How to Cook With Pumpkin Seeds (Pepitas)

Pepitas, or pepitas de calabaza, are tiny green pumpkin seeds whose Spanish name means, quite literally, “little seed of squash.” Their origins date back five thousand years to modern Latin America, where they were cultivated alongside corn and beans. Today, they are a common ingredient in Mexican cuisine, incorporated in mole sauce and favored as a salty roasted snack. They have also gained in global popularity, packaged like almonds or cashews and available in stores from America to Greece year-round.

All pumpkin seeds are edible. Most carving pumpkins (e.g. jack-o-lanterns) and pie pumpkins (e.g. sugar pumpkins) feature seeds with large, white hulls. if you crack into these bigger seeds, you’ll find a kernel that resembles a pepita, but with less texture, flavor, and color. These pumpkin seeds are better consumed intact, whether raw, roasted, or incorporated into other recipes.

So where do those meaty, green pepitas you see in grocery stores come from? The answer is simple: there are certain varieties of hulless pumpkins that produce seeds without shells. These varieties include oilseed and naked seed pumpkins, and they tend to have thinner outer skins than the chunky orange varieties sold in stores. Depending on your climate, it is possible to grow these varieties at home and harvest pepitas fresh. For those who don’t have the time or space, shell-less pepitas are readily available at all major markets and online.

Like sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds boast a nutty flavor and a satisfying crunch, and are a rich source of health benefits. Each ounce is packed with nutrition, including ten grams of protein, three grams of fiber, and minerals like magnesium, zinc, and iron. They’re also high in vitamin E, an antioxidant which helps fight free radicals, toxins, and parasites within the body.

A single serving of pepitas contains about 170 calories, 110 of which are from fat. Though pepitas do pack around 13 grams of fat (20% of the daily recommended value), most of this comes from healthy unsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids (the beneficial type found in fish oil), rather than saturated fat.

To roast pumpkin seeds, start by tossing them with a small amount of oil, along with your preferred seasoning mix. The oil will help the spices adhere to the seeds. Spread your pepitas in a single layer on a lined baking sheet and roast at 300ºF for 45 minutes. The low temperature will prevent the pepitas from burning.

While raw pepitas make a healthy, vegan, and gluten-free snack on their own, roasting pumpkin seeds brings out even more of that rich, earthy flavor. From trail mix to salad dressing, muffins, and more, there are a number of creative ways to incorporate pepitas into every meal throughout the day.