Recipe for Roasted Pepitas: Base Method, Yield and Variations

By What Are Pepitas Editorial Team · Updated 2026-09-14 · Part of Pepita Seed Recipes: Roasting, Seasoning and Sauce Guides

A reliable recipe for roasted pepitas comes down to three numbers: 200 g of raw hulled kernels, 9 g of neutral oil, and 325 degrees F for 16 to 18 minutes. Everything else is timing. Pepitas are small and dense, and they move from pale and nutty to acrid in well under two minutes once the oils inside the seed begin to darken. Working with a modest batch on one rimmed sheet pan gives you enough surface contact for even colour and enough headroom to shake the pan without sending seeds over the edge.

This is the base version. Once you can hit it consistently, the same method covers the spiced pepitas and salted pepitas variations below, and it feeds straight into the salsas, sauces and pestos in the pepita recipes collection. If you are starting from seeds you scooped out of a pumpkin yourself, hull them first with the method in how to make pepitas from pumpkin seeds, because an in-shell seed roasts on a completely different curve.

Ingredients, Weights and Yield

Weigh the seeds rather than measuring by cup. A cup of raw hulled pepitas can vary from 130 to 160 g depending on how tightly the kernels pack, and a 30 g swing is enough to change the roast time by 3 or 4 minutes. Use a neutral oil with a smoke point well above your oven temperature: sunflower, grapeseed or refined avocado oil all behave the same here. Stronger oils such as unrefined sesame or extra-virgin olive oil will taste sharp after 18 minutes of dry heat, so save those for drizzling after the roast.

Salt goes on after the pan leaves the oven, not before. Salt dissolved in the surface oil draws a little moisture outward and slows browning, and it also makes it harder to judge colour. Two grams of fine sea salt over a 200 g batch seasons evenly without making the seeds taste salty; if you are serving them alongside something already seasoned, drop to 1 g and taste after cooling.

Step-by-Step Method

Step 1: heat the oven to 325 degrees F with a rack in the centre position and give it a full 10 minutes to stabilise; an underheated oven is the most common reason for pale, chewy seeds. Step 2: spread the dry kernels on a kitchen towel and pick out any broken hull fragments or shrivelled dark pieces, which burn faster than the rest. Step 3: toss the 200 g of seeds with the 9 g of oil in a bowl until every kernel has a thin, even sheen, about 30 seconds of stirring with your fingers.

Step 4: tip the seeds onto a rimmed sheet pan and spread them into a single layer with no overlapping clusters; you should see bare metal between kernels. Step 5: roast for 8 minutes, then pull the rack out and shake the pan firmly so the seeds tumble rather than slide. Step 6: return the pan, rotate it 180 degrees front to back, and roast another 6 to 10 minutes, checking every 2 minutes after minute 14.

Step 7: pull the pan when the kernels are a light even gold and a few have started to pop and split; they will continue to colour for 60 to 90 seconds on the hot metal. Step 8: transfer immediately to a cold plate or bowl, scatter the salt over the top, and toss. Cooling on the sheet pan carries over too much heat and pushes the batch past the point you chose.

Three Variations, Storage and Nutrition

For chile-lime pepitas, toss the hot seeds with 2 g of fine salt, 3 g of ground ancho or New Mexico chile and the zest of one lime, then squeeze a few drops of lime juice over them once they are warm rather than hot. For a maple-cinnamon version, whisk 15 g of maple syrup into the oil before tossing and add 2 g of cinnamon in the last 3 minutes; the sugar sets into a thin shell as the batch cools. For a savoury herb version, crush 2 g of dried rosemary between your palms and toss it with the seeds at minute 13 so the herb toasts without turning bitter.

Store cooled pepitas in a sealed jar at room temperature for up to 2 weeks, in the refrigerator for up to 3 months, or in the freezer for up to 8 months in a flat, well-squeezed bag. They are high in oil, so if a batch smells like crayons or old paint it has oxidised and should be discarded. For in-shell seeds rather than hulled kernels, the timing and the target texture are different - see how to roast pumpkin seeds for that method, and compare the two seed forms in pepitas vs pumpkin seeds.

For make-ahead, roast a double batch on two pans and cool it completely before storing, since any warmth trapped in a sealed jar turns to condensation and softens the seeds within a day. A 400 g batch spread across two half-sheet pans takes about 4 minutes longer than a single 200 g batch, because the oven loses heat when you load two trays at once. Label the jar with the roast date and use the oldest batch first. Roasted seeds also go straight into cooking: stir 40 g into a pot of soup in the last 2 minutes, or grind 30 g to a coarse meal to thicken a sauce without flour.

• One 28 g serving: about 160 kcal and 8.5 g protein
• Same serving: about 13.9 g fat and 6 g carbohydrate
• Magnesium in 28 g: about 156 mg
• Room temperature jar: best within 14 days
• Freezer in a flat bag: usable for about 8 months
• Rancid smell (crayon, paint, cardboard) means discard

This page is part of the Pepita Seed Recipes: Roasting, Seasoning and Sauce Guides guide.