Do you miss the days when everyone ate peanut butter – in sandwiches, in slices, in celery sticks – and no-one batted an eyelid?
Well, now you can return to those wonderful days – or at least a close approximation of them – with this amazing homemade pumpkin seed butter.
It’s buttery, it tastes a lot like peanut butter (only better), and it’s completely nut-free.
Oh yes, and it’s bright green!
It’s also super simple to make and has only one ingredient – pumpkin seeds (also known as pepitas).
Just throw a bunch of pumpkin seeds into your food processor and start grinding.
Pretty soon it will turn into meal, and then little kibbles like this.
And then bigger clumps like this.
After a while it may form a big lump that rattles around in your processor for a bit, and then it will collapse into wonderfully smooth pumpkin seed butter, like this.
So with this amazing pumpkin seed butter on hand, you’re suddenly equipped with a fabulous peanut butter substitute, that’s raw, delicious and totally nut-free.
Apparently, allergic reactions to pumpkin seeds are rare. So you can use pumpkin seed butter in all kinds of delicious dishes and share them around without worrying about adverse reactions.
And even better, pumpkin seed butter is also really good for you, in lots of ways.
In fact, pumpkin seeds:
- Are one of the best plant-food sources of iron
- Are a great source of zinc, magnesium and phosphorus
- Are rich in phyto-oestrogens
- May help to regulate insulin
- Contain 30% of really good-quality protein
- Are naturally high in tryptophan and glutamate, which can help to regulate moods
What a fantastic addition to any diet!
Ready to have a go at making some for yourself?
Simple Homemade Pumpkin Seed Butter
Ingredients
- 3 cups pumpkin seeds / pepitas (500g)
Method
- Process until smooth, stopping at regular intervals to make sure the pumpkins seed butter doesn't overheat.
- Store in jars in the fridge. Keeps for weeks.
Preparation
- Before: -
- During: 30 mins (with breaks as required)
- After: -
- Need: Food processor
Nutrition Information
Tips
- Warning: Making pumpkin seed butter – or any nut or seed butter – can be really hard on your food processor. I’ve read stories of people’s food processors burning out while trying to make nut butters. If your motor feels like it’s getting very hot while grinding your pumpkin seeds, turn it off and wander off and leave it for at least half an hour (preferably forget about it altogether). This will let the motor cool down, and it will also let your pumpkin seed butter cool down too, so it doesn’t overheat. You can also take regular short rests (5 minutes) during the process, to keep temperatures down. If you don’t think your food processor is up to the task then it’s probably best to skip this recipe and go buy some pumpkin seed butter for your local health food shop instead. You have been warned!
- If you have a good quality processor, like my Magimix processor or a Cuisinart processor, then they should handle the task easily. I still have to stop while I’m making pumpkin seed butter, but that’s to stop the butter from overheating, not because the processor can’t handle it (and also to scrape down the sides so everything gets fully processed). It generally takes less than 10 minutes to make pumpkin seed butter in my processor including stops, but give yourself as much time as you need so you don’t rush it and overheat anything, especially the first couple of times.
- To shorten the time it takes to make your pumpkin seed spread, try storing your pepitas in the freezer for a few hours, or overnight, and this will stop them becoming too hot too quickly. You may find that you only need to stop a couple of times, if at all, to let the pumpkin seed paste cool down.
- If you have a high-speed blender, like a Vitamix or a Blendtec, you can use it to make your nut and seed butters, but I’ve never done it this way because I’m concerned about overheating the butter. I might get around to trying it one day.
- I love my infrared thermometer while making pumpkin seed butter – in fact, it’s handy for all of the nut and seed butters we make in our processor. Having one allows you to quickly and easily check the temperature of your pumpkin seed butter as you go, to keep it under the 40°C – 45°C mark. It’s also really handy for making raw chocolate. I use mine all the time in the kitchen, and it even saves us on a regular basis from burning mouths on too-hot food. I can’t believe I didn’t get one sooner!
