Cajun Smoked Pumpkin Seeds {60 Minutes}

Cajun Smoked Pumpkin Seeds are the most addicting snack to enjoy out on the deck, while hiking or giving out Halloween treats. You won’t be able to eat just a couple, they are that good. 

Taking an old classic recipe and putting a spin on it is always something we love to do. We typically roast our pumpkin seeds in the oven with just salt and garlic powder. This year we took the seeds outside to smoke them on the grill, which led to a deeper and slightly smoky flavor that might just be our new favorite way to prepare them. 

🍽️ Why This Recipe Works 

Quick – Sometimes we want to whip something out on the grill without it being terribly involved like a lengthy marinade or a full meal. Grillers do this because we love playing with different flavors out on the grill and this one is fun and fast! 

Minimal Ingredients – This is just the pumpkin seeds, butter and cajun (or any other seasoning you like) in a disposable aluminum pan. That’s it. 

Cheap – You already had the pumpkin from the holiday, so you most likely only need a littles seasoning and some butter. You can almost say it is “free,” but I hate to do that given you are using a little butter. This offsets those ribeye weekends a bit, right? 

🎃 Ingredients

Pumpkin Seeds – Use the pumpkin seeds from the one that your family carved for Halloween. You can also just go buy one, just to get the seeds out. You are looking for the raw seeds from a pumpkin, not the pumpkin seeds you see at the store to add to salads. 

Note: If you do go out to buy one, try to get a Long Island Cheese Pumpkin or a small Baking Pumpkin.  You don’t want to throw away the flesh!  You can smoke it, freeze and keep it year round for pies or other meals.  Learn how to smoke a pumpkin.

Cajun Seasoning – We chose cajun this time, but you can go old school with the garlic powder or any other seasoning you want to play with. This is a great time to look in the spice cabinet and pull out something you purchased but just haven’t used yet. 

🔥 Instructions 

Step One: Remove the seeds from the pumpkin and wash them off under cold water. Remove any excess pumpkin pulp and dry off. Keep washing until you have removed all of the orange pulp.  Be patient.  You’ll love the end result if you take your time here.  We like to allow them to dry overnight but you don’t have to. 

Step Two: Set the grill to smoke at 325 degrees. This is a hot-smoking recipe.  We used a piece of Peach wood as it is mild and leaves a phenomenal flavor. 

Step Three: Place the seeds in a bowl and toss with melted butter butter and Cajun seasoning. Make sure they are well coated.

Step Four: Place the coated seeds in a disposable pan and smoke them for 45-60 minutes. Stir every 15 minutes to avoid burning. Remove them from the smoker and allow them to cool. Store in an airtight container. In a pinch, use a Ziploc bag.

‼️ Expert Tips 

Keep your eye on the seeds as they are smoking as you don’t want them to burn. This is a hot smoke recipe and the seeds will definitely burn if you aren’t careful.

Stirring them every 10-15 minutes helps a lot! Stay closer to them the last 15 minutes or so as they can go from “almost done” to “burnt” in a skinny minute. 

If you don’t dry the seeds out overnight (which you don’t have to), you may have to smoke them a little longer as they are still wet. 

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