I know there are recipes all over the internet for roasting pumpkin seeds, but I wanted to post mine just so I can always have it to refer back to! Hopefully you’ll all enjoy these easy roasted pumpkin seeds too!
Yesterday we made a quick trip to a little stand where we could pick out huge pumpkins for super cheap. Several neighbors had recommended the place, and I’m so glad they did.
It was the perfect place to let the kids pick out great pumpkins without it costing us an arm and a leg with cow trains, hayrides, snacks and mazes! My boys each picked huge pumpkins that would be plenty big for carving their chosen designs and they only cost $4 each! Before we even left, my boys were already talking about how they wanted me to make roasted pumpkin seeds with the seeds from their pumpkins!
My oldest was super excited to carve his pumpkin with a Star Wars design. Last year, after Halloween, I picked up a Star Wars Pumpkin Carving Kit from Amazon. Hubby said the tools in it were really helpful and the designs were great. The designs are pretty complicated, so probably best suited for teens or if parents are planning to help out a lot. My 9 year-old was able to help with it quite a bit, but definitely couldn’t have done it alone. I’m sure my boys will be doing designs from the book for several more years.
Are pumpkin seeds gluten-free?
YES! Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. Pumpkin seeds are gluten-free. Buying already made roasted pumpkin seeds, you just need to check the ingredients to make sure no gluten-ingredients have been added, or are made on shared equipment causing cross contamination. I prefer making pumpkin seeds at home so I know exactly what’s on them!
How to Bake Pumpkin Seeds:
- Line a jelly roll pan with aluminum foil for easy clean-up. Spray the foil lightly with cooking spray.
- Wash all the goop off your pumpkin seeds and pat to get mostly dry. Then add them to a ziploc bag with olive oil.
- Seal the bag and shake the bag to coat all the seeds with oil.
- Open the bag and add garlic salt. Seal the bag and use your hands to move contents around to coat with the garlic salt.
- Spread into a single layer on the lined baking pan. Then bake for about 30 minutes, removing from oven several times to mix the seeds around so they’ll bake evenly to a golden brown.
- Allow the toasted pumpkin seeds to cool before eating!
We really liked the seasoning on these better than any we’d had before. The secret: garlic salt! Our family loves garlic salt, but if your family doesn’t, you can definitely just use regular salt or sea salt. Onion salt would also taste similar to the garlic salt I used.
These are a healthy, nutritious snack that I can feel good about everyone snacking on! Looking for some other gluten-free snacks? Make my gluten-free granola recipe – it’s great plain or sprinkled over yogurt for a snack. Another fun fall snack to eat is apple nachos.
Best Pumpkin Seed Recipe:
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds {Gluten-free}
This recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds is based on 1 cup of pumpkin seeds. Just multiply it for however many cups of seeds you have from your pumpkins. You might need to use more than one pan if you have a lot!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil or oil of your choice
- 1 cup pumpkin seeds (washed and patted dry)
- 1 tsp. garlic salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°.
- Line a baking sheet or jelly roll pan with aluminum foil (this makes for easy clean-up). Spray foil lightly with cooking spray.
- In a Ziploc bag, put the oil and pumpkin seeds. Seal and use your hands to squish the seeds around to coat them completely with the oil.
- Open the bag and add the garlic salt.
- Seal the bag and use your hands to squish the seeds around to coat them with the garlic salt.
- Open the bag and pour out the seeds onto baking pan. Gently spread them out in a mostly single layer.
- Bake at 325° for 10 minutes. Use a spatula to turn/mix.
- Return to oven for 10 minutes. Use a spatula to turn/mix again.
- Return to oven for 5-10 minutes, watching closely, until done. You can eat a slightly cooled seed to make sure you don't overbake them.
- Total baking time is 25-35 minutes. I baked mine for 32 minutes, but wish I'd pulled them out just a couple minutes sooner this time.
- Baking time will vary if making a huge batch or if your seeds are very large.
- Allow to cool and enjoy!
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I hope you and your family enjoy these gluten-free pumpkin seeds as much as my family does!
Wendy
Friday 15th of November 2013
We are nut free, for the most part, so I am always buying pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and so on. I've never tried making my own, now I can. Thanks for sharing this recipe :)
Amanda
Wednesday 13th of November 2013
I saw this when I came for your lemon chicken recipe just minutes after I cut up a pumpkin (my kids have been asking for pumpkin pie ever since I bought a pie pumpkin from the farmers market). This will make a great mid-morning snack for my family, yum!
Brooke Frazier
Tuesday 29th of October 2013
Great recipe for any pumpkin seed lover!!! They turned out AMAZING...first try:) I used parchment paper (I have an obsession:) instead of aluminum foil, but that is the ONLY thing I did different.
Michelle Palin ~ My Gluten-free Kitchen
Wednesday 6th of November 2013
Parchment paper is almost always a good choice! Good to know it worked here. I use it a ton as well! Thanks for the comment and rating Brooke!
Molly
Monday 28th of October 2013
I love your photo! So cute! We roasted some delicata squash seeds last week and found they were just as good as the pumpkin seeds we remember making as kids, which is great because (unfortunately) I'm not sure I see any jack-o-lantern carving in our near future.
Michelle Palin ~ My Gluten-free Kitchen
Monday 28th of October 2013
Thanks Molly! I haven't roasted any squash seeds before - that's a great idea! You should totally carve a jack-o-lantern! Why not! ;)