Ingredient

Sunflower seeds

Sunflower seeds are among the cheapest sources of crunch and fat in a kitchen, and they are consistently overlooked in favour of nuts that cost several times as much and, toasted, do a very similar job.

Toasting is not optional

Raw sunflower seeds taste of very little — faintly green, faintly waxy, mildly nutty at best. Toasted, they develop a proper nutty, almost buttery flavour and a much better crunch.

The difference is larger than for most nuts, and it takes five minutes: a dry pan over a medium heat, shaken frequently, until they are golden and smell nutty; or spread on a tray in a moderate oven for eight to ten minutes. They go from pale to burnt quickly at the end, so stay with them.

They also benefit from being salted while still warm, which makes them stick.

Where they replace something more expensive

This is the practical case for keeping a bag.

• In pesto, instead of pine nuts. Toasted sunflower seeds make a perfectly good pesto at a fraction of the cost, and pine nuts have become genuinely expensive.
• Scattered over a salad, instead of almonds or walnuts.
• In granola and flapjacks, where they are already standard.
• In bread, particularly seeded and rye loaves.
• Ground into a seed butter, which takes several minutes in a food processor and is a useful nut-free alternative for anyone avoiding tree nuts.
• In a crumble topping or a savoury crumb, for crunch.
• Over soup and roasted vegetables.
• In a dukkah, alongside or instead of hazelnuts.

What to know about them

Hulled kernels

What you buy in a bag. Pale, teardrop-shaped, soft enough to eat raw.

In-shell

Sold as a snack, striped black and white, cracked between the teeth. A different product.

Rancidity

They are high in unsaturated oil and do go off. Taste one — sharp or bitter means the bag is finished. Cool, dark, airtight storage, and the fridge if you keep them long.

The green tinge

Sunflower seeds sometimes turn green in baking. A harmless reaction between a compound in the seed and alkaline conditions, most often when bicarbonate of soda is present. It looks alarming and is fine.

Allergen status

Sunflower seeds are not tree nuts and are not among the fourteen allergens that must be declared in the UK. Seed allergies exist and are separate.

Sunflower oil

From the same seed, refined, and a useful neutral cooking oil with a high smoke point.

Toasting them

Five minutes, and it is the difference between a seed worth eating and one that is merely there.

1. Use a dry frying pan over a medium heat, or a tray in a moderate oven — the pan gives you more control and is quicker for small quantities.
2. Spread them in a single layer and keep them moving, shaking the pan every twenty seconds or so.
3. Watch for the colour changing from pale grey-green to golden, and for the smell turning properly nutty. This takes three to five minutes in a pan.
4. They go from golden to brown to burnt very quickly at the end, so stay with them and take the pan off slightly before you think you should.
5. Salt them while hot, in the pan, so it sticks.
6. Tip them straight onto a cold plate. Left in the hot pan they carry on cooking and will darken past where you wanted them.

Common questions