How to Roast Pine Nuts in Oven

This is how to roast pine nuts in the oven, air fryer, microwave or on the stovetop. Toasted pine nuts are great for homemade pesto or just snacking.

How to Toast Pine Nuts

We shared how to roast hazelnuts with you last week, then made Crockpot boiled peanuts. Yes, we are all about nuts this time of year for sure. I mean they bring back memories from your childhood this time of year right? Well they do for me for sure. I can picture it now.

At my grandparents house they always had a huge bowl with different types on the buffet table. My cousin and I always guessed what each one was called. Some were huge, others still in their shells and others were teeny tiny like these. A salty treat we always loved to eat.

This is the one we are focusing on in this post with the recipe card below, I will explain others too though. With this one you just need a baking sheet and parchment paper underneath is kinda’ nice to have. Salted before and after is kinda’ where it’s at. You could even add a bit of heat with red pepper flakes.

Ingredients

You can find a bag of raw pine nuts at the store like you see here. Roasting them yourself means that you can get the right golden brown for your liking and season them as you love as well. A bit of olive oil spray will allow them to reach a golden brown and we like them salted, but that is optional.

How to Roast Pine Nuts in Oven

• Prepare a rimmed baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Spread nuts on a parchment paper lined baking sheet in a single layer.
• Bake 4 minutes – at this time nuts should be lightly browned. * You can spray with olive oil at minute 3 and salt if you like at this time.

Can you roast pine nuts in air fryer?

Yep! Preheat your machine to 325 degrees F. Roasting nuts in air fryer timing will depend on the variety used; almonds take about 6 minutes, air fryer peanuts are closer to 10 minutes, hazelnuts are 6, and pine nuts in air fryer are about 3 min.

You should shake the basket halfway thru to rotate. Cook time will vary depending on how browned you want them to become.

Can you roast pine nuts on the stove?

Yes, this is possible too, we will share in the oven below. Both will lightly brown them and work just great. For this you’d add them into a small dry skillet in a single layer. I love a cast iron skillet but use what you have. Turn the heat to medium / low temperature, stir frequently and toast until golden brown.

About a minute before you think they will be done you can spray or dab a small amount of olive oil on top and sprinkle on your seasonings so that sticks nicely too. Optional step but nice nonetheless. If you are using the oven method here is a quick step by step.

How to Roast Pine Nuts for Pesto

You are going to follow the directions below and allow to completely cool first before you make pesto with pine nuts or store for later. If keeping longer than that day keep nuts in a dry ziploc bag or airtight container. Use within 1 week or they will turn rancid.

Can you roast pine nuts in the microwave?

You can totally do it this way too. All you do is spread your pieces in a single layer on an oven safe plate. Put into microwave and nuke for about 2 minutes until fragrant and slightly browned. Take out and allow to cool to room temperature, they need to cool completely before you store toasted pine nuts or they will get wet and go bad fast.

How do you Toast Nuts in a Toaster Oven?

You’re going to want to use the bake setting for this. Preheat the toaster oven to 325 degrees F. Spread your nuts on an un greased baking sheet or pan and spread out so they aren’t overlapping. Toast nuts, shaking the pan so they rotate about every 3 to 4 minutes until browned to your liking.

How to use pine nuts in recipes

I mean anything you would want to sprinkle nuts into you could use these. They have a light nutty flavor that is already small enough and doesn’t need to be crushed. On the savory end of the spectrum vs. our candied pecans they bring the salty to a sweeter dish like;

• The easiest way is to lightly chop and add into a topping for lots of things like our muffin crumb topping.
• One my girls love is to add some with granola on to a bowl of yogurt! Adds a bit of crunchy texture, protein and good fat to an otherwise bland breakfast.
• Of course you can blend with garlic, basil and all the things to make pesto sauce. Then make air fryer pesto chicken with it.
• You can incorporate it into your homemade easy hummus recipe to add yet another great flavor in with your garbanzo beans and garlic.

Anything you’d use chopped walnuts, cashews, brazil nuts, and others you could substitute with these. OR use half and half to bring a whole new flavor to your dish and see what you think of it that way! Let us know what your favorite way to use these is so we can try yours this week too!