If you make homemade almond milk or homemade cashew milk, have you ever tried homemade pumpkin seed milk? It has a lovely pale green color, creamy texture and delicious taste. It's good for anyone needing an alternative milk (to dairy). Add this to your pumpkin seed recipes file.
Homemade Pumpkin Seed Milk (Dairy-free)
Loaded with nutrients (think zinc), pumpkin seeds are delicious sprinkled in salads, as garnish for soups, great in granola, and healthy to snack on. They are common in Mexican recipes, but made into milk? Yes, milk. Lovely plant-based milks.
While nut milks are great for smoothies and non-dairy needs, they are off the list for anyone with a nut allergies, including hemp seeds which are actually nuts. And if you have histamine intolerance (as I do), commonly used nuts like almonds and cashews can be problematic. The solution for me was switching to homemade pumpkin seed milk when my system is flaring up.
Pumpkin Seed Milk Nutrition
An 8-ounce serving of pumpkin seed milk provides 10.5 grams of plant-based protein, 18 grams of healthy fat, and just 6 grams of carbs.
Pumpkin seeds are considered excellent sources of potassium, magnesium, calcium and Omega-3 fatty acids and are good for heart, bone, and liver health. They are also high in protein with a 1 ounce serving providing 7 grams of plant-based protein and 12 grams of healthy fat (for all you keto and paleo followers). Besides making milk, snack on them raw and get 3 grams of fiber per ounce.
About Pumpkin Seeds: Standard and Heirloom
You'll find two kinds of pumpkin seeds when shopping. The standard flat, green oval seeds often labeled pepitas (their Spanish name), and and an heirloom variety originating from Austria called styrian. Because China is the world's largest grower of pumpkins, mostly you find pepitas.
Searching for American grown pumpkin seeds I found an organic, heirloom variety grown in Oregon. They are delicious! Grown from styrian seeds, I can't stop eating them straight out of the bag. They are the large, yellow and blackish-green seeds in the photos. Additionally they are unpasteurized, raw, and ideal for soaking and sprouting.
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Either seeds will make delicious pumpkin seed milk. Be sure to buy raw pumpkin seed, not toasted or salted. Unlike the seeds from your Halloween pumpkin, these seeds are shelled.
Soaking pumpkin seeds overnight gets them ready. In the morning, strain soaking water, fill blender with fresh water and puree. I use a 4:1 ratio for the milk; 4 cups fresh filtered water to 1 cup of the soaked seeds. There is no need to strain the final milk.
Pumpkin Seed Milk Taste
Pumpkin seed milk does have a distinctive flavor as well as color. I add a little cinnamon and vanilla to my pumpkin milk based smoothies (with pumpkin protein!) for a delicious combination.
If you like pumpkin, try my creamy pumpkin pie smoothie, delicious all year round. And for another delicious non-dairy milk, try this hemp seed milk recipe.
Histamine Notes
Pumpkin seed milk works if you have histamine intolerance (HIT). I've been using it instead of homemade almond milk in my morning smoothies while managing my histamine intolerance.
Pumpkin Protein!
Another pumpkin thing you can try that I use is pure pumpkin protein. It provides 20 grams of plant-based protein per serving. No nuts, no seeds or rice, whey or casein, or legumes, no fillers and organic. Whole30, hypoallergenic, keto & paleo.
📖 Recipe
Homemade Pumpkin Seed Milk
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw pumpkin seeds about 6 ounces
- 2 cups water to soak overnight
- 4 cups water to make milk
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Instructions
- Place seeds in a large jar and cover with 2 cups of filtered water. Cover and soak overnight.
- To make milk, strain soaking water and discard, then puree soaked nuts with 4 cups of fresh filtered water until smooth, 30-60 seconds.
JR says
Thanks for the recipe, the nutritional info/benefits, and the link to the heirloom Oregon variety!
Darshan Makwana says
Can we preserve pumpkin seed milk..?
Sally Cameron says
Hi Darshan. I'm not sure how you could preserve it, maybe freezing, but Im not sure it would work well. Help me understand why you would want to. It's easy to make and pumpkin seeds are a non-perishable pantry staple.