These Honey Roasted Sunflower Seeds are an easy snack, or a crunchy and flavorful addition to any salad or bowl! They're ready in under 30 minutes and have just 7 simple ingredients. You can easily double the recipe or change up the ingredients to make it your own!
Jump to:
Why You'll Love These Sunflower Seeds
Sweet and spicy - The seeds are roasted with a mix of honey, avocado oil, sea salt, garlic, dried thyme, and crushed red pepper flakes for added heat. You can change up the dried herbs based on what you have. The honey caramelizes once it cools down and makes the sunflower seeds extra crispy!
Quick and easy - These can be ready to eat in less than 30 minutes, and you only need 6-7 ingredients to make them! You only need a small bowl ot mix the honey and spices, but you mix it with the sunflower seeds right in the pan to save any extra dishes.
Lots of uses - They're a great savory snack or finger food, but they're also delicious on salads instead of croutons or added to rice bowls or quinoa bowls. I've even used them as a garnish for creamy pastas!
Ingredients
- Sunflower seeds - Make sure you use plain raw sunflower seeds. Sunflower seeds are perfect for recipes like this because they take on different flavors very well and roast quickly.
- Avocado oil - I like using pure avocado oil for roasting and cooking, but any neutral cooking oil works here.
- Honey - Soft, pourable honey is ideal and will be easier to mix with the seeds, but mine is often solid because I use raw honey that crystallizes. Both work fine. If it's solid, I slightly mix it with the seeds and melt it in the oven, and then mix again.
- Sea salt - I recommend using either fine sea salt or Himalayan pink salt. Avoid table salt if possible.
- Dried thyme - I highly recommend adding some dried herbs for added flavor; it adds savoriness to balance the sweetness of the honey.
- Garlic powder - Garlic powder (also called garlic granules, I don't use the very fine garlic powder) is so good here! I avoid using raw garlic because it would burn in the oven and turn bitter.
- Red pepper flakes - These add a little bit of heat without overpowering all the other flavors too much. You could always add a different spice with more heat, like cayenne pepper, but I really like just a touch of red pepper flakes.
Variations and Substitutions
- Pumpkin seeds - You can make the same recipe with pepitas (pumpkin seeds) if you don't have sunflower seeds.
- Dried herbs - You can use other dried herbs as well if you don't have thyme. Oregano or crushed rosemary would be great. Italian seasoning is also a great option for even more flavor!
- Maple syrup - If you want to make these vegan or if you're out of honey, you can swap it for some maple syrup instead.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, stir together honey, avocado oil, fine sea salt, dried thyme, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes. It’s ok if it’s too thick.
- Add the sunflower seeds to your prepared baking sheet.
- Pour the honey mixture over the seeds and toss them with it. The mixture will likely be too thick to mix with the sunflower seeds properly; this is ok, you will mix it once it melts in the oven.
- Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven for 5 minutes. This will melt the honey, and you’ll be able to easily toss and coat the sunflower seeds with the mixture.
- Spread them out on the baking sheet and return it back into the oven for 5 more minutes or until golden. Keep an eye on them, they can burn easily.
- Take them out of the oven and allow them to cool for 10-15 minutes. You can carefully slide the parchment paper off the baking sheet to cool them more quickly. They’ll be soft when they come out of the oven, but will harden as they cool.
- Once cooled, peel them off the parchment paper and break them up into small pieces.
- Wait for the seeds to cool down completely before storing.
Would you like to save this recipe?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Tips & Tricks!
- Let the honey melt in the oven - If your honey is crystalized and it's hard to spread the sunflower seeds into a single layer in the pan, roast them in the oven only for 5 minutes first, spread them out, and then finish roasting.
- Let the roasted sunflower seeds cool - They'll still be soft right after you take them out of the oven and not as crunchy because the honey is still very hot. Once they cool down, the honey will harden, and it will make it easy for you to break the seeds apart into clusters.
Serving Suggestions
- Snacking - My favorite way to enjoy these is as a snack! If you're a fan of salty and crunchy snacks, this is the one to munch on!
- Party food - They also make a great finger food for gatherings or parties. They're easy to serve so they're a great addition to your selection of appetizers or snacks.
- Salads - Add them to various salads instead of croutons, like this Beet and Goat Cheese Salad or this Pomegranate Arugula Salad!
- Bowls, pasta, and more - Add them to rice bowls, quinoa bowls, or even pasta dishes like this Creamy Mushroom Gnocchi! They would also be great in this Mango Quinoa Salad instead of roasted pepitas.
Storing
I recommend storing the roasted sunflower seeds in an airtight container at room temperature, in a cool, dry place for about a week. I don't recommend freezing them. If your home gets very hot or humid, you may want to store them in the fridge.
Make sure to wait till the seeds are completely cool before storing them and closing the container. If you don't, you risk the seeds getting moldy.
FAQs
Yes, you can swap the sunflower seeds for any other seeds or nuts you have but you may have to roast them for a little bit longer, based on the size of the nuts. If you use pumpkin seeds, the roasting time will be the same.
You can use maple syrup or other liquid sweetener, like agave or coconut necta,r instead.
Similar Roasted Nuts and Seeds
If you want to try other similar roasted seeds, definitely try the spicy pumpkin seeds linked below! If you don't mind nuts, I also included 3 recipes for roasted nuts. You could also swap any of the nuts for sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds. To see all the newest ones, head over to Snacks!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Have you tried these Honey Roasted Sunflower Seeds? Please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below!
Hungry for more? Grab my free Top 10 Best Appetizers e-book, and don't forget to follow me on Pinterest and Instagram!
Print📖 Recipe
Honey Roasted Sunflower Seeds
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
- Category: Snack
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
These Honey Roasted Sunflower Seeds are an easy snack, or a crunchy and flavorful addition to any salad or bowl! They're ready in under 30 minutes and have just 7 simple ingredients. You can easily double the recipe or change up the ingredients to make it your own!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp avocado oil (or other cooking oil)
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 cup sunflower seeds
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, stir together honey, avocado oil, fine sea salt, dried thyme, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes. It’s ok if it’s too thick.
- Add the sunflower seeds to your prepared baking sheet.
- Pour the honey mixture over the seeds and toss them with it. The mixture will likely be too thick to mix with the sunflower seeds properly; this is ok.
- Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven for 5 minutes. This will melt the honey, and you’ll be able to easily toss and coat the sunflower seeds with the mixture. Spread them out on the baking sheet and return it back into the oven for 5 more minutes or until golden. Keep an eye on them, they can burn easily.
- Take them out of the oven and allow them to cool for 10-15 minutes. You can carefully slide the parchment paper off the baking sheet to cool them more quickly. They’ll be soft when they come out of the oven, but will harden as they cool.
- Once cooled, peel them off the parchment paper and break them up into small pieces.
- Wait for the seeds to cool down completely before storing.
Notes
Store the roasted sunflower seeds in an airtight container at room temperature in a cool and dark place for about a week. Or store in the fridge for 2 weeks.
Would you like to save this recipe?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Leave a Reply