Roasted Nuts Recipe - 4 Ways (2024)

FAQs

What is the best method for roasting nuts? ›

Bake in the center of a preheated 325°F oven, stirring to redistribute nuts every 5 minutes or so. Keep your eyes peeled and your nose on alert: Nuts in the oven can quickly go from just right to burned. When you start smelling the nuts, they're probably done.

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.

Because the dry, indirect heat the oven offers will toast the nuts more evenly than a skillet will.

Place rinsed nuts in a bowl and toss well with sea salt. Spread tossed nuts on parchment paper and place in oven for 8 minutes, then stir them to ensure all sides get evenly dried, and roast for another 7 minutes.

Pour 1 cup of whichever nuts or seeds you want to toast onto an unlined, rimmed sheet pan—but not a combination of several kinds; again, they won't all toast at the same speed. Drizzle the nuts with 1 tablespoon oil (I often use olive oil, but grapeseed or avocado oil will also do the trick).

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.

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.

There are two parts to soaking nuts and seeds: warm water and salt. The warm water will neutralize many of the enzyme inhibitors and increase the bioavailability of many nutrients, especially b-vitamins. The salt helps activate enzymes that deactivate the enzyme inhibitors present in nuts.

Make sure to strain and rinse the nuts or seeds after soaking to eliminate the residual water which contains the absorbed enzyme inhibitors and toxic substances. Once you have given them a good rinse, enjoy them immediately or store them in your refrigerator for later.

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.

What happens if you over roast nuts? ›

Roasting at a temperature of 310°F (154°C) or above will lead to an exponential increase in acrylamide.

Most nuts take 8-10 minutes to toast, but often the smell of roasting nuts is a sign that they are done. It's important to check them as soon as you smell them because they can burn before you know it! For maximum crunch, let the nuts cool before using them in your recipe.

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.

I can't speak to the trustworthiness of the various sites I discovered and their claims about phytic acid and neutralized enzymes, but I can tell you this: Soaking your nuts before you roast them will greatly enhance their flavor.

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.

Retaining Nutritional Value When Roasting Nuts

As we mentioned above, if you want to retain the nutritional value of your roasted nuts, you've got to make sure not to add too much heat and not to leave your nuts in the heat too long.

There are two main kinds of roasting: Dry roasting: Roasting without any oil. Nuts can be dry roasted in the oven or on a frying pan. Oil roasting: Roasting using oil.

Always toast your nuts whole and then chop if chopping is needed. Toasted nuts actually chop easier than raw anyway. To oven toast, heat your oven to 400 degrees and put a rack in the upper third of the oven. Lay your nuts in an even layer in a sheet pan.

You toast nuts on a cookie sheet [or sheet pan] in a preheated oven set on a low heat*. The low heat is crucial because nuts burn both easily and quickly. I toast nuts at 250 F. This is a low temperature, but I find that the higher I set the temperature, the higher the chances of burning the nuts.