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How to Toast Pecans

Meggan Hill

• Updated

5 from 154 votes

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Learn how toast pecans in the oven or on the stove for more flavor, crunch, and aroma in all your favorite recipes. It’s super simple and only takes a few minutes.

Toasted pecans on a baking sheet.

Table of Contents

  1. Ingredient notes
  2. Instructions:
  3. Recipe tips and variations
  4. How to Toast Pecans Recipe

Ingredient notes

  • Pecans: Cooking times vary depending on which method you choose and how many pecans you are toasting. And don’t walk away! They can go from zero to burnt in under a minute.
  • Oil: Toasting pecans in fat (olive oil or clarified butter, for example), is optional. It adds more flavor and helps seasonings stick, if you want to use them.

Instructions:

  • Oven method: Bake in a 350-degree oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Stir or shake the pan occasionally so the nuts brown evenly without burning.
Toasted pecans on a baking sheet.
  • Stove-top method: Toast in a skillet over medium heat until browned (one shade darker than they originally were) and fragrant, about 2 to 5 minutes.
Toasted pecans in a skillet.

Recipe tips and variations

  • Yield: The recipe as written makes 1 cup of toasted pecans (enough for 4 servings, ¼ cup each). It can easily be doubled or tripled as needed.
  • Storage: Store raw and roasted pecans for a year or more in the refrigerator or the freezer (not the pantry). They spoil easily, especially when roasted.
  • Cinnamon and sugar pecans: Toast 1 cup pecans in 1 tbsp oil with ¼ cup sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon.
  • Chex-Mix pecans: Toast 1 cup pecans in 1 tbsp oil with 1 ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce, ½ tsp seasoned salt, ¼ tsp garlic powder, and a pinch onion powder.
  • Sweet and spicy pecans: Toast 1 cup pecans in 1 tbsp oil with 1 tbsp sugar, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp cumin and ⅛ tsp cayenne.
  • Overnight oatmeal: A handful of toasted pecans make this Apple Pie Overnight Oatmeal so delicious!

Put your pecans to work

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Toasted pecans on a baking sheet.

How to Toast Pecans

Learn how toast pecans in the oven or on the stove for more flavor, crunch, and aroma in all your favorite recipes. It's super simple and only takes a few minutes.
Author: Meggan Hill
5 from 154 votes
ReviewPrint
Prep Time 2 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 12 minutes
Servings 4 servings (¼ cup each)
Course Appetizer, Pantry
Cuisine American
Calories 202

Equipment

Ingredients 

  • 1 cup pecans (see note 1)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter, optional (see note 2)

Instructions 

To toast pecans in the oven:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or foil for easy cleanup.
  • Toss pecans in oil and salt if desired. Arrange in a single layer on prepared baking sheet. Toast until browned and fragrant, stirring occasionally, about 7 to 10 minutes. 
  • Remove from oven and chop or use as desired.

To toast pecans on the stove:

  • Toss pecans in oil and salt if desired. In a medium skillet over medium heat, heat pecans until browned and fragrant, stirring occasionally, about 2 to 5 minutes.
  • Remove from skillet and chop or use as desired.

Recipe Video

Notes

  1. Pecans: Cooking times vary depending on which method you choose and how many pecans you are toasting. And don’t walk away! They can go from zero to burnt in under a minute.
  2. Oil: Toasting pecans in fat (olive oil or clarified butter, for example), is optional. It adds more flavor and helps seasonings stick, if you want to use them.
  3. Yield: The recipe as written makes 1 cup of toasted pecans (enough for 4 servings, ¼ cup each). It can easily be doubled or tripled as needed.
  4. Storage: Store raw and roasted pecans for a year or more in the refrigerator or the freezer (not the pantry). They spoil easily, especially when roasted.
  5. Cinnamon and sugar pecans: Toast 1 cup pecans in 1 tbsp oil with ¼ cup sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon.
  6. Chex-Mix pecans: Toast 1 cup pecans in 1 tbsp oil with 1 ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce, ½ tsp seasoned salt, ¼ tsp garlic powder, and a pinch onion powder.
  7. Sweet and spicy pecans: Toast 1 cup pecans in 1 tbsp oil with 1 tbsp sugar, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp cumin and ⅛ tsp cayenne.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.25cupCalories: 202kcalCarbohydrates: 3gProtein: 2gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 1mgPotassium: 101mgFiber: 2gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 14IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 17mgIron: 1mg
Did you make this recipe?Tag @culinaryhill on Instagram so we can admire your masterpiece! #culinaryhill
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Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.

