Healthy Roasted Makhana Recipe (Water Lily Seeds)

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Learn to make roasted makhana or popped water lily seed snacks, in three delicious ways! Salted Caramel, Salt & Vinegar, and Cheezy Garlic– All gluten-free and vegan!

two bowls of roasted water lily seeds on a pink background

What is Makhana?

Makhana is a traditional Indian snack. It’s made from popped or puffed water lily seeds, also called fox nuts, which are then dry-roasted with seasonings. The result is a crunchy, popcorn-esque, healthy snack. 

It reminds me of a Korean, skinless giant popcorn snack I used to eat growing up, but with an even better crunch. It’s also a great source of protein, completely plant-based, and takes to seasonings and different flavors so well! It’s the perfect evening snack and health-conscience alternative to other crunchy snacks like potato chips.

If you can’t get enough Indian snacks like me, try my Healthy Chjvda Recipe too!

What Makes This Recipe Great

I was first inspired to make my own popped water lily snacks when I picked up a bag at the grocery store. Instantly, the little puffs became one of my favorite snacks. And this Roasted Makhana Recipe has my three favorite flavoring options!

I was motivated to learn how to make this makhana snack at home because I started spending a lot of money on premade store bought bags, and in the process, was creating a lot of packaging waste.

I also wanted to make this great snack even healthier! These recipes are simple, come together with 5 or fewer ingredients, and are free of any processed ingredients. This delicious snack comes together in just 15 minutes- so easy, and SO tasty!

How to Make Makhana

Makhana is used in many Indian recipes and makhana is so versatile it can be enjoyed in curries, or as a snack on its own. For example, if making a Makhana Matar Curry, the makhana is a little more tender and soaks up the sauce. 

The process of making this Indian snack, however, is shockingly easy. All you need to do is coat the puffs in seasoning and roast. I recommend doing this in a pan over medium-high heat with just a touch of neutral oil. You can test to see when it’s ready by tasting a piece–you want to look for crunch throughout. As it comes, makhana is quite soft, so you do want to roast makhanas to make sure you get that crisp texture. 

Ingredient Notes

a bag of ful makhana seeds

Roasted Makhana Recipe

  • Makhana: The most important ingredient you’ll need is the full makhana, or the lotus seeds, which you can find at most Indian grocery stores. The first bag I ever tried was sent to me by my wonderful friend Asha Patel. You can also easily find it online–here is a link to a bag I purchased recently.
  • Neutral oil: Such as vegetable oil or avocado oil. For a bit more flavor, try using olive oil or ghee.
  • Salt

Flavor Options

  • Salted Caramel: This amazing sweet and salty version uses coconut sugar, maple syrup, vanilla extract, baking soda, and flaky salt.
  • Salt & Vinegar: This roasted makhana version is made with salt & vinegar powder, to taste.
  • Cheezy Garlic: This flavoring is made with nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, black pepper, and salt.

Step-by-Step Instructions

phool makhana lotus seed in a silver bowl

Salted Caramel

  1. For this makhana recipe, we’re roasting the makhana prior to flavoring, to achieve a little crunch before coating. Cook in a pan over medium heat with just a little oil for 4-5 minutes, stirring often, until crisp. You can test them by taking a bite–it should have a nice crunch throughout. Remove from the pan and set aside.
  2. Next, in the same pan, coconut sugar, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and water, and melt down over medium-low heat, gently stirring until completely smooth.
  3. Bring the mixture to a bubble, then add baking soda and stir quickly until colour slightly changes then immediately remove from heat and add makhana to the pan.
  4. Toss to coat and then spread as evenly as possible on a baking sheet to cool completely.

Salt & Vinegar

  1. In a pan over medium-high heat, roast makhana with neutral oil for 4-5 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and vinegar powder, to taste, and enjoy.

Cheezy Garlic

  1. Toss makhana in a mixing bowl with a neutral oil, salt, nutritional yeast, garlic, onion powder, black pepper, and smoked paprika.
  2. Transfer to a pan over medium-high heat and roast makhana with neutral oil for 4-5 minutes. Season with salt, to taste.
popped water lily seeds in a white skillet

Roasted Makhana Recipe Flavored Three Ways

Here are my three favorite ways to season my popped water lily seeds:

Salted Caramel Makhana

This sweet and salty option has a nice flavor and made with coconut sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla. This is a butter-free caramel made with no refined sugars and it’s easy to make in the same pan that you roast your makhana in.

Salt and Vinegar Makhana

All you need for this seasoning is salt and vinegar powder to make a healthy snack option! Again, this is best seasoned to taste, so if you like it extra tangy and want to tingle your taste buds, use a heavy hand on the vinegar.

