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Learn How to Toast Walnuts in the oven or on the stove. This simple technique enhances the flavor of walnuts for salads, snack mixes, baked goods, grain bowls, roasted vegetables, and more.
Toasting raw walnuts is generally optional, but it’s almost always recommended. The toasting process adds a better taste, golden brown color, nutty aroma, and a delicious crunch. Nuts toast quickly in the oven or on the stovetop, and they add a healthy, gluten free, protein-packed, omega-3 rich element to many recipes.
Give banana bread, chocolate chip cookies, and pumpkin pancakes extra texture. Sprinkle toasted nuts over ice cream, salads, oatmeal, and in snack mixes. And use toasted walnuts in your favorite roasted vegetable side dishes (just stir them in after roasting the veggies so they don’t scorch), and top your next Pear Crisp with a handful.
Table of Contents
Ingredient notes
- Walnuts: Cooking times vary depending on which method you choose. And keep an eye on your walnuts! They can go from zero to burnt in under a minute. Don’t walk away.
- Oil or melted butter: Roasting in fat is optional for plain walnuts and helpful when you want to add spices and seasonings.
Step-by-step instructions
To toast walnuts in the oven:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or foil for easy cleanup.
- Toss walnuts 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. Or, store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
To toast walnuts on the stove:
- Toss walnuts in oil and salt if desired. In a medium skillet over medium heat, heat walnuts until browned and fragrant, stirring occasionally, about 2 to 5 minutes.
- Remove from skillet and chop or use as desired. Or, store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: The recipe as written makes 1 cup of toasted walnuts (enough for 4 servings, ¼ cup each). It can easily be doubled or tripled as needed.
- Storage: Store raw and roasted walnuts for a year or more in the refrigerator or the freezer (not the pantry). They spoil easily, especially when roasted. If they smell like paint, throw them away immediately.
- Freezer: For longer storage, store walnuts in the freezer. Both raw and toasted walnuts, once opened and exposed to air, are prone to turning rancid. Unopened, factory-sealed walnuts are safe in the pantry until their expiration date.
- Trail mix: Make a healthy snack mix by adding cranberries, pumpkin seeds, and cashews to your toasted walnuts.
- On roasted veggies: Add toasted walnuts to Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Roasted Butternut Squash, or Roasted Green Beans.
- Rosemary walnuts: Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a nonstick skillet. Add 2 cups walnuts and ½ teaspoon dried rosemary. Toast over medium-low heat until fragrant, about 8 minutes.
- Lemon-garlic walnuts: Heat 1 tbsp olive oil or butter in a nonstick skillet. Add 2 cups walnuts, ½ teaspoon lemon zest, and 1 clove minced garlic. Toast over medium-low heat until fragrant, about 8 minutes.
- Barbecued walnuts: Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan. Add 2 cups walnuts, ½ teaspoon cumin, ⅛ teaspoon chili powder, ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper, and a pinch of cloves. Toast over medium-low heat until fragrant, about 8 minutes.
- Spiced walnuts: Heat 1 tbsp butter in a nonstick skillet. Add 2 cups walnuts, 2 tablespoons sugar, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ⅛ teaspoon cloves, and ⅛ teaspoon allspice. Toast over medium-low heat until fragrant, about 8 minutes.
- All the nuts: Learn how to toast hazelnuts (filberts), how to toast pecans, how to toast pine nuts, and how to roast almonds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Both the stovetop and the oven work. The stovetop is faster because you don’t have to wait for the oven to preheat, but the oven is superior if you have a lot going on and don’t want to forget to stir the walnuts.
Roast walnuts in a 350-degree oven for 7 to 10 minutes (oven temperatures may vary, so keep an eye on your walnuts).
In theory, chopping the nuts first would lead to more toast-able surfaces and would lead to better flavor. In my experience, though, I never notice the difference. I find it easier to handle walnut halves when transferring them around the kitchen, so I save chopping until I’m done toasting. But if you bought chopped nuts, you can still toast them and it’s great!
Toast in a dry skillet over medium heat for 2 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Cool to room temperature.
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How to Toast Walnuts
Instructions
To toast walnuts in the oven:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or foil for easy cleanup.
- Toss walnuts 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. Or, store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
To toast walnuts on the stove:
- Toss walnuts in oil and salt if desired. In a medium skillet over medium heat, heat walnuts until browned and fragrant, stirring occasionally, about 2 to 5 minutes.
- Remove from skillet and chop or use as desired. Or, store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Walnuts: Cooking times vary depending on which method you choose. And keep an eye on your walnuts! They can go from zero to burnt in under a minute. Don’t walk away.
- Oil or butter: Roasting in fat is optional for plain walnuts and helpful when you want to add spices and seasonings.
- Yield: The recipe as written makes 1 cup of toasted walnuts (enough for 4 servings, ¼ cup each). It can easily be doubled or tripled as needed.
- Storage: Store raw and roasted walnuts for a year or more in the refrigerator or the freezer (not the pantry). They spoil easily, especially when roasted. If they smell like paint, throw them away immediately.
Nutrition
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.
good recipe
Thank you, aikasia! Take care! – Meggan
Easy and quite delicious! Thank you for sharing your creativity!
You’re welcome, Elaine! Take care! – Meggan
Made a big batch of the Lemon-garlic walnuts to serve with caesar salad in place of croutons. Thanks for providing this recipe variation Meggan, they were absolutely delicious.
Hi Carla, you’re so welcome! What a great use of them, I love it! Take care! – Meggan
Can you make the spiced recipe with pecans?
Yes! They may take a little less time than walnuts, so keep an eye on them! Here are some more ideas for pecans, also! https://www.culinaryhill.com/how-to-toast-pecans/
The spiced walnuts were delicious! Can I do the same recipe on pecans?
I am a bit confused. You state up front, “They can go from zero to burnt in under a minute. Don’t walk away.” But when putting them in an oven preheated to 350-degrees, you give the cooking time as 7-10 minutes, which is a range of THREE minutes, which is way longer than the “less than 1 minute in which they can burn”. Having not roasted them before, how do I know when they are done since I may not recognize the right degree of smell you label “fragrant”?
Hi Jimmy, oven and stovetop temperatures vary. I recommend whichever method you use to toast the walnuts, to keep an eye on them as they cook. They will become darker in color, and the nutty flavor will be more intense than when they were raw. I hope this helps! Take care! – Meggan
Meggan, good directions, but I do not see how much salt to add for each cup of walnuts.
Hi Joe, the salt is optional and you just add to taste. Hope this helps! – Meggan
This is the best salad Ive ever had. It is so delicious!!! I could eat it every day. And Im seriously thinking about it. Thank you for sharing. Have a great day.
Thanks Denise, so glad you loved it! – Meggan
Thank you! the instructions on roasting walnuts was very helpful.
Thanks Bonnie, hope you enjoy your walnuts! – Meggan
At what temp????
Hi Kate, the temperature for the oven is 350 degrees. – Meggan