An easy and delicious snack that’s as simple as roasting the seeds from any type of squash with cinnamon sugar and cayenne pepper.
Release the gourds!
Apologies for my lame seasonal joke on the abundance of pumpkin and squash recipes circling the blogosphere these days.
Which is awesome because it’s not August it’s obviously the appropriate time of year.
Which brings us to roasting seeds beyond the traditional pumpkin seeds.
I mean, it makes sense that you can roast butternut squash, spaghetti squash and acorn squash seeds, too, right? But why I haven’t done so until this year is a mystery.
How to Roast #Squash Seeds + recipe for Sugar + Spice Butternut Squash Seeds @tspbasil Click To TweetSerena wrote a fab post last year called How to Cook Pumpkin Seeds in 15 minutes which has tons of tips that can also apply to other squash and gourd seeds.
The one difference? Squash seeds tend to be smaller than pumpkin so they don’t take as long to cook (and I like to roast them at a lower temperature – 375 degrees F vs. 400.)
So, after whipping up this Butternut Squash Fettuccine Alfredo last week, I set out to roast the seeds and came up with this super easy sugar and spice mix. (Note: about 1 medium butternut squash or 2 small spaghetti squash = 1/2 cup of seeds.)
PrintHow to Roast Squash Seeds + Sugar and Spice Butternut Squash Seeds
An easy and delicious snack that’s as simple as roasting the seeds from any type of squash with cinnamon sugar and cayenne pepper.
- Yield: 1/2 cup. 1x
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butternut squash, spaghetti squash or acorn squash seeds
- 1 teaspoon canola oil
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Coat baking pan with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, mix together oil, sugar, cinnamon and cayenne pepper. Add the seeds and toss well. Evenly spread seeds out on tray.
- Roast for about 15 – 20 minutes, stirring a few times (keep a close eye on them as they can burn quickly.)
- Cool and serve.
I could not stop eating these babies once they came out of the oven (so much for sprinkling them over a salad or soup.)
Guess I need to make another batch – good thing these gourds will be in season for awhile now.
Do you ever roast pumpkin seeds or any kind of squash seeds? How do you like to season them?
Lynette
Wednesday 20th of November 2019
Oh goodness, so delicious! I didn't clean my acorn squash seeds very well before making your recipe, so I got this gooey delicious clump of sticky seeds. Love it!
Serena Ball, MS, RD
Thursday 21st of November 2019
We like the gooey bits sticking to the seeds too, Lynette. We think they taste like fruit leather! Thanks for visiting!
Sandra Bleest
Wednesday 20th of March 2019
This looks like the ideal snack for friends night. Cant wait to make this and probably will go ALL in with the cayenne pepper yumm!
Thank you for sharing!
Serena Ball
Friday 22nd of March 2019
ALL cayenne is one yummy way to go Sandra. Thanks for commenting!
Andy Bishop
Friday 26th of October 2018
I didn't know one could eat butternut seeds. I might try making this over the weekend. Thanks for sharing this!
Deanna Segrave-Daly
Saturday 27th of October 2018
Yep! Let me know if you try them!
Barb
Monday 15th of October 2018
Serena and Deanna,
Is your upcoming Mediterranean diet cookbook suitable for someone with heart failure? In other words, are the recipes low sodium/heart healthy, etc.? (Not necessarily looking for low fat, by the way, just more low sodium.)
Thanks.
Deanna Segrave-Daly
Monday 15th of October 2018
Hi Barb - Great question! We do tend to limit the use of high sodium ingredients in our recipes and overall, the recipes in our book are heart-healthy as they follow the general food guidelines of the heart-healthy Mediterranean lifestyle. That said, the recipes are not strict low sodium recipes - we do indicate we like to look for lower sodium beans, canned tomatoes etc so you could definitely make those adjustments with the recipes. Hope this helps! Deanna
Karen W.
Monday 26th of October 2015
I just made some seeds from a butternut squash. It was my first time making butternut squash and roasting seeds of any kind. I put a little garlic infused olive oil and course salt and black pepper, tossed the seeds to coat then placed them on a parchment lined mini-baking sheet. I baked them @ 375 for about 15 minutes, stirring them half way. My husband loved both the butternut squash which, for him, I topped with elk chili. I was happy with just a bowl of squash in all of it's own glory! I had to stop my husband from eating all of the seeds; I was going to take some to work with me and they were almost gone!!! Thank you for the tips on how to roast them! They were delish~
Deanna Segrave-Daly
Tuesday 27th of October 2015
Hey Karen - thanks so much for taking the time to share! Great to hear that your first time cooking butternut squash was a hit with both you and your husband and I'm so glad to hear our roasting tips came in handy. We love hearing from our readers - hoping you get to enjoy butternut squash often this fall/winter :)