How to Roast Cashews

Basic Roasted Cashews

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius). Grab a large baking tray for your cashews, but do not add any grease to the tray. If you’re concerned about the nuts sticking, however, you can line the tray with parchment paper. If roasting a small amount of cashews, consider using a cake pan instead, which you can shake frequently during cooking to toss the oils. Cashews can be oil roasted or dry roasted. If you dry roast the cashews and wish to add salt without adding any oil, try coating or spraying your cashews with brine or salt-water solution, then letting them dry, before roasting them. This helps the salt adhere to the nuts.

Spread the cashews evenly across the baking tray. Try to keep the cashews in a single, even layer to promote even roasting. If working with large batches, it would be preferable to use multiple trays rather than piling the cashews into one.

Consider adding oil. Roasting cashews with a little oil is recommended, but not strictly necessary. Drizzle between 1 and 2 tsp (5 and 10 mL) of oil over the cashews. Stir and toss the cashews gently on the baking tray to coat evenly with oil. Roasting the nuts in oil will enhance the flavor and texture, but it will increase the overall oiliness of the finished product. If you're using them for baking purposes (e.g., adding them to cookies or brownies), omit the oil and skip this step. If you're eating them on their own or using them as a garnish, however, roast the cashews in oil. Less is more in this step. You can add more oil later, as needed, after your cashews have started roasting. You can use a nut oil, like almond oil or walnut oil, or opt for another healthy oil, like grapeseed oil, olive oil, or coconut oil.

Roast the cashews in the oven on the middle rack for five minutes. After five minutes, remove them from the oven and stir using a spoon or spatula. This helps apply a new layer of oil to the cashews and reduces the risk of burning.

Return to the oven and roast, stirring frequently, until done. Return the cashews to the oven and continue roasting them in three to five minute intervals, stirring well after each interval concludes. Cashews should only need between 8 and 15 minutes of total roasting time before being ready. When ready, the nuts should release a strong yet pleasing odor and look several shades darker. You may even hear some crackling if you cooked them in oil. Cashews can burn quickly, so it's important that you check and stir frequently to minimize this risk.

Drizzle additional oil and add salt. Remove the cashews from the oven. If desired, drizzle another 1 to 2 tsp (5 to 10 mL) of oil over the cashews, then sprinkle them with about 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) of salt, adding more or less depending on personal taste. If adding the roasted cashews to baked goods, you may wish to skip the oil and salt. You could also use other seasonings as desired during this step. Examples of seasonings that complement the flavor of cashews include cinnamon, sugar, paprika, cayenne, cloves, and nutmeg. If you soaked the nuts in brine or salt water before roasting them, do not add any additional seasoning here. The initial salt in the solution should be enough.

Cool before serving. Transfer the cashews onto a plate and let them cool for 15 minutes before serving. Transferring them prevents the hot baking tray or cake pan from scorching the nuts. Once cooled, you can serve or use the cashews immediately. You may also store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks.

Honey-Roasted Cashews

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius). Meanwhile, line a large baking tray with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Since the honey coating is so sticky, honey-roasted cashews are likely to stick to the baking tray if you leave it unlined. Nonstick foil or parchment paper is strongly recommended.

Combine the glaze ingredients. Combine the honey, maple syrup, and melted butter in a large mixing bowl, then stir in the salt, vanilla, and cinnamon until all glaze ingredients are well-combined. For an even simpler version, you can stick with only honey, butter, and cinnamon. The maple syrup, salt, and vanilla all enhance the flavor of the cashews, but are not strictly necessary.

Toss the cashews in the honey glaze. Add the cashews to the bowl of honey glaze. Toss and stir the cashew and honey mixture using a large spoon or spatula to coat the nuts as evenly as possible. When thoroughly coated, spread the cashews evenly on the baking tray to form one layer.

Bake the cashews for six minutes. Remove them from the oven and toss again. This coats your cashews evenly with the honey mixture and promotes even cooking.

Roast the cashews for another six minutes. Keep an eye on them to make sure the cashews do not burn during this time. If the cashews seem ready before the full six minutes are up, pull them out early. The cashews should smell notably nutty and look deeper in color, but they should not appear dark brown or charred.