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Comments

    1. Hi Tiara, thank you for the question! The nutritional facts are just for the pecans and olive oil as written in the recipe itself. Sorry about that! – Meggan

  3. Just wanted to say thank you for sharing your knowledge on how to toast pecans. Will be trying over the stove method.

    Reply

    1. Hi Kay, thank you for pointing that out! It absolutely is. I’ve updated the recipe. Thank you again and I hope you have a nice day! – Meggan

  7. Made this a couple of times. Delicious and easy to make.
    I toasted the pecans by melting vegan butter 1.5 desert spoons in a small frying pan mixed with 2 to 3 teaspoons of soft fine brown sugar and 1 to 2 teaspoons maple syrup then added pecan nuts for 3 to 5 mins turning them. When they were cooled I chopped them leaving some bigger pieces.5 stars

    Reply

  8. Thank you for the recipe. This is my first time making cinnamon sugar pecans, or any other type of nuts. I made them in the skillet and ended up cooking them 10 minutes because I wasn’t sure they were done. My question is whether the cinnamon sugar is supposed to liquefy and stick to the nuts? When I was done, I had to fish the nuts out of the sugar. I feel like I threw most of the sugar away. Is that the right result or did I do something wrong?5 stars

    Reply

    1. Hi Nell, I’m so sorry for your trouble! I will test it this week and get back to you. – Meggan

  9. 88 years old. First time roasting pecans – still learning! Your recipe seems straight forward and has variations.
    Thanks.

    Reply

  10. I love the aroma of roasting pecans. I bake bread for a similar reason. I use Redmond popcorn sea salt or Sicilian sea salt on the pecans I roast in Louisiana raw pecan oil.5 stars

    Reply

  12. Quick, easy, delicious and healthy ! I tossed them with a little bit of walnut oil and added salt. I do the same with walnuts and they’re really great.5 stars

    Reply

    1. Hi Mark, per the first line of the instructions – Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Thanks! -Meggan

  18. I found that both the Cajun seasoning and Cinnamon Sugar Blends were perfect on tossed salads.
    My family prefers the Cajun blend with Blue cheese and bacon bits, but I liked the Cinnamon blend with craisons and tomatoes with sour ranch as a great topper. Can’t do either without the pecans!
    Thanks.
    Rocky5 stars

    Reply

    1. Hi Karla, I hear what you’re saying but unfortunately that’s what people call it when they are looking for it. If I stop calling it that, no one will ever see my recipe. So first we have to change what people call the recipe. I used to call it Saltine Cracker Candy and no one ever saw it. If you look at the URL you will see this is true: https://www.culinaryhill.com/saltine-cracker-candy/

      -Meggan

    2. Aside from the fact that you posted your complaint on the wrong recipe, the complaint is absurd because that’s what the stuff is called, and it was called that long before the drug. Think about it.

    3. Seriously? It is what it is. Once you have given a recipe a name, that is what it becomes. I can think of a lot of crazy names given to food recipes. I wish this was the ONLY thing that I had to be concerned about right now.

    4. Cancel Culture…Karla I was eating “Crack” different recipes/ingredients since I was a child! Please ask the drug dealers to change the name of what they are dealing. Thanks!

  21. FINALLY an easy way to do this without fancy equipment! Any suggestions on desserts to add these to!?5 stars

    Reply

    1. Peyton,
      Besides snacking on this delicious treat, you can used them in snowball/ Mexican wedding cookies. Adding them to salads is great too! Enjoy.