Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

There was this one time back in college that my roommate, Casey, and I decided we wanted to roast our own pumpkin seeds. It was our junior year and, to be quite honest, I have no idea how we even got unroasted pumpkin seeds in our possession… or why we decided that 2am was the best time to do so [that’s a lie, I very much have an idea of why we thought this was a great plan. One word: vodka]. Actually, speaking of vodka… I lied, I don’t even think it was 2am. It may have been something like 4pm.. on a Wednesday.

I’m prettyyy sure vodka was still to blame.

Alas, I digress. The point is that we forgot about the roasting seeds promptly after closing the oven door and nearly smoked ourselves out of our apartment. YAY, college! Fast forward seven or so years [geez louise, we are getting old] — Casey is now a trained chef and I started a food blog. Don’t worry, the irony is not lost on me.

I finally decided to make another attempt at roasting my own pumpkin seeds last fall. I had been buying sugar pumpkins by the dozen (obviously) and felt really wasteful tossing the seeds in the trash, like I had been with the butternut and acorn squash seeds. Which leads me to a question, right now, as I type: can you roast butternut squash seeds?? WHY had I not thought about this before?!?!

The answer is: yes, you can. Thank you, thekitchn.com, for supplying me with answers to all the tough questions in life! However, UGH — I have years of wasted seeds sitting on my conscious! HOW WILL I GO ON?! Perhaps I’ll buy a few squash and roast the seeds… and make some soup… ahh, I feel better already.

Anyway, back to pumpkin. I did a little research and read at least a million articles and blog posts about roasting pumpkin seeds until I finally decided to try Angela’s method. and, wow — so. flippin. addicting. There’s a little more front-end work involved than normal, but it’s 100% worth the effort. Promise!

Step 1: Clean ’em! Yup, you heard me. Scoop those seeds out and rinse them off well, separating the stringy pumpkin insides from the seeds as best you can. I typically use a colander with large enough holes that the pumpkin gunk can wash right through them. Don’t feel like you have to be OCD about this task though — some people stand by the fact that leaving a little pumpkin flesh adds more flavor. Let me know what you think!

Step 2: Boil ’em. Toss the pumpkin seeds and a teaspoon(ish) of salt into to a medium-sized pot and fill about halfway with water; leave uncovered and bring to a boil. Then, reduce the heat to low/medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes or so. According to Angela [who brings us this information from Elise], this part of the process makes for crispier seeds — and who doesn’t love crispier seeds?!

Step 3: Dry ’em. Using whatever method prevents you from losing the entire pot of seeds down the kitchen drain, dump the water and lightly dry the seeds [important side note: pure laziness = major accidents]. I usually use a paper towel to pat them dry. Don’t be surprised when the seeds start sticking to it, just peel them off using your fingers.

Step 4: Coat ’em! Spread the seeds in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with a teaspoon or two of olive oil, using your hands to make sure everything gets as evenly distributed on both sides of the seeds as possible. Sprinkle as much or as little sea salt on them as you please.

Step 5: Roast ’em. Bake at 325 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the seeds are golden brown, making sure to stir them at least once during the roasting. Depending on your oven, you may have to roast them a little longer. My suggestion is to roast in increments of 4 to 5 minutes after the additional 20, stirring the seeds and checking for done-ness each time.

Step 6: Eat ’em! Yes, the part you’ve been waiting for! Let the seeds cool for 5 to 10 minutes, and then — dig in & enjoy :)

I legitimately have nothing more to say than you must try these. Seriously. Find the biggest pumpkin you can and then hoard all 6473210128 roasted seeds for yourself.