Roasted walnuts are a great, delicious, and nutritious treat. You can just have them as a snack or use them for other dishes. They have such a rich taste and aroma. But not everyone knows how to toast walnuts. There are three ways to roast walnuts: in the oven, microwave, and on the stovetop. And I am going to share them with you.
It is better to buy nuts in the shell for toasting, as you can choose one of the two following choices. You can toast raw walnuts in shell and without shells. Yes, it won’t be easy to peel them off. However, those nuts that are already peeled can be rancid. Make sure to try them before buying. Also, pay attention to whether nuts are raw or toasted.
Today, I will give you instructions on several ways how you can toast walnut:
- How to roast walnuts in the oven;
- How to toast walnuts in the shell;
- How to roast walnuts on the stovetop;
- How to toast walnuts in the microwave.
But before checking out the recipes, read all the tips that I am sharing below:
- There is a quick way to soften the shells of walnuts before cracking them. Put walnuts into the freezer for an hour. After that, we sort out the walnuts, remove small fragments, and divide the nuts into halves or quarters. Transfer them to a colander and rinse thoroughly under a stream of running water. Leave them in the sink for a while to drain excess liquid. Then dry walnuts with paper towels. Now, walnuts are ready to be toasted.
- Toasting walnuts on the stovetop is the quickest method to use. However, the result that you get is uneven. What I mean here is that due to their uneven surface, walnuts do not have time to roast completely outside and inside when roasted in a heated pan. You won’t get a rich nutty taste when you are trying to avoid burning walnuts. I noticed that if you place walnuts in a pan and only then heat it on the stove, you will get more evenly roasted results.
- When you are going to decide on how to toast walnuts, and you are considering using a microwave, remember that this method has several peculiarities. Due to the size of the microwave, the amount of walnuts that you can roast at a time is limited. And the aroma is the indicator for you when walnuts are ready.
- Choose pieces of nuts of the same size to ensure an even roast in the oven. It is better that they are halves or quarters.
- After roasting walnuts, when they are still hot, spread them out on the paper towel or parchment paper and sprinkle over a mixture of powdered sugar and vanilla, cinnamon, or ginger powder. Let them cool down before serving.
How to roast walnuts in the shell
When you are roasting shells in the oven, you are simply drying them. There is no way to roast whole walnuts in the shell so that they still taste rich and nutty. To get the best result from roasting walnuts in shell, choose the ripest walnuts you have. If you choose unripe nuts, the walnuts will lose most of their moisture as they dry out and become tasteless. So, let`s see how to avoid this and how to make the tastiest roasted whole nuts in the oven:
- Take the ripe walnuts and rinse them thoroughly under running water. Let them dry out or use paper towels to pat them until dry.
- Take a baking tray and spread out walnuts in one layer.
- Preheat oven at 45 – 50°C.
- Roast shelled walnuts for 2-3 hours in the oven. Open the cabinet door slightly for moisture to evaporate from the walnuts faster.
- 10-15 minutes before the end of roasting time, you can increase the temperature to 70°C.
- To make sure the walnuts are ready, you need to try one of them. If you can break the walnut easily, then it is a good sign.
This method is a better option for those who have a lot of free time to spare, and it definitely can give you a more delicate result. Roasted walnuts often retain a more natural nutty flavor when toasted in shells.
How to toast walnuts in the oven
Roasting walnuts in the oven is a more difficult method to use. However, I think that this one is the easiest. Despite the fact, it is the longest cooking method for the dish. Moreover, it gives the best result – evenly roasted walnuts. So here is my favorite recipe:
Toasted Walnuts in the Oven
Ingredients
- 3 cups walnuts raw
- seasoning optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350°F/180°C.
- Line your baking tray with parchment paper.
- Try to pick out walnuts of the same size so that they cook through evenly. Layout walnuts in one layer, leaving some space between the pieces, so the air distributes evenly.
- If you have walnut halves or quarters, you should roast walnuts for 7 to 10 minutes until you get the desired color or texture. If you chopped walnuts into small pieces, then you will need only 5 minutes for roasting them.
- Check walnuts after the first 5 minutes and then stir them with a spatula. Leave them in the oven for an additional 2 to 3 minutes or until ready.
- Take walnuts out of the oven, add seasoning if necessary and leave them to cool down before serving.
Notes
If you’ve decided not to add seasoning, then there is an additional trick that you can use for removing walnut skin. After roasted walnuts cooled down, take them into your hands and rub them between your palms and fingers. The skin of walnuts should be easy to remove.
How to toast walnuts on the stovetop
Roasting walnuts in a pan on the stove is the easiest and quickest method to cook toasted walnuts. You are 100% of the time are involved in the process and standing near the stove with roasting walnuts. Thus, you are in control and can take the pan from the stove at once.
As I mentioned earlier, you better add walnuts to your skillet and only then start heating it on the stove. In this way, you will get more chances to roast walnuts evenly. Use only dry heat, as the amount of fat and oil in walnuts is enough to fry them. Therefore, there is no need to use oil, butter, or spray in the recipe.
Roast walnuts on medium heat; stir them constantly with a wooden spatula. Walnuts roasting time primarily depends on the size of walnut chunks. On average, it takes from 3 minutes for small pieces to 10 minutes for walnut halves to get toasted.
When you start hearing a pleasant aroma from roasting nuts, immediately transfer them to a plate, and let them cool down before serving.
How to toast walnuts in the microwave
The process of toasting walnuts in the microwave has nothing tricky at its core. The key difference is that you are limited to the diameter of a microwave plate that you are using. Walnuts should be spread out on the surface of the plate in one layer. So, the amount of walnuts that you can toast in a microwave at one time is not enough to serve as snacks for a company but can be used, for example, for baking.
I cannot give you a certain time limit when your walnuts will be ready, as I do not know their size. The rule of thumb is you toast walnuts at a cooking power of 600-800 watts. Place the plate with walnuts in the microwave, set the power, and turn it on for 1 minute. Check the nuts and stir them with a spatula on the plate. Toast them for an additional minute. Stir them once again. Keep repeating the steps until you smell a distinct nutty aroma from the walnuts. That is a sign that walnuts are toasted.
I have tested all the recipes myself in my kitchen at home and I can assure you that they definitely work. However, make sure that you adjust all the instructions to your kitchen appliances. For example, when I cook in my oven I often need to raise the heat a little beat, as it does not give it enough at 180°C.
I hope that you found the information that you were looking for and it was helpful. I would highly appreciate it if you leave feedback in the comment section or give my post a star review.
2 Comments
You were 100% right that roasting walnuts whole in the shell won’t give a tasty result! I roasted them totally at higher heat, than necessary. I promise won’t be so lazy the next time, and gonna follow your recipe! Give more specifics on how long to roast walnuts in the shell. Would be highly appreciated!
Such a pity that you did not manage to roast delicious walnuts in the oven. Use this method only to dry walnuts. For roasting a tasty snack, use the recipe!