Air Fryer Pumpkin Seeds are perfectly crunchy, lightly chewy, and absolutely irresistible. These roasted pumpkin seeds are easy to make in the air fryer and can be seasoned in so many ways!
Pumpkins are an excellent fruit with which you make a variety of sweet and savory recipes. It is also amazing that you can use almost all parts of a pumpkin. I often make pumpkin puree in the Instant Pot, which can be used in so many ways and can be frozen, too. You can also roast pumpkin in the air fryer.
When carving pumpkins or making pumpkin puree, please don’t throw away the seeds; when crisped, they make an excellent snack. Crunchy roasted pumpkin seeds are delicious when generously seasoned with salt, pepper, or your choice of other seasonings.
Pumpkin seeds are also known as pepitas in Spanish. This air fryer recipe is the best way to roast pumpkin seeds, and it takes so little time to get the perfect crisped texture. Usually, I roast them with their shells intact, as I don’t want to go to the trouble of removing them.
We love to use Trader Joe’s Chili Lime seasoning to add an extra kick to the pumpkin seeds.
Table of Contents
Watch How to Make Air Fryer Pumpkin Seeds
How to Clean Pumpkin Seeds?
While roasted pumpkin seeds are crunchy and delicious, preparing them for roasting can be tedious. But trust me, it is totally worth it. Separating the pumpkin seeds is not my favorite part, but it has to be done. So here is how I do it:
- When you carve the pumpkin, remove all the seeds. Separate the pulp from the seeds as much as you can.
- Then put the seeds in a colander and rinse them well under running water to remove any remaining pulp.
- If you find this process a bit difficult, you can also boil the seeds for 10 minutes in salted water. It will help remove the pulp and thoroughly clean the seeds.
- After you have separated the pulp, rinse the seeds once more, then lay them out on a paper towel or a clean kitchen towel to dry for 30 minutes. Press gently to remove any excess water.
The outer white shell contains oval, green seeds; you can remove them if you want. I usually don’t, as I lack the patience, so I roast them with their shell on.
How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds in the Air Fryer?
I use the air fryer to roast them because it’s much more convenient than the oven. I typically don’t preheat the air fryer.
- Before you roast the pumpkin seeds, make sure they are completely dry.
- In a large bowl, take the dried pumpkin seeds. Add some melted ghee/butter along with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Mix well till all the seeds are well coated with seasonings.
- Spread them evenly onto the fryer basket.
- Cook at 360°F for 10-15 minutes, shaking the basket halfway through for even roasting.
- After they are done, take them out and check whether they are crisp to your liking. If not, air fry them for an additional 3-5 minutes.
- Let them cool and adjust the seasoning to your taste, and enjoy the snack.
Tips to make Perfect Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
- I tried both boiling and not boiling the pumpkin seeds before roasting. I didn’t find a difference in taste.
- If you are making a larger quantity, roast it in batches to ensure even roasting.
- You can use Trader Joe’s Chili Lime seasoning or smoked paprika for an extra spice kick.
- These work perfectly for topping salads, too!
Make this nutritious snack in your air fryer, and enjoy anytime!
Air Fryer Pumpkin Seeds
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup Pumpkin seeds
- 1 teaspoon Ghee or Butter, you can also use olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon Garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1/8 teaspoon Black Pepper
Instructions
Cleaning the pumpkin seeds
- Remove all the seeds from the pumpkin. Separate the pulp from the seeds as much as you can.
- Then put the seeds in a colander and rinse them under running water to remove any remaining pieces of pulp.
- Optionally, you can also boil the seeds for 10 minutes in salted water. It will help remove the pulp.
- Lay the seeds out on a paper towel or clean kitchen towel to dry for 30 minutes. Press with paper towels to remove any extra water.
Roasting the seeds
- Before you roast the pumpkin seeds, make sure that they are completely dry.
- Transfer the dried pumpkin seeds to a bowl. Add melted ghee/butter along with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Mix well till all the seeds are well coated with the seasonings.
- Spread the seeds evenly in the fryer basket. Cook at 360°F for 10-15 minutes. Shake the basket halfway through for even roasting.
- After they are done, take them out and check whether they are crisp to your liking. If not, air fry them for an additional 3-5 minutes.
- Let them cool, adjust the seasoning to your taste, and enjoy the snack.
I ran a big batch in my air fryer’s dehydration mode for 2 hours and dried them very well so they will keep well. When cleaning the pulp rinsing in the colander helped a lot! Used some Chili Verde seasoning and avacado oil and I found if they are truly dry about 8 minutes is enough. 4, shake 4.
The instructions were so detailed! This was my first time trying pumpkin seeds, and they came out amazing! My dad especially loved them. Thank you so much for sharing!
Hi – That’s fantastic! I’m so glad your first attempt was a hit. 🙂
The instructions were perfect! I followed different instructions last year and burned the seeds. This year they all came out perfect and tasted amazing! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Sandra – So glad the instructions worked well for you! Perfectly roasted seeds are the best—enjoy! 😊
followed the recipe to the letter. After thoroughly washing the seeds in a small colander, I quickly dried them in the microwave for 15 seconds. After that, they were placed on a bottom tray in an air fryer set to Bake, while the butternut squash baked above them. For 15 minutes, the seeds were cooked to perfection.
I decided to try this recipe out since I bought an air fryer finally. I boiled the seeds in salt water first since my sister had done that with her seeds and I thought they were delicious and not as hard to chew as others had. My seeds took ten minutes longer than your recipe says, maybe because they were damper from the boiling.
In your blog before the recipe, you say that one of the benefits of pumpkin seeds is that they bring down blood levels. I believe you meant that they bring down blood pressure levels. Otherwise, I’ll have to avoid them since I can get anemic easily.
Hi Liz – Thank you for sharing the method you used, and for your feedback on the benefits. I have updated the wording to clarify 🙂
Prepped my seeds and shook them in a bag with 1 tbsp vegetable oil. Added 1/4 tsp of mixed salt and pepper, plus 1/2 tsp paprika.
Roast ( no preheating) on 180C for 15 minutes, stirring a couple of times.
Lovely!
Thanks for sharing! Glad you enjoyed the roasted pumpkin seeds.
Used exact recipe. I washed seeds in a small colander, shook well, then put in microwave for 15 secs to quick dry. Then popped in air fryer at Bake setting on a bottom tray while the butternut squash were baking above them. Seeds were baked to perfection for 15 min. Awesome flavored seeds to top the squash soup!!
I did two seasonings, one I used a packet of dry Ranch mix, the other I used Buffalo Wild Wings salt n Vinegar seasoning. Both came out amazing. I’ve always baked mine, the air fryer method is WAY better!
Hi Samantha – So glad you enjoyed the roasted pumpkin seeds. Thanks for sharing back!
For different flavours do we just switch out the garlic for something…for example curry power or poultry seasoning… I would imagine the s and p would need to stay the same.
Yes, that’s right. Make sure the other seasonings don’t have added salt. You can check the spice level of the other seasonings before adding pepper too. Hope you enjoy it!
This was perfect! I added a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. This makes it better than the oven. 10 minutes was perfect. I had previously soaked in a salt brine for a day.
Hi Teresa – So glad to hear that. Thank you for sharing back 🙂
hi! do you eat them whole, under they are roasted, seasoned, or try to take the inside out?
sorry, maybe a silly question.
Hi Helen – Not a silly question at all. We do eat them roasted without taking the inside out. It is too much effort to take out the inside and they are tasty and nutritious as is too 🙂
I substituted bacon fat and the taste was yummy 🤗
Hi Judy – So good to hear that. Thank you for sharing your experience 🙂
They are delicious and I am definitely going to use this recipe again, but your nutrition facts are way off. 1/4 cup of seeds is probably 301 calories.
Hello Holly – Glad to enjoyed the roasted pumpkin seeds. When I check on few other nutrition data sites, 1 cup pumpkin seeds have 285 calories. According to that, the specified calories per 1/4 cup seem to be in line. That said, I use an automated nutrition data calculator, so please feel free to confirm with your preferred calculator.
What setting are these “cooked” on? Air fry, roast or bake?
Hi Meg – Most old air fryers just had one air fry setting (including my Philips air fryer). I have seen new air fryer models have multiple settings. I think that all of them do the same function of air frying, and have preset defaults for each button (I have seen this in the instant vortex air fryer). So I always end up using the Air Fry setting and set the temperature and time as needed.
Honestly have to say I love this!! Using Ghee was totally worth it. I’m pretty into trying new and different variations of pumpkins seeds (air fryer or not) around this time of year. I’ve been making small batches of different types and I have to say, by FAR, my favorite! This one will be a reoccurrence!
Hi Douglas – So good to hear that you enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing it 🙂
I was skeptical until I tried it.
Works great and quick in the air fryer.
I used olive oil instead of butter I imagine the results would be the same. Next time might try a little cinnamon instead of pepper
I just got an air fryer so I’m still trying to learn how to use it. I’ll have to try these for sure!