Do you ever eat a couple of handfuls full of walnuts or a few tablespoons of nut butter and wonder why it feels as though you dropped a brick in your stomach? It’s because nuts that have not been soaked contain enzyme inhibitors that can cause uncomfortable digestion.
Now when I first read about this process in Nourishing Traditions I thought it was a bit extreme and unnecessary. Then when I actually tried it and compared it to the raw or roasted nuts or nut butters that I had been eating I was convinced – it really does make a difference.
So far I have tried this with walnuts, pecans and almonds – all with great success. I hope to make nut butter out of them soon.
Soaked & Dehydrated Nuts
from Nourishing Traditions
Recipe Note: You can use a dehydrator or if you have an oven that goes to down to 150 degrees or less use that and leave it on through the day and overnight as needed.
Pecans or Walnuts
- 4 cups of nuts
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- enough filtered water to cover
- Combine nuts, water to cover and sea salt. Soak for 7 or more hours (I did mine overnight).
- Drain and dehydrate 12-24 hours, until completely dry and crisp.
Be sure to store walnuts in the refrigerator as they can become rancid easily.
Almonds
- 4 cups raw almonds, preferably skinless
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- enough filtered water to cover
- Combine nuts, water to cover and sea salt. Soak for 7 or more hours (I did mine overnight).
- Drain and dehydrate 12-24 hours, until completely dry and crisp.
Store in pantry.
Cashews
- 4 cups of raw cashews
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- enough filtered water to cover
According to Sally Fallon cashews can become slimy and disagreeable if you soak them too long or dry them out too slowly, so be careful. I have yet to try this with cashews so I have no personal experience.
- Combine nuts, water to cover and sea salt. Soak for 6 hours, no longer
- Drain and dehydrate at 200 degrees F for 12-24 hours, or until completely dry and crisp.
Store in an airtight container
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Thank you for this! I think this will make a wonderful difference!
Can’t wait to try it out!
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This is interesting, thanks for the info. I always thought that feeling was because nuts are protein which makes you feel full. But sometimes it feels worse than “full.” Will have to try this out.
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Great post! I’m bummed. I LOVE nuts and eat them all the time. I want to make crispy nuts, but my oven only goes to 170 and I don’t have a dehydrator.
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Thanks! I think I will give it a try.
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I love crispy nuts…. I dry them out in my oven with just the oven light on and it works fine.
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Hi Shannon!
I just had a quick question for you regarding soaking of nuts – I bake a lot with blanched almond flour because I have Celiac. I still have trouble digesting what I bake. Can you please tell if if you know anything about soaking the actual almond flour and if so, recommendations? Thanks so much!
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HI,
Do you have time recommendations for soaking brazil nuts or are they a diet no no for some reason? I can’t seem to find any info on them at all, which makes me wonder if they may be clean eating taboo for some reason.
I hope you are feeling better- strep has been going around here too.
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Tina – I have never eaten or read about brazil nuts, so I am not sure. Sorry I can’t help.
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[...] soak almonds & pumpkin seeds, thaw beef, cook turkey [...]
Do you ever make nut butters with these? I’m wondering if that’s possible after soaking and dehydrating. I just bought a big bag of raw valencia peanuts and was planning to make our own PB. I’m assuming peanuts also should be soaked/dehydrated, but then what about making it into PB? Thanks!
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Shannon Reply:
April 11th, 2010 at 4:40 pm
Carrie – Yes! I add coconut oil as well and it is delicious. I have not tried it with peanuts, but would love to if I could find some raw peanuts.
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[...] Soaked and deydrated nuts [...]
your entries could have been written by me. it’s absolutely remarkable, and I love it!
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[...] found an article that explains how to dehydrate specific types of nuts and at what temperature. The article suggests adding salt during the [...]