Pickled Walnuts Recipe - How to Make Pickled Walnuts | Hank Shaw (2024)

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4.88 from 25 votes

By Hank Shaw

June 30, 2014 | Updated June 06, 2022

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Pickled Walnuts Recipe - How to Make Pickled Walnuts | Hank Shaw (2)

There may be a few foods that are more English than pickled walnuts, but with the possible exception of fish and chips, I can’t think of one. Chances are, however, you’ve never heard of them. I hadn’t, until several years ago when I ordered the meat-and-cheese plate at alocal Irish place called deVere’s.

On this place was a black disk. I asked the waitress what on earth it was, and she smiled; she’d had this question before: “It’s a pickled walnut. It’s good with the cheddar.”

I followed her advice and stabbed the disk with my fork, adding a bit of cheddar cheese and a bit of cold roast beef to round things out. Wow. It was a bit like eating solid steak sauce, with a little floral aroma and a zephyr of bitterness that just barely let you notice it.

I ate another disk all by itself: Fairly soft, puckery and strangely floral. And yes, there was definitely a Worcestershire-Heinz 57-A1-thing going on here. How had I never had these before?

Turns out that very, very few people outside of Britain eat them. This should change, which is why I am presenting you with this recipe. And the reason I am posting this now is because you need to get out and get your walnuts now. That’s right, you need green, unripe walnuts to make pickles. And yes, you use the whole thing, hull and all.

Pickled Walnuts Recipe - How to Make Pickled Walnuts | Hank Shaw (3)

I got mine a few weeks ago, after an unsuccessful fishing trip with my friend Joe. We were in the Delta and as we were driving out, I noticed a NorCal black walnut (Juglans hindsii) absolutely laden down with nuts. “Pull over!” Joe, used to this by now, did. I gathered about 150 nuts in less than 15 minutes. It was a bonanza.

I knew I was in business right when I got to the tree, but just to be sure I pulled out my pocketknife and sliced an unripe nut in half. You need to do this, either with a knife or a stout needle or a long nail, because you have to catch the unripe walnuts before the shell forms. Once that shell forms inside the walnut’s hull, you’re too late; the traditional harvest date in England is late June.

The process for pickled walnuts is not hard at all, but it takes more than a week. You need to brine the green walnuts for a good long time before they will be ready to pickle properly. The brine time helps with preservation and removes some of the bitterness in the unripe walnuts. Once brine pickled, they are pretty durable.

Do you need to sun-blacken the walnuts? No, but doing so gives you a nice, uniform look to them. Otherwise they will be olive green in some places, blotchy black in others.

Pickled Walnuts Recipe - How to Make Pickled Walnuts | Hank Shaw (4)

Once you have your pickled walnuts, what do you do with them? Look to the English. Traditionally they are part of a ploughman’s lunch, with other pickles, cheese and cold meats. But I see them a lot tossed into beef or lamb stews (pot pies and pasties, too!) in wintertime, and in summertime I’ve seen them served in cool salads alongside tomatoes, and accompanying shellfish such as scallops or shrimp.

4.88 from 25 votes

Pickled Walnuts

Any walnuts will work with this recipe, from tiny native Arizona walnuts to big, fat English walnuts, which are the kind you buy in stores. But you do need them hull and all, so this only works if you have a tree nearby. The pickling liquid in my recipe is very traditional; you'll see variations on it throughout England. I've also made a Chinese-inspired version with Sichuan peppercorns and star anise replacing the allspice. This recipe makes about 3 quarts.

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Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: British

Servings: 25

Author: Hank Shaw

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 0 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Ingredients

  • About 50 to 60 green, unripe walnuts
  • 1/2 cup kosher salt
  • 1/2 gallon water
  • 2 quarts cider or malt vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon cracked allspice berries
  • 1 ounce ginger, about 1 1/2-inch pieces, smashed
  • 1 cup brown sugar

Instructions

  • Dissolve the salt in the water to make a brine. Put on some rubber gloves if you have them, because walnut juice will stain your hands for weeks -- and it won't come off. Trust me on this one. Properly gloved, stab each walnut with a fork in several places; this helps the brine penetrate. Submerge the walnuts in the brine and let them ferment for 8 days at room temperature.

  • Remove the walnuts and put them on a baking sheet and leave them outside in the sun for a day, until they turn uniformly black. You can do this step without gloves if you want.

  • Pack the walnuts into quart jars. Bring the remaining ingredients to a boil and pour over the walnuts. Leave very little headspace in the jars. Seal and keep in a cool place, either the fridge or a basem*nt -- you just want them to rest below 70°F -- for at least a month before you eat them. Kept this way they will last a year.

Notes

Note that prep time does not include fermenting time.

Nutrition

Calories: 49kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 2272mg | Potassium: 24mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe? Tag me today!Mention @huntgathercook or tag #hankshaw!

Categorized as:
Appetizers and Snacks, British, Featured, Foraging, Preservation Recipes, Recipe

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About Hank Shaw

Hey there. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet’s largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook.

Read More About Me

Pickled Walnuts Recipe - How to Make Pickled Walnuts | Hank Shaw (2024)

FAQs

How to make fermented walnuts? ›

Properly gloved, stab each walnut with a fork in several places; this helps the brine penetrate. Submerge the walnuts in the brine and let them ferment for 8 days at room temperature. Remove the walnuts and put them on a baking sheet and leave them outside in the sun for a day, until they turn uniformly black.

What does boiling walnuts do? ›

The primary reason for boiling walnuts is to soften their shells. This is particularly beneficial when dealing with fresh, hard-to-crack walnuts.

Are pickled walnuts healthy? ›

Health Benefits of Pickled Walnuts

Walnuