A one-ounce serving of dried, shelled pumpkin seed kernels (sometimes called pepitas) contains about 5 grams of total carbohydrates. That’s roughly a small handful, making pumpkin seeds one of the lower-carb snack options in the nut and seed family.
Carbs by Serving Size
Most people grab pumpkin seeds by the handful rather than weighing them on a scale, so it helps to know what different portions look like. A quarter cup of shelled kernels weighs roughly 33 grams, and a half cup comes in around 65 grams. Using the baseline of about 5 grams of carbs per ounce (28 grams), here’s how common portions break down:
- 1 ounce (small handful): ~5 g total carbs, ~1 g fiber
- 1/4 cup (~33 g): ~6 g total carbs, ~1.3 g fiber
- 1/2 cup (~65 g): ~12 g total carbs, ~2.6 g fiber
- 1 cup (~130 g): ~24 g total carbs, ~5.2 g fiber
Those numbers are for the green, hull-free kernels you typically find in bags at the store. The rest of the nutritional picture for that same one-ounce serving: about 13 grams of fat, 7 grams of protein, and 155 calories. Fat dominates the calorie count, with carbs contributing a relatively small share.
Shelled Kernels vs. Whole Seeds
There’s a meaningful difference between the flat green kernels (pepitas) and the white, oval whole seeds you scoop out of a pumpkin. Eating the shell adds a significant amount of fiber. Whole roasted pumpkin seeds in their shells contain about 5.2 grams of fiber per serving, compared to roughly 1.8 grams for shelled kernels, according to the American Heart Association. That extra fiber comes from the tough outer hull, which is mostly cellulose.
The total carbohydrate count rises when you eat the shell, but so does the fiber, which means the digestible carb impact doesn’t change as dramatically as the label might suggest. If you’re counting net carbs, whole seeds can actually be a better deal per handful.
Net Carbs for Low-Carb and Keto Diets
Net carbs are calculated by subtracting fiber from total carbohydrates, since fiber passes through without raising blood sugar. For shelled pumpkin seed kernels, the math works out to roughly 4 grams of net carbs per ounce (5 grams total carbs minus 1 gram of fiber). Scaled up to 100 grams, that’s about 36 grams of net carbs.
For most keto plans that cap daily net carbs at 20 to 50 grams, a one-ounce serving fits comfortably. Even a quarter cup stays well within range. Problems only arise if you’re snacking mindlessly from a large bag, since a full cup of kernels would use up nearly all of a strict keto day’s carb budget on its own.
Raw vs. Roasted Seeds
Roasting changes the carb profile slightly, mostly because heat drives off moisture and concentrates some nutrients while breaking down others. In a 3.5-ounce (100-gram) comparison, raw pumpkin seed kernels contain about 18.7 grams of carbohydrates, while roasted kernels drop to around 14.7 grams. Calories tick up slightly with roasting (574 vs. 555 per 3.5 ounces), likely because the water loss makes the fat and protein more concentrated by weight.
The practical difference per single-ounce snack portion is small, roughly a gram or two fewer carbs for roasted. What matters more is what’s added during roasting. Plain dry-roasted seeds keep the carb count stable. Flavored varieties coated in honey, maple, or barbecue seasoning can add several grams of sugar per serving, sometimes doubling the carb count. Always check the label on flavored bags, because the coating is where hidden carbs live. Salt alone doesn’t add carbs or calories.
How Pumpkin Seeds Compare to Other Seeds
Pumpkin seeds sit in the middle of the pack when it comes to carbs among popular seeds and nuts. Here’s how a one-ounce serving stacks up:
- Chia seeds: ~12 g total carbs (but 10 g fiber, so ~2 g net)
- Sunflower seed kernels: ~6.5 g total carbs
- Pumpkin seed kernels: ~5 g total carbs
- Hemp seeds: ~2.5 g total carbs
- Flax seeds: ~8 g total carbs (but 7.5 g fiber, so ~0.5 g net)
If you’re optimizing for the lowest net carbs, flax and chia actually win despite having higher total carb numbers, because almost all of their carbohydrates come from fiber. Pumpkin seeds have a higher proportion of digestible starch relative to their fiber content. That said, they offer more protein per ounce than most of these competitors, which makes them a better option if you’re balancing carbs against satiety.
Tips for Portion Control
Pumpkin seeds are easy to overeat because they’re small, crunchy, and calorie-dense. A one-ounce serving looks modest in your hand, and a half cup goes fast. Pre-portioning into small containers or bags helps if you’re tracking carbs closely. Buying whole seeds in the shell also naturally slows you down, since cracking each one takes effort and gives your brain more time to register fullness. You’ll eat fewer calories and carbs while getting more fiber per seed.