Cheezy Garlic Makhana

For a vegan cheese flavor, use nutritional yeast, garlic powder, and onion powder. This has to be my go-to flavor and the seasoning I opt for most days. Bonus: you’ll get a nice boost of plant protein from the nutritional yeast!

More Seasoning Variations

Roasted makhana is an amazing blank canvas to work with. You can get creative with the seasonings and I highly encourage experimenting as there are countless ways to flavor your Indian water lily seeds, both sweet and savory. Here are some other options to try:

  • Indian spice powders (think turmeric powder, cumin powder, chaat masala, or peri peri masala)
  • Plain sea salt (this one’s self-explanatory)
  • Dark chocolate (you could toss in maple syrup or sweetener of choice  and coat with cacao powder)
  • Furikake
  • Red chili powder
  • BBQ 
  • Chili lime

Storage Tips

  • Store leftovers in an air-tight container at room temperature and eat within one week for the best freshness and flavor. 

Recipe FAQs

Are popped water lily seeds gluten-free?

Yes! Lily seeds are naturally vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, and paleo. Makhana is a wonderful snack that fits many diets. If you have a corn allergy, this is also an incredible alternative with a similar satisfying crunch.

Is this roasted makhana recipe healthy?

Water lily seeds have many health benefits such as being naturally high in fiber and a good source of protein, as well as magnesium and phosphorous, making them considerably more nutritious than popcorn. Oh, and there are no kernels to get stuck in your teeth either!

More Crunchy Snack Recipes

If you make Roasted Makhana at home, be sure to let me know what you think with a comment below!

Healthy Roasted Makhana Recipe (Water Lily Seeds)

5 from 1 vote
Servings: 3 -5 servings
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Total: 15 minutes
Learn to make roasted makhana or popped water lily seed snacks, in three delicious ways! Salted Caramel, Salt & Vinegar, and Cheezy Garlic– All gluten-free and vegan!

Ingredients 

  • The Basics
  • 2-3 cups makhana
  • neutral oil
  • salt
  • Salted Caramel
  • 3 tbsp coconut sugar
  • 3 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp flaky salt more to taste
  • Salt & Vinegar
  • salt to taste
  • vinegar powder to taste
  • Cheezy Garlic
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • salt to taste

Instructions 

  • Salted Caramel
  • For this recipe, we’re roasting the makhana prior to flavouring, to achieve a little crunch before coating. Cook in a pan with just a touch of neutral oil for 4-5 minutes, stirring often, until crisp. You can test them by taking a bite–it should have a nice crunch throughout. Remove from the pan and set aside.
  • Next, in the same pan, coconut sugar, maple syrup, vanilla extract, water and melt down, gently stirring until completely smooth.
  • Bring the mixture to a bubble, then add baking soda and stir quickly until colour slightly changes then immediately remove from heat and add makhana to the pan.
  • Toss to coat and then spread as evenly as possible on a baking sheet to cool completely.
  • Salt & Vinegar
  • In a pan over medium high heat, roast makhana with neutral oil for 4-5 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and vinegar powder, to taste, and enjoy.
  • Cheezy Garlic
  • Toss makhana in a mixing bowl with neutral oil, salt, nutritional yeast, garlic and onion powder and smoked paprika.
  • Transter to a pan over medium high heat and roast makhana with neutral oil for 4-5 minutes. Season with salt, to taste.

Notes

More Seasoning Variations

Roasted makhana is an amazing blank canvas to work with. You can get creative with the seasonings and I highly encourage experimenting as there are countless ways to flavor your Indian water lily seeds, both sweet and savoury. Here are some other options to try:
  • Indian spices
  • Plain sea salt (this one’s self-explanatory)
  • Dark chocolate (you could toss in maple syrup or sweetener of choice  and coat with cacao powder)
  • Furikake
  • BBQ 
  • Chili lime

Storage Tips

  • Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature and eat within one week for the best freshness and flavor. 

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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About Remy

Hi there, I’m Remy! Welcome to Veggiekins Blog, home to nourishing vegan + gluten-free recipes and tips to live your best balanced and holistic life. I’m a human on a mission to empower you to be well and be kind to your mind, body and soul with the healing power of plants.

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4 Comments

  1. This is an amazing recipe! I air-fried mine and they only took about 5 minutes on 350. Such a great popcorn alternative and an amazing way to save packaging from the store-bought versions!

    5 stars

  2. Hi there! I’m confused, the recipe says it’s for Lilly seeds, but the bag in your image is Lotus seeds. Those are 2 different plants. They are similar, but different. Could you please confirm? If you are using Lotus seeds I would suggest updating this post to reflect that.