Roasted Nuts Recipe - 4 Ways (2024)

FAQs

What is the best method for roasting nuts? ›

I prefer to use avocado oil or coconut oil when roasting nuts, because they both have a much higher smoke point while cooking than olive oil does. Avocado oil is a very neutral flavor, and it's my favorite oil to use for cooking.

It may seem counterintuitive to soak your nuts before you roast them, when the goal is a crunchy cashew. But some experts swear by this trick to give your cashews extra flavor, as well as helping them be more digestible.

Roasted, for me, means you cook them in the oven, and toasted means you cook the nuts on the stove top. I see both words used interchangeably online, though. I use both methods, depending on whether I need to roast a few nuts or a lot, and how quickly I need them.

To get the spices to stick to the nuts, use egg whites, butter, coconut oil, olive oil or blanch the nuts in boiling water. Some recipes call for nuts to be fried in oil prior to seasoning, but this adds unnecessary fat – you can make them just a delicious without all the extra calories.

How to Roast Nuts. Step 1: Preheat oven and mix nuts with oil and salt on a baking sheet. Make sure the nuts are not on top of one another, then set in the oven to roast!

Pour you raw nuts in a single layer onto a cookie tray (cook them one tray at a time). Place the nuts on the middle tray in the oven at 180 degrees celcius / 256 degrees fahrenheit (you don't need to pre-heat the oven) and set your timer (mobile phone, or a kitchen timer) for 5 minutes.

For example, flax seeds turn into a mucilaginous goo in water, and brazil nuts don't always soak well due to their high fat content. Peanuts can also be soaked, however I didn't include them as they should be consumed sparingly due to inflammatory and allergenic potential.

It is true that nuts contain phytic acid, or phytates, which can bind with minerals, making them unavailable to the body. But while soaking nuts in salted water may reduce phytic acid levels, the amount of phytates in nuts is too small to cause a mineral deficiency in either children or adults.

Just make sure to rinse all nuts very well after they've been soaking, since the water they were bathing in is filled with the enzyme inhibitors that you wanted to get rid of in the first place.

Why avoid roasted nuts? ›

When polyunsaturated fats are exposed to heat, as is the case with roasting, they're more likely to become damaged or oxidized. This can lead to the formation of harmful free radicals, which can damage your cells. Oxidized fat, or rancid fat, is responsible for the “off” taste and smell in some nuts.

The main difference between raw and roasted nuts is the texture. The texture difference is due to roasted nuts undergoing oven-roasting, sometimes called dry-heating. Frying is also an option instead of roasting if you roast raw nuts at home. Usually, roasting has one of two methods: dry or oil roasting.

How to roast nuts on the stove. You can toss the nuts right into a pan over medium heat, no oil necessary. Just shake the pan occasionally so they toast evenly and don't burn. When they're finished, transfer them out of the hot pan so they don't keep browning.

Price Foundation) explains that using salt to soak nuts “… helps activate enzymes that de-activate the enzyme inhibitors. For grains, we soak in an acidic solution to get rid of phytic acid. Nuts do not contain much phytic acid but do contain high levels of enzyme inhibitors.

It's the friction that's needed to turn it into nut butter. Nuts: I don't recommend making this with soaked and dehydrated nuts. But if you do, you definitely need to add oil (and likely more) as you've now removed some of the natural oils within the nuts. Roasting soaked nuts alone simply won't work.

Because the dry, indirect heat the oven offers will toast the nuts more evenly than a skillet will. Using a skillet might trim a few minutes off your cook time, but the heat is uneven. Even if you're using medium or medium-low heat, you'll still get black or charred spots.

Commercially-roasted nuts

Nuts are commerically roasted in different ways. Oil roasting typically means nuts are submerged in hot oil. Dry roasting is when nuts either pass on a conveyer belt through an oven, or roll around in a mini rotating drum like a cement mixer over a flame.

Less Salt and Seasonings: When almonds are roasted and seasoned in their shells, the actual nut inside often absorbs less salt or other seasonings compared to shelled almonds. This can be a better option for those watching their sodium intake. Slower Consumption: Cracking open the shells slows down your eating pace.

We love using the air fryer for a variety of recipes and cooking techniques, including toasting nuts! The dry, fast-moving, indirect heat provides the ideal toast, for perfectly crunchy, golden brown nuts with minimal time and effort. Most nuts can be toasted directly in the air fryer basket.