Southern Boiled Peanuts Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What type of salt is best for boiled peanuts? ›

Use a large dinner plate to help submerge the floating peanuts. Soak peanuts 8 hours or overnight. (This step saves a little time boiling, but if you don't have the luxury of soaking time, you can skip it.)

Made from sugar, fermented apples, and yeast, the vinegar adds a sweet, tangy flavor to the peanuts. The acid provides balance to the savory spices that have already been added, transforming the peanuts into a well-rounded, flavorful snack with depth.

Boiled peanuts that are overcooked or left out for too long can become slimy. Make sure to cook until tender (not mushy), and refrigerate any leftovers after serving.

Put one cup of salt per gallon of water in a big pot. Add the Cajun seasoning, if desired.

If peanuts aren't salty enough, add more salt to pot, 1/4 cup at a time. When peanuts are cooked, remove pot from heat, and let peanuts cool in pot 1 hour. Drain peanuts and eat, or store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 7 days.

Cook on high pressure for 60 to 80 minutes, depending on how soft you want them. I cook mine for 65 since I still like mine with a bit of bite to them. If you like them soft, you'll need to cook them closer to 80 minutes. Once the peanuts are done, allow the pressure cooker to slow-release for 30 minutes.

Once the peanuts have boiled for three hours (one hour for green peanuts), sample them to check their texture and salinity. Remove a peanut, and when it is cool enough to handle, crack open its shell and taste the kernel, slurping some brine with it. If the peanut crunches, it should be cooked further.

It is very hard to overcook boiled peanuts. When in doubt, give them a little longer.

The combination is believed to have developed in the South during the 1920s, as a snack for blue-collar workers that did not require them to wash their hands. It quickly became popular as a summer snack, especially in rural areas. The snack became an internet trend in 2018.

Why does the South boil peanuts? ›

The legumes eventually made their way to the South on board slave ships stocked with peanuts for the long voyage. According to the National Peanut Board, enslaved Africans first brought peanuts to America during the Colonial days, when boiling excess crops became a practice to share and conserve food supplies.

Boiled peanuts can get slimy if they're overcooked or sit in the brine for too long.

Too much peanuts intake at one time may even lead to stomach discomfort. Constipation, diarrhoea and bloating are common issues associated with excessive peanuts intake. So, it is recommended to take peanuts in moderate quantities if you are already suffering from stomach related issues.

The dry peanuts will float on top of the water, but they need to be fully submerged. Nicole uses a smaller pot lid to weigh them down. When they start to sink on their own (about halfway through the cooking time), you can replace it with a lid that fits the pot.

How do you store boiled peanuts? Fresh boiled peanuts should be kept refrigerated and will keep for about 10 days, possibly longer, in the fridge. For longer storage, boiled peanuts should be frozen.

And boiled peanuts properly come in only one flavor: salted. So, anyway, I digress. And I repeat the secret formula for emphasis: peanuts, tap water, cheap iodized salt. For four pounds of peanuts I used about two-thirds of the Morton's Salt container shown in the picture.

These roasted peanuts are seasoned with sea salt to enhance their flavor.

Cover the nuts with filtered water. Stir in 1 tablespoon (14.78 mL) of sea salt until the salt is mostly dissolved. Let the nuts soak in the water. The soaking time depends on the types of nuts you use.

For the salt, you can use plain old table salt or kosher salt, whatever you have on hand. Southerners don't get fancy with this stuff. It's part of our charm! If you use fresh green peanuts, the cooking time can be shorter.