- The 3 cups / 500g of pumpkin seeds that I’ve specified here is just a good amount for my processor. Because the only ingredient is pumpkin seeds, you can increase or decrease it to your heart’s content, so long as it’s a good amount for your processor. Your processor needs to be able to pull the pumpkin seeds around easily, but also not get too clogged up or overheated. You could probably get away with as little as 2 cups, depending on the size of your processor, but you really can’t get it wrong. If in doubt, start with less.
- Don’t worry if your ground pumpkin seeds go through some weird stages while flying around in your processor. Sometimes it can form big lumps that rattle around horribly in your food processor, but I promise that they will always turn into smooth paste eventually. Just have courage, and stick with it!
- I don’t add salt to my pumpkin seed butter because I love the taste of it without it. That said, if you’re used to salty peanut butter, you might want to add a little to help your taste buds adjust. For 3 cups of pumpkin seeds, try 1/4 tsp salt, up to about 1/2 tsp of salt, to suit your tastes. You might find over time that you can add less and less as you get used to having less salt in your diet generally.
- If you do use salt in your pumpkin seed spread, just add it at the end, after you’ve already reached the “butter” stage, and give it a quick extra process to mix it through thoroughly. Apparently adding salt at the start can change how it processes, but I’ve never tried it, so I can’t speak from experience. But you’re only adding it for the taste anyway, so you’re best to leave it until the end so you can only add as much as you need.
- We store our raw pumpkin seed butter in old pepita butter jars, from when we used to buy our pumpkin seed butter from the shops. The main reason is that they’re already labelled, so they look pretty and it saves about 5 seconds writing a label for the jar. But you can store your pumpkin seed butter in whatever you like, so long as you’re willing to eat from it.
- We also store our pumpkin seed butter in the fridge. This keeps the oils in the pumpkin seed butter fresh, which makes sure your butter always tastes fantastic. And it’s still very spreadable too.
- Something I’ve noticed with making my own homemade pumpkin seed butter – and all of or own nut and seed butters – is that the oils don’t seem to separate out that quickly. That might be partly because they’re stored in the fridge, which makes the butter thicker and slows down the movement of the oils. We also tend to eat our pumpkin seed butter within a month or so (and sometimes faster), which I’m sure also helps. But even if you do get a layer of oil on top, you can just mix it in with a knife or spoon like you would with any nut butter you buy from the shops.
Variations
- You can make pumpkin seed butter with activated pumpkin seeds if you want to. I don’t generally activate my pumpkin seeds (soak them and then dehydrate them) before making pumpkin seed butter with them for two reasons. Firstly, I can’t be bothered. And secondly, it can reduce the amount of oil in the seeds, making it harder to make butter with them. If you do activate your pumpkin seeds before making them into pumpkin seed butter, you’ll probably need to add a little oil into the processor to help them process properly into butter. (Just use a mild-tasting, nut-free one.)
- You could also sprout your pepitas and then dry them before using them, and make a sprouted pumpkin seed spread if you like. Again, add a little oil if the paste is too dry.
- If you’re not concerned about keeping your pumpkin seed butter raw, you could also use roasted pumpkin seeds to make your spread. I’ve never tried this myself, but I expect that it would change the flavour a little, and that you may need to add a small amount of a neutral-flavoured oil if the pumpkin seed paste turns out too dry.
- You can use this method to make your own nut and seed butters from almost anything. We’ve done it with almonds, cashews and hazelnuts, and you could also try brazil nuts, macadamias and sunflower seeds. I’m sure any nut or seed would be worth a try, but just be aware that each one will behave slightly differently as it goes through the various stages before turning into butter. The possibilities are endless!
My inspiration
I didn’t even realise that you could make pumpkin seeds into pumpkin seed butter until I saw it at my local organic greengrocer, so I have her to thank for introducing me to this fantastic food.
