How to make Perfectly Toasted Pecans! (or any nut for that matter!) (2024)

This recipe will help you make perfect, buttery, toasted pecans, or any other type of nuts, to use in a variety of recipes and dishes. Think of all the great pecan pies!

Toasted Pecans

There are all kinds of nuts out there, myself included, but in my house, pecans are king!

Give me a handful of perfectly toasted pecans and I am good to go.

The only way to get the perfect nut is to toast and salt it yourself, in the privacy of your own home, where only you can see how many of them you eat in one sitting.

Raw pecans are a great snack but toasted ones are even better!

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How to toast pecans in the oven

First: Preheat oven to 275F. Toss pecans with melted butter.

Second: Spread evenly in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 30 – 45 minutes stirring every 10-15 minutes to ensure even baking. When the nuts are lightly browned and fragrant (you can smell them) remove the pan from the oven.

Third: Take nuts and place them on a paper towel lined plate or cool baking sheet to remove any excess butter. Sprinkle with salt to taste. When completely cooled, store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

For the full recipe and detailed instructions, please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

Can you toast pecans (nuts) in a pan?

Yes, just make sure the pan is a heavy-bottomed dry skillet and use a medium to low heat to avoid hot spots that can burn the nut.

Stir often until the nuts are golden brown.

Can I toast pecans in the microwave?

If you don’t feel like heating up the oven or need to toast a small batch of nuts, try roasting them in the microwave. Lightly oil them (1/2 teaspoon per 1 cup of nuts) and spread them out on a microwave safe plate.

Microwave at 1 minute intervals (30 seconds if roasting small sized nuts) until golden brown, stirring in between intervals.

Are roasted and toasted pecans the same thing?

Technically you can use the terms interchangeably for nuts but roasting actually means taking a raw ingredient, exposing it to dry heat, and cooking it all the way through.

Toasting is just used to mean that the outside is browned. Toasted nuts are browned on the outside and roasted nuts are cooked through.

These pecans are roasted in this recipe because of the length of the cook time but they are also toasted too!

Uses for Toasted Pecans

• Healthy Snack on the Go
• Salad/Soup Toppings
• Add to a Cheese Board
• Lunchbox Snack
• Decorate Cakes and Cupcakes
• Hostess Gifts/Teacher Gifts
• Add to Pies and Cookies
• Add crunch to Banana Bread (my fave use!)
• Crush/Chop and coat Cheese Balls

Tapas Tips & Tricks

Check out all these tips to get perfect, roasted pecan halves or roasted nuts every time you make them!

START LOW! Keep the oven temperature below 300F so you don’t cook the nuts too fast. I prefer 250F or 275F but you might want to go even lower if the nut is smaller like a sunflower seed but I don’t recommend going below 200F as you will be there all day waiting for those nuts to toast.

Lowering the temperature allows the nuts to toast evenly and all the way through. The only trade off is more time. But you get something in return for your patience, more flavor.

GO SLOW! Proper toasting takes time. Start with 10-minute increments and see how they do. Small seeds take only a few minutes but larger nuts take time. For a sunflower seed, I might go for 20 minutes stirring in 5-minute increments.

Letting the nuts toast slowly allows more time for the natural oils from the nuts to come out.

Add flavor to your toasted pecans

BUTTER! Get some help from butter by adding some melted butter to the nuts. This adds another barrier between the heat and the surface of the nut. With the help of the butter blanket, your nuts will get a flavor boost and it helps the nut toast evenly. Let’s not forget that it helps the salt stick to the nuts better.

GET SALTY! Salt them while they are hot! We want the salt to stick to the nuts, not fall off when you store them.

If you are skeptical about salting your nuts use it sparingly. Salt brings out the flavors of the food it is added to even if you are using it for sweet treats so I add it to all of my nuts.

If you are on a salt-restricted diet or just don’t like more salt then leave it off the whole batch and add right before you add the nuts to your recipe.

*Kitchen Hack*

I make small foil baking trays so I can remove the smaller nuts and leave the larger ones in longer without having to remove the whole tray.

Should you toast pecans before using in baking recipes?

Toasting brings out the nutty flavor so roasting your nuts will only enhance the flavor of your baked goods. It’s best to roast the nuts whole or in halves and then chop before using.

Chopping beforehand will lead to small pieces that will easily burn.

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Should pecans be refrigerated?

Toasted Pecans are best refrigerated. Personally, when I but pecans I immediately come home and toast them in a big batch.

After that I break them into smaller portions and store them in the freezer. I will keep one portion in the refrigerator to snack on!

Nuts and seeds contain oils that can turn rancid if left at room temperature for too long.

How long do they last?

They will last for one month in the refrigerator or 3 months in the freezer. If I have a large batch they might last 6 months.

If I was to keep them that long I would use a vacuum food bag system to remove the air. Just be sure to store them in an airtight container so they don’t absorb other odors.

With these tips, you will have perfectly toasted pecans or other nuts that will liven up a school lunchbox, add crunch to your cheese board, add texture to your baked goods, and add some healthy fats to your trail mix and snack bags!

Is it better to toast pecans whole or in pieces?

It doesn’t really matter what the size of the pecans are, you just need to adjust the cooking time. Pieces and pecan halves are smaller in size so they will toast faster. Sometimes in even half the original time.

Toasting pecans whole, or in the shell, is not something that I have done. I have toasted them as pecan halves or pieces.

I prefer to toast mine in halves and then chop them into smaller pieces as needed.

Favorite Tools

• This is oneBaking Sheet I recommend.
• I use aSilicone Baking Sheet if I am out of parchment paper.
• These Silicone Parchment Sheets are amazing. They are not on a roll and lie flat right from the get-go. Perfectly sized for my pan.No cutting!

If you love this recipeas much as I do, please write a five-star review in the comment section below (or on Pinterest with the “tried it” button – you can now add pictures into reviews, too!), and be sure to help me share on facebook!

Now that you know how to perfectly roast nuts, what will you be putting these pecans in? Check out all my nut recipes!

More Delicious Snacks

• Garlic Artichoke Cheese Bread
• Cheesy Olive Bread
• Butter Pecan Toffee
• Crispy Sugared Pecans
• Pimento Cheese Bread

{Originally Posted 4/29/2015 – photos and notes updated 7/21/2018 & 10/21/21}

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