Toss the cashews with sugar and salt. Pour the finished cashews into another large, clean bowl. Toss and stir sugar and salt into the cashew mixture, coating the nuts as evenly as possible. If you’d like the nuts to be strictly sweet without any saltiness, you can skip the salt altogether and toss the cashews with sugar only. After tossing the cashews with salt and sugar, let them cool for about 15 minutes.

Enjoy. You can serve the cashews immediately, or store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Rosemary-Roasted Cashews

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius). Get a large, rimmed baking sheet out for the cashews. You do not need to line or coat the baking sheet in this method; however, if you’re concerned about the cashews sticking, you can line it with parchment paper or nonstick aluminum foil. Avoid using oil or nonstick cooking spray since these may impact the cooking process and final flavor.

Spread the cashews evenly on the baking tray to form one layer. A single, even layer will promote even cooking. Try to avoid piling the cashews in multiple layers since they may roast unevenly.

Roast the cashews in the oven for five minutes. Remove them from the oven, then stir to distribute the heat evenly. Depending on your desired level of doneness, you can either stop here or continue roasting the cashews for another 8 to 10 minutes, stopping to stir after four minute intervals. Roasting the cashews for only five minutes will warm them up without impacting the taste and texture much; roasting them for a total of 12 to 15 minutes will give the nuts a more traditional roasted flavor and crunch.

Meanwhile, combine the seasonings. While the cashews roast, combine the rosemary, cayenne, sugar, salt, and butter in a large bowl. Set the bowl aside for now. You may skip the cayenne if you’d prefer roasted nuts without a kick of heat.

Pour the finished cashews into the seasoning mixture. Once the cashews are roasted to your desired level of doneness, remove them from the oven. Toss them in the rosemary-butter mixture until all nuts are evenly coated.

Cool before serving. Allow the nuts to cool slightly, for 10 to 15 minutes, tossing occasionally to redistribute the seasoned butter. Serve them immediately once cooled or store them in an airtight container, at room temperature, for up to two weeks. Note that if you only heated the cashews for five minutes instead of the full 12 to 15, you can serve them immediately while warm instead of waiting for them to cool.

Sweet and Spicy Cashews

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (162 degrees Celsius). Line a large baking tray with nonstick aluminum foil or parchment paper.

Combine the honey and cayenne pepper. Combine the two ingredients in a large bowl, stirring thoroughly to blend them into a cohesive glaze. If the honey is too thick, you may wish to microwave the mixture for five seconds or so to help liquify it. Doing so should make it easier to combine the two ingredients. If you'd like to add more dimension to this recipe, you could try adding both honey and maple syrup; stick with a total of 1/4 cup (60 ml), but vary the proportions according to your own sense of taste.

Stir in the cashews. Pour the cashews into the mixing bowl. Stir and toss the cashews in the honey and cayenne mixture to coat them evenly, then transfer the coated cashews to your prepared baking tray. Make sure to spread the cashews evenly across the baking tray to form one layer. Otherwise, your cashews will not roast evenly; some may burn while others remain too raw.

Roast the cashews in the oven for five minutes. Remove the cashews after this time and stir using a large spoon or spatula. This coats your cashews evenly with the sweet and spicy mixture, and promotes even cooking.

Roast the cashews for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until done. The nuts should smell pleasantly strong and look slightly darkened when finished. Make sure that you stir the cashews every three to five minutes as they finish cooking. If you cook them without stirring, they’ll be more likely to burn or cook unevenly.

Sprinkle the cashews with sugar and salt. Remove the cashews and let cool for five minutes, then sprinkle the warm nuts with the sugar and salt. Toss gently to coat. It may help to combine the sugar and salt in a small, clean bowl prior to sprinkling the ingredients over the cashews. Mixing them beforehand will make it easier to distribute an even amount of both over the nuts.

Cool fully before enjoying. Let the nuts cool fully before serving, or transfer them to an airtight storage container for later enjoyment. These cashews should stay good for about one week when kept at room temperature.