After we’d eaten a large number of jars of this stuff, it occurred to me that we might be able to make our own raw pumpkin seed butter, just like we’d started doing with raw almond butter.
So we took courage in hand and gave it a go, and voila, we created our very own fabulously green pumpkin seed butter.
Just as delicious as the stuff from the shops, with just one ingredient and totally raw. So simple, so delicious and so green!
I hope you’ll give this pumpkin seed butter recipe a go, and discover for yourself just how tasty and versatile this ingredient can be.
Resources
If you’re interested in learning about allergies to pumpkin seeds (which are very rare apparently), you can read more here:
To learn more about the amazing health benefits of pumpkin seeds and pumpkin seed butter, check out these great articles:
- 9 Health Benefits of Pumpkin Seeds @ Mercola.com
- Pumpkin seeds @ World’s Healthiest Foods
- Pumpkin seeds nutrition facts @ nutrition-and-you.com
If you’re interested in learning more about the different types of nut and seed butters you can make, here’s a great introduction:
If you’d like to try making pumpkin seed butter in your high-speed blender, here’s a recipe for almond butter that you might be able to adapt:
And have a spectacular day!
28 comments
Jenny
Hi
Do you think you could use the pumpkin seed butter blend with water & maybe dates to make pumpkin seed milk ?
Nikki Stokes, Eating Vibrantly
Hi Jenny,
I’ve never tried it but I don’t see why not. I’ve done the same thing with almond butter to make almond milk, so it’s definitely worth a try! I’d love to know how it goes.
Lisa
This hit the spot! I haven’t been able to have any nut butter since I found out I had food allergies! This is awesome!
Nikki Stokes
Hi Lisa,
That’s so great to hear. Enjoy!
Lori
Can you make this with pumpkin seeds straight from the pumpkin? Grandson with multiple severe allergies and we have to be cautious about cross contamination from 11 other items. We just had to eliminate soy from his diet so now looking for a “ nut butter “ to be able to do his recipes with. He is allergic to all tree nuts and peanut sunflower and safflower.
Nikki Stokes
Hi Lori,
I’ve never actually tried using pumpkin seeds straight from the pumpkin, so I can’t say for sure.
At the very least they would definitely need to be dried first, and the variety of pumpkin would probably make a difference to the result as well.
This article on pepitas also suggests that only certain hull-less pumpkin seed varieties create true pepitas.
If you do decide to give it a try with your own pumpkin seeds straight from the pumpkin, I’d love to hear how it goes!
Kara Mathys @Wellnessgrit
This pumpkin seed butter is so Instagrammable and adorable! As you know I made it a short while ago and it was lovely! Thx for sharing!
Nikki
Hi Kara,
I’m so glad you’re enjoying it!
Pennie
I would like to make just about enough for a recipe for pumpkin seed bars. If you know, please let me know about how much pumpkin seed butter you get from 3 cups of pumpkin seeds.
Nikki
Hi Pennie,
3 cups of pumpkin seeds weighs 500g, which makes almost 500g of pumpkin seed butter.
And 500g of pumpkin seed butter is just under 2 cups worth.
So every cup of pumpkin seeds will make just under 2/3 of a cup of butter.
Hope that helps!
Kimberly
Do you think this raw pumpkin seed butter could be used topically for cosmetic purposes?
Nikki
Hi Kimberly,
I don’t see why not, although I’ve never used it myself.
Bindi
I don’t know what went wrong, but mine turned out as a dry paste (almost like the dry unmixed tahini) and my processor struggled with the pepitas. I had to rest it a couple of times. I’ve made a few nut butters/cheeses, including your raw almond and not had an issue (hoping my machine isn’t dying on me). Anyway, I’ve put the butter in the fridge and the processor to sleep for the night and I might give it another go in the morning. If it remains dry could you suggest adding anything? Or, maybe another recipe I could add my “butter” to so it’s not going to waste.
Merv
I just made some from raw pep it as. And same result, a dry heavy paste. I am going to add some olive oil to it to see what happens with consistency, and taste. My processor went through all the stages ok with regular breaks.
