My husband Mike invented these delicious cocktail nuts. He generally steers clear of cooking but makes these regularly as his g0-to snack. S0 that tells you two things – they’re good enough to get him to apply heat in the kitchen and they’re easy to make.
They’re not actually hot spicy but rather nicely spiced. The smoked paprika gives these a unique and great taste without all the “natural flavor” chemicals that go into store-bought smoked almonds. They were inspired by our Persian friend Monir, who taught us to put lemon juice on nuts as they bake. The lemon juice adds a nice depth and flavor.
Mike's Spicy Nuts - Low Carb, Gluten, Dairy, and Sugar Free
Serves: 3 cups
Ingredients
- 3 cups mixed raw nuts of your choice (I use almonds, cashews and pecans)
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 2 Tablespoons smoked paprika ( I only use the Chiquillin brand, see note)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Put nuts on a baking sheet. If you want clean-up to be easier, place a piece of parchment paper on the baking sheet first.
- Add oil, lemon juice, and salt. Mix (I use my hands) to coat nuts. Cook until lemon juice has dried and nuts are slightly toasted but not finished, about 10-12 minutes. Stir once during that time.
- Remove from oven and stir in smoked paprika (a spatula works well for this), coating nuts evenly. Return to oven and cook until lightly browned but not burnt, about 2 minutes. Be sure to watch carefully as nuts go from done to burnt quickly.
- Allow to cool before serving.
- Note:
- The nuts will not be crisp when they first come out of the oven. They crisp up as they cool.
- I've tried a number of brands of smoked paprika and the best one by far is the Chiquilin brand.
Thank you SO much for this recipe! Can’t wait to try it (well, I need to get the paprika first). I keep pecans, almonds and cashews on hand, in order to have a handy protein snack, but they do get rather boring. Plus, the pecans are not crisp.
Hi Beverly,
Thanks so much for letting me know!