How to cook pumpkin seeds

By Catalogs Editorial Staff

Turn your leftover pumpkins seeds into a healthy and tasty snack.

Every year at Halloween hundreds of kids reach inside pumpkins and scoop out the guts, the stringy pulp and seeds. Usually this mess gets tossed into the trash. When I was a pint-sized pumpkin carver, I remember my mom patiently rinsing those seeds and cooking them until they were salty, crispy and great for snacking. If you would like to know how to cook pumpkin seeds the next time you have pumpkin guts on your hands, here are a couple of techniques.

How to cook pumpkin seeds

No matter which recipe you use to add the spices to your pumpkin seeds, you should begin with these simple steps.

First boil your seeds in salted water. You’ll need about one cup of water and one tablespoon of salt for every quarter cup of pumpkin seeds. Bring the salt water and seeds to a boil and simmer for at least 10 minutes. This will give your seeds a nice crunch when you bake them and will also evenly distribute the salty flavor.

If you want to try just basic pumpkin seeds, then the only other ingredient you will need is olive oil. Spread about one tablespoon of oil over the bottom of a cookie sheet and then spread your pumpkin seeds out in one layer on top of the oil. Bake them on the top rack in a 400-degree oven for about 15 to 20 minutes, until they begin to look brown and crisp. Let them cool and then enjoy!

Variations

Now comes the fun part. You can spice up your pumpkin seeds in as many ways as your imagination will allow. First follow the instructions above and boil the seeds in salted water. Then before you bake them, toss the seeds in a mixture of egg white and your spices of choice.

For sweet seeds try tossing them in a mixture of egg white, cinnamon and sugar. For sweet and spicy try sugar and cayenne pepper. For spicy try curry, garlic salt, cayenne or a seasoned salt mix like what is used for seasoned French fries.

Drain the excess egg white from the seeds and then spread them onto an oiled baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees until browned, which is about 20 minutes or so.

When pumpkin carving season is again upon us, try one of these methods for turning your pumpkin seeds into a tasty, crunchy snack.