Nikki
Hi Merv,
Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
Perhaps there are different kinds of pepitas, or at least different oil contents, such that they don’t always turn into a smooth butter like mine did.
Hopefully adding some olive oil to your paste will give you a better end result.
Nikki
Hi Bindi,
I’m sorry to hear that you had trouble with your pumpkin seed butter. Do you know if your pepitas were raw or roasted, or perhaps activated, because that could change the oil balance?
I’ve only ever used raw pumpkin seeds for my pepita butter, and if it stays dry you could try adding some oil, preferably something neutral-tasting or nutty flavoured.
I haven’t done much else with my butter, although I did use it in my nut-free chocolate fudge recipe.
Here’s a couple of other recipes that might give you some ideas on how else you can use it if the butter doesn’t work out:
I’d love to know how it turns out for you.
Bridget
Do you think I could use sprouted pumpkin seeds for this? I have a large bag I need to use up. (Not sure if “sprouted” is the same as “activated”…?)
Nikki
Hi Bridget,
I don’t see why not. If your sprouted seeds are dried and not wet, then yes, they are the same as activated seeds.
The only thing I’ve found when using activated or sprouted seeds when making them into butter is that they can be a little drier than non-activated seeds, so you may find yourself needing to add a little oil back to them to make it into the right richness and consistency.
You could use any col-pressed organic oil whose flavour melds well with the pumpkin seed flavour. Let me know how it goes.
vagabrando
SO WONDERFUL! i just made some and its oh so delicious! Thank you so very much for posting this! ONe question though… can i leave it out on the counter instead of refrigerating it? is it safe? i usually keep my peanut butter out. Thank you again and happy seeding!
Nikki
Hi,
I’m so glad it turned out so well for you. It is really delicious isn’t it?
The main issue with leaving it out on the counter is that the oils may turn rancid and change the flavour of your butter, and make it not as healthy for you.
Honestly I’ve never left mine out on the bench, so I don’t know how long it would take. When I bought my first jar of pepita butter from my local organic greengrocer, it was just stored on the shelf, so I guess it’s possible that storing on the bench would be fine.
You could try leaving one jar in the fridge and one on the bench and see how long it takes before you notice any difference between them.
Let me know what you discover!
Katie
Thanks for sharing this great article! Pumpkin seed butter is new to me and I am shocked I haven’t been making it before now! Trader Joe’s carries a bag of raw pumpkin seeds, so I’m going to give it a go!! Thanks for the recipe and great tips!
Nikki
Hi Katie,
I’m so glad you’re discovering the joys of pumpkin seed butter. It really is AMAZING!
Susie
Just wanted to remind you that peanuts are not nuts, they are legumes. I want to make this butter but am concerned about the phytic acid when they haven’t been activated and I don’t have a dehydrator in any case.
Amanda Furches
I soak and dehydrate in the oven on a cookie sheet on the lowest setting although I just recently bought adehydraror for $50 and I love it . or I’ve heard people doing it with just the door ajar if your oven doesn’t get that low. Or try out on the sun in the summer :)
Nikki
Hi Amanda,
Thanks for sharing your dehydrator tips. Much appreciated!
Nikki
Hi Susie,
Thank you. I’m aware that peanuts aren’t nuts. It’s just that many of the peanut-butter alternatives are nut-based and I wanted to give people a nut-free alternative.
If you’re worried about the phytic acid content, then you’ll need to use activated pumpkin seeds.
You might be able to buy these from your local health food shop or online, or you could try soaking them for a couple of hours and then drying them in a very low oven with the door ajar, to simulate the effect of a dehydrator.
Rosie
But they’re also very expensive!
Nikki
Hi Rosie,
They’re might not be as cheap as peanuts, but they can be cheaper than many raw nuts, including almonds and cashews.
And making your own is certainly a lot cheaper than buying ready-made pumpkin seed butter.