumpkin seeds for your desired saltiness.
Bake the pumpkin seeds at 250F for about an hour or more until fully dried. If you use pre-bought raw seeds, they will not need to dry as long and only need to roast until they smell flavorful.
Scoop around the seeds with a spatula about every 10 minutes. Keep moving the seeds around and baking until the seeds start to turn brown, and they snap in half when you try and break them.
Yum. These smell so good while they are cooking!
How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds for Maximum Crunch
Instead of simply sprinkling on the olive oil (or the vegetable oil of your choosing, sunflower oil is great too!), place the pumpkin seeds in a bowl and make sure they are well coated with the oil before placing them on a tray and sprinkling with toppings.
This method for extra crunchy seeds works particularly well with the hull-less pumpkin seed variety.
Grab the printable recipe below to add to your Recipe Binder.
Basic Roasted Pumpkin Seeds Recipe
CourseSnack
CuisineAmerican
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Servings 4 people
Calories 188 kcal
Ingredients
- Pumpkin Seeds
- Garlic Salt
- Olive Oil
Instructions
Clean all the seeds out of a pumpkin. You can use the seeds from Sugar Baby pumpkins or the big ones like you carve for Halloween, it doesn’t matter.
Wash the seeds and clean out the chunks of pumpkin. Don’t worry about it being completely perfect.
Spread out on a cookie sheet. It does not have to be greased since you will be moving the seeds around.
Put your pumpkin seeds in a bowl and sprinkle with a little olive oil and Sprinkle garlic salt onto the pumpkin seeds for your desired saltiness.
Bake the pumpkin seeds at 250F for about an hour or more until fully dried out. Scoop around the seeds with a spatula about every 10 minutes. Keep moving the seeds around and baking until the seeds start to turn brown and they snap in half when you try and break them.
Nutrition Facts
Basic Roasted Pumpkin Seeds Recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories 188Calories from Fat 153
% Daily Value*
Fat 17g26%
Saturated Fat 3g19%
Trans Fat 0.02g
Polyunsaturated Fat 7g
Monounsaturated Fat 6g
Sodium 584mg25%
Potassium 259mg7%
Carbohydrates 3g1%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 0.4g0%
Protein 10g20%
Vitamin A 5IU0%
Vitamin C 1mg1%
Calcium 15mg2%
Iron 3mg17%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Drying Pumpkin Seeds for Planting
If you are wanting to dry pumpkin seeds to plant later, here’s how! Pull the pumpkin seeds out of your best pumpkin. Do not wash them.
Place the seeds on a paper plate, paper towel, or another surface where they can dry out. Once they are fully dry (at least a week), please place them in an airtight container or bag until you are ready to plant them next year.
Below you will find some other pumpkin seed recipes that I found for pumpkin seeds in different flavors if you are feeling adventurous. Be sure and comment with which ones you’ve made!
Roasted Dill Pumpkin Seeds
These Dill Pickle Pumpkin seeds are made with pickle juice and sound so yummy!
Spiced Maple Pumpkin Seeds
With the addition of cinnamon and maple syrup, these Spiced Maple Pumpkin Seeds sound like the perfect fall snack!
Chili Lime Pumpkin Seeds
These Chili Lime Pumpkin Seeds look so easy to make with only 3 ingredients!
Sweet and Salty Maple Pumpkin Seeds
Instead of focusing only on the sweet flavors like the recipe above, these Sweet and Salty Maple Pumpkin Seeds have the best of both worlds.
More Pumpkin Recipes
- Eggless Pumpkin Pie Recipe
- Pumpkin Turtle Cheesecake
- Easy Pumpkin Bread Recipe
- Easy Pumpkin Cookies
- Pumpkin Cake Muffins Recipe
- Easy Pumpkin Cake Recipe
- Pumpkin Zucchini Bread Recipe
- Creamy Pumpkin Pie Tea
- 55 Gluten Free Pumpkin Recipes to Make This Fall
And if you are looking to preserve the pumpkin for later, you can use my tutorial on Preserving Pumpkin.
What are your favorite pumpkin seed recipes?
Merissa Alink
Merissa has been blogging about andliving the simple and frugal life on Little House Living since 2009 and has internationally published 2 books on the topic. You can read about Merissa’s journey from penniless to freedom on the About Page. You can send her a message any time from theContact Page.
This blog post about Drying Pumpkin Seeds was originally posted on Little House Living in November 2010. It has been updated as of October 2023.
