Smoked Pumpkin Seeds: Recipe for the Healthiest Snack

Pumpkin owes most of its popularity to the Halloween culture. But that’s not to say it doesn’t have other uses. In fact, pumpkin is also a star ingredient in the kitchen. It is often used in the preparation of different savory delicacies. So while Halloween is synonymous with pumpkin carvings, you can still make some excellent use of your gutted pumpkin Trusted Source Don't toss it! 14 delicious uses for Halloween pumpkins. - GrowJourney Don’t let your Halloween pumpkin go to the landfill! Here are 14 uses for Halloween pumpkins that will put delicious food on your kitchen table. www.growjourney.com . With some oil and salt, you can prepare a fun and healthy snack with your pumpkin seeds instead of throwing them out. This article will explain the ingredients you’ll need to do this and the process to follow.

 Tools and ingredients you’ll need

Preparing a smoked pumpkin snack is as easy as it gets. Also pumpkin seeds are incredibly healthy Trusted Source 6 health benefits of pumpkin seeds - BBC Good Food Nutritional therapist Nicola Shubrook explains why pumpkin seeds are good for you. She discusses their nutrient value, and the key benefits that make them so healthy. www.bbcgoodfood.com , so it would be great to add them into your nutrition. As a general recommendation, you should use raw seeds scrapped directly out of fresh pumpkin instead of seeds picked up at a store. Pumpkin seeds from the store are already roasted, so they don’t really count. Other ingredients you will need include oil and seasonings like salt, pepper, and paprika.

You can use seeds from either pie pumpkins or jack-o’-lantern pumpkins for this recipe. Either of these will work, but there are major differences in how they taste. The seeds from the pie pumpkin are slightly smaller and not as fibrous as the jack-o’-lantern pumpkins. This makes them slightly tenderer and easier to chew. If you’re using jack-o’-lantern pumpkins, you can cook them for a few minutes more than the recommended time to make them a bit crispier.

The major tool you will need for this recipe is a grill smoker. You can also use a regular oven if a smoker is not available. We have collected some useful tips for beginners how to cook on a smoker.

Smoked Pumpkin Seeds - Recipe

To get started with cooking, you need to get your pumpkin seeds out first. You can use a spoon to scoop the pumpkin gut. But if you don’t mind getting your hands dirty, you can scoop it out with your hands as well. One of the good things about this recipe is how simple it is. You don’t need many ingredients to roast the seeds, and the process is straightforward. The hardest part of the whole process is the first-which is cleaning the seeds.

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Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Course Snack

Servings 1 cup

Calories 194 kcal

Equipment

• Grill smoker or regular oven

Ingredients

  

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• 1 cup clean and dried pumpkin seeds
• 1-2 tsp oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp paprica

Instructions

 

• Separate the seeds from the gut; the seeds should pop out of the innards.
  
• Transfer them into a strainer; it will take a bit of time, but it makes rinsing the goo of the seeds easier.
  
• Wash them under a stream of water to make the seeds as sparkling as you can get them.
  
• Dry the seeds on a paper towel, then spread them out on a baking sheet. The seeds should be covered with heavy-duty aluminum foil or parchment paper. 
  
• Season them: firslly, drizzle some oil (olive oil or avocado oil) on the seeds, then rub them with all the ingredients.
  
• Roast the seeds on the pellet grill until you notice them starting to brown. The sugar on the seeds should also start caramelizing. Be sure to monitor the seeds as they roast to keep them from burning.

  In case thinking of ways to improve your smoked dishes, we have selected some of the best smokers and accessories for them.
  
• Leave them to cool for a while on a wire mesh before serving or packing. They can be stored for about 4 days at room temperature or up to 8 days in a refregerator, also you can freeze them for some weeks.
  

Nutrition

Calories: 194kcal

Additional pumpkin seeds recipes

You can vary this particular recipe by making it spicier, adding more sugar to make it caramelize more, or introducing additional ingredients like Cajun powder, bacon, or garlic powder. Other delicacies you can make with pumpkin seeds include:

• Smoked bacon pumpkin seeds

• Pumpkin seed cookies

Final thoughts

The simplicity of this recipe is what makes it quite special. It takes just a few minutes to get it ready and you don’t need a marinade or any other fancy ingredients. This smoky pumpkin seed recipe is a sweet, smoky, and savory snack you are sure to enjoy. If you can and keep your hands out of the jar long enough, it should last for about a week on the shelf.

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