Sriracha Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Home for Thanksgiving…three beautiful words. I hope everyone had a deliciously long weekend and ate way too much food! In honor of the Great American Pumpkin I wanted my first entry in the Hot Kiss Food Blog to showcase this tasty snack I shared with my table. Roasted pumpkin seeds was always a lovely seasonal snack my Mom and I would make together in the fall, usually using the seeds from our Halloween pumpkins…and that’s exactly what I did myself this year – with a special ingredient! I’m sure a pumpkin meant for pies, such as a Sugar Pumpkin or Jarrahdale, might have better tasting seeds, but as I used a canned purée for my pie this year I opted to use the seeds I saved from a regular old Halloween carving pumpkin. The seeds roasted with the hot sriracha salt turned out to be a favorite (and quite addicting!) party snack for everyone and I hope it’s something you can enjoy as well.

After the initial work of carving the pumpkin and separating the seeds from the stringy pulp, I rinsed my seeds in a colander under cold running water to help remove any leftover strings attached. It’s not super important to get all the goop off, as the little strings tend to disappear after roasting anyway. Just try to get as much off as possible, as larger pieces will prevent the seeds from crisping. I also laid out my pumpkin seeds on a towel to dry as much as possible before laying out on a baking sheet. I preheated my oven to 300 degrees as they dried.

Next I prepared my baking sheet. I’ve found over the years that a lightly oiled layer of tin foil on top of a metal baking sheet just makes a WORLD of difference for cleanup. Pouring about a tablespoon of vegetable or canola oil (or oil of your preference) and spreading evenly with a brush or your fingertips prevents the seeds from sticking and also helps the seeds cook just a bit faster.

After the seeds had dried somewhat I poured them out onto the baking sheet, spreading them out evenly and coating them in a little of the oil. To season, I sprinkled on some Shades of Death Ghost Pepper Salt. I’m always a little wary using this salt since it’s very spicy to me, but I wanted these seeds to have some kick! I made sure I covered every seed in the salt and they came out perfectly for me. In future I’d like to try mixing the oil, salt and seeds in a bowl for more even distribution but the salt shake has worked fine for me.

I baked the seeds at 300 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring them up occasionally with a spatula. In order to get them really toasty I raised the temp to 400 degrees for the next 45 minutes, stirring them up once to get a more even brown. The result was one of the most delicious batches of pumpkin seeds I’ve ever had! The sriracha flavor really added a wonderful taste to an already-delicious snack, and the heat really elevated it. I ate quite a few before my guests even showed up and had to make a conscious effort to share, they were that good!! Hopefully this post will help you to create this addicting treat that’s definitely worth sharing — or not!

Stay Spicy