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. 
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! We really liked the seasoning on these better than any we’d had before. Our family loves garlic salt, but if your family doesn’t, you can definitely just use regular salt. These are a healthy, nutritious snack that I can feel good about everyone snacking on!
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil or oil of your choice
- 1 cup pumpkin seeds (washed and patted dry)
- 1 tsp. garlic salt
- 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!
Molly says
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 says
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! 😉
Molly says
Well, now I don’t think we will since none of the stores are selling pumpkins anymore! We blew all our creative energy on our piñata this year. 🙂 Next year!
Brooke Frazier says
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 says
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!
Amanda says
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!
Wendy says
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 🙂