Roast and Salt Your Own Sunflower Seeds

Okay, I am going to make a long story short. Sunflower seeds are a big thing in this house hold! So, when my mom bought raw because they were out of salted-roasted ones, we thought nothing of it! We figured it would be almost exactly like the salted-roasted ones, but we were wrong! BIG TIME! Raw sunflower seeds are chewy and very bland. When my dad told me to go ahead and salt them and roast them I thought " Okay, this can't be too hard". When I went to look up what temperature to set the oven at I saw you do not just toss them in the oven, and wait for them to be done. You actually boil them with the salt to infuse the salt flavor, then you roast them.  The best thing about this little mishap is the fact that we can add our own flavoring to them (ex: we did jalapeno salt). 

Roasted In-Shell Sunflower Seeds Recipe

• Prep time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 45 minutes
• Yield: Makes one cup of roasted sunflower seeds 

Ingredients

• 1 Cup raw in-shell sunflower seeds
• 1/4 Cup table salt
• 1 Quart water

 

 

1. Place sunflower seeds, salt, and water into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Drain the water from the seeds and spread the seeds out in a single layer in a sheet pan. Place in a 400°F oven on the top rack and roast for 10 to 15 minutes.  Starting at about 10 minutes. If they are not roasted yet to your satisfaction, return them to the oven for another 2 to 5 minutes.  Keep checking every few minutes until they are dry enough and roasted to your satisfaction. The seeds can quickly go from done (dry and easy to bite to open) to charred (browned on outside and black on the inside). So as the time gets closer, keep an eye on it.