Air fryer pumpkin seeds (Easy & delicious!)

Salty, crunchy roasted pumpkin seeds are ridiculously good.

And while they can be roasted in the oven, what’s even better is cooking them in the air fryer.

Air fryer pumpkin seeds cook in less time. And they get perfectly crunchy on the outside for even better snacking.

Perfect for Halloween jack-o-lantern carving, or anytime that you’re cooking everyone’s favorite orange squash.

They’re ready to eat in just 30 minutes.

(Plus, it’s not just for pumpkins! You can roast the seeds of any winter squash in the air fryer with terrific success.)

In this post:

Pumpkin seeds: Pull these out of a carving pumpkin or sugar pumpkin.

Water + Salt: Boiling pumpkin seeds in salted water helps to infuse them with flavor & improve texture.

Avocado oil: Avocado oil works well with high heat. Or you can use your preferred neutral-flavored oil.

Seasoning salt: I like to use Cajun seasoning salt for a kick of heat.

But feel free to use the seasoning salt of your choice. Even just plain salt works!

Here’s how to make this recipe at a glance. For complete ingredient amounts & instructions, keep scrolling to the recipe card below.

Remove seeds from a pumpkin.

Pull away as much pumpkin flesh and pulp from the seeds as possible.

Put seeds in a bowl of water. Swish them around, and discard any pulp that rises to the top.

Drain & rinse seeds in a fine mesh sieve to further clean the pumpkin seeds.

Transfer pumpkin seeds to a small pot. Cover with water & add a generous pinch of salt.

Gently boil for about 10 minutes.

Drain.

Put the drained pumpkin seeds into the air fryer basket.

(Some people dry the seeds first, but I don’t find it to be necessary. Hot air blowing in the air fryer will dry them plenty well. It’s the same reason I don’t dry air fried chickpeas.)

Tip the basket so that all of the seeds fall to one side. Drizzle with oil. Sprinkle with seasoning salt. Then shake the basket to evenly distribute the seeds across it in a single layer.

(If you’d prefer, you can oil & salt the seeds in a separate bowl before transferring to the air fryer basket.)

Air fry at 360 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes, stopping occasionally to shake the basket & check doneness.

Once they are perfectly toasted, move them to a bowl or container.

You can make this easy snack your own by varying the ingredients.

Vary the seasoning salt

You can really change up the flavors by varying the seasoning salts or spices.

Try any of the following:

• Garlic salt
• Onion salt (One of my favorite Trader Joe’s products!)
• Truffle salt
• Cajun seasoning salt
• Old Bay seasoning
• Lawry’s seasoning salt
• Smoked paprika
• Curry powder
• Chili powder
• Cinnamon sugar
• Plain salt

Vary the seeds

Replace the pumpkin seeds with another variety of squash.

I actually prefer the roasted seeds of smaller squash like delicata squash, acorn squash, spaghetti squash, or celebration squash.

The seeds are smaller & lighter, which makes for crispier, less dense snacking.

Just remember that they cook in less time than pumpkin seeds. About 5 minutes is usually enough.

Tips for doubling recipe

If you are carving several pumpkins, you might as well roast all of the seeds!

However, for best toasting, it’s best to air fry the seeds in batches of about 1 cup.

Overfilled baskets don’t toast as nicely.

Storage instructions

Store seeds in an airtight container at room temperature.

They will keep for about a week.

📖 Recipe

Air fryer pumpkin seeds

Author: Cadry Nelson

5 from 4 votes

Get perfectly crispy pumpkin seeds in the air fryer. Great for snacking!

(This recipe can be used for any winter squash of your choice. I especially love it with delicata squash! Just remember smaller seeds cook in less time.)

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 people

Course: Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine: American, Vegan

Keyword: air fryer recipe, roasted pumpkin seeds, toasted

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 cup pumpkin seeds or seeds from one medium-sized pumpkin
• ▢ Water for soaking & boiling
• ▢ Generous pinch of salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon avocado oil or other neutral-flavored oil
• ▢ Dash of seasoning salt

Instructions

• ▢
  Remove the seeds from a pumpkin. Pull away the pulp & discard.
• ▢
  Put the pumpkin seeds in a bowl with water. Swish them around to remove any lingering pulp. (If you like, you can soak the seeds up to a half hour, but it's not strictly necessary.) Then drain with a fine mesh sieve.
• ▢
  Cover the pumpkin seeds with water in a small to medium sized pot. Stir in a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a gentle boil, and cook for 10 minutes. Then drain.
• ▢
  Dump the seeds into the air fryer basket. Tip the basket, so that all of the seeds fall to one side. Drizzle with oil, toss to combine, sprinkle with salt, and then shake to evenly distribute the seeds across the basket.

  (If you'd prefer, you can oil & salt the seeds in a separate bowl before transferring to the basket.)
• ▢
  Air fry at 360 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Stop to shake half way through.

  (When stopping to shake the basket or test seeds for doneness, give the air fryer a chance to stop blowing air before opening. Otherwise the seeds may fly out.)

Notes

Seasoning salt options

You can use any seasoning salt you like. Cajun seasoning salt like Slap Ya Mama adds a nice kick of spice. Lawry’s, Old Bay, garlic salt, or onion salt are also popular options. For a sweet take, use cinnamon sugar.

Alternative squash options

You can use these same instructions on any winter squash. However, smaller squash also have smaller seeds. So they cook faster.

For smaller squash like acorn or delicata, seeds will likely roast in about 5 minutes. Check frequently until they reach your preferred level of doneness.

How to store leftovers

Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature. They’ll last about a week.

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Nutrition

Calories: 99kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 129mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 0.2g | Vitamin A: 3IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 1mg