Roasted Sunflower & Pumpkin Seeds

Easy, Tamari roasted Sunflower and Pumpkin Seeds. Salty, crunchy, and ridiculously moorish. They're so delicious they'll have the whole family coming back for more.

We love them as a snack on their own, they are also great on our Mexican Kale Salad.

This was inspired by my sons love of Marmite. I wanted to create a healthy snack for him that would save me spending way too much money on the tiny packs of Marmite coated Cashews that he loves getting whenever we go food shopping.
With these seeds I can make up a batch of them and take a small tub of them for him to snack on at the shop - or wherever!

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• How to Make Them
• Recipe Variations
• FAQ's
• Snack Ideas
• Recipe
• Comments

Ingredients

• Sunflower Seeds - A nutritional powerhouse, as with most seeds. They are particularly high in Vitamin E and Selenium, both of which support a healthy immune system by acting as antioxidants. You'll also notice a common theme with our ingredients.. we buy a lot of them in bulk. Sunflower seeds are no exception. We tend to buy most things by the kilo from health food shops as we find it to be the most cost affective way of buying them. If you don't have access to a health food store, you should still easily find Sunflower Seeds in your local Supermarket.
• Pumpkin Seeds - These are classed as a Superfood, and so they should be! They're a great source of plant based protein, omega 3 essential fatty acids, and fibre. They're also a highly concentrated form of vitamins and minerals, especially magnesium and zinc, two minerals fussy eaters are commonly deficient in.
  You don't always have to buy these; You can simply use the seeds from inside any winter squash you're cooking with. Aka Butternut or Pumpkin.
• Tamari - A handy ingredient to have in a Vegan kitchen is Tamari. It gets used a lot to help create the Umami flavour so many of us love, and it also contains much less salt than traditional Soy Sauce. If you aren't avoiding Gluten, you can simply opt for using regular Soy Sauce instead. Although I would recommend to stick to a low-sodium option if there is one available to you.

Equipment

• Mixing Bowl
• Baking Tray

How to Make Them

• Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir well to combine. This is a really easy recipe for the kids to help out with so get them involved if you can.

• Spread the seeds evenly over a lined large baking tray using a wooden spoon or your hands.

• Roast the Seeds in a pre-heated oven for 12-15 minutes, until fragrant and lightly browned.

Hint: Don't worry if some of the seeds have stuck together during roasting. Once they cool down they'll separate very easily.

Recipe Variations

A few flavour variations to try can help keep this snack interesting, as well as getting the kids used to different tastes.

• Spicy - add Chili Pepper Flakes to the bowl when mixing the seeds and Tamari. My 3 year old doesn't mind a bit of spice, so for him I'd add a teaspoon of Chilli Flakes to these. If you've got kids with a more sensitive tongue maybe a ¼ teaspoon will be enough.
• Smoky- add smoked Paprika and Garlic Powder. Start with a ½ teaspoon of each and see how you like those after roasting and adjust accordingly next time.
• Sweet and Salty - I haven't tried it myself but adding a tablespoon of maple syrup to the mix could work wonders. You could sweeten the sunflower seeds, whilst salting the Pumpkin (or visa versa), and mix them together after roasting kind of like Popcorn. If you try it please let me know how it turns out.
• Herby - Use fresh or fried Rosemary and Thyme, along with a little garlic powder. I wouldn't advise using fresh garlic here as it'll add to much moisture to the seeds when roasting.

FAQ's

Snack Ideas

Here are a few of our other Delicious Snack ideas that you might like to try.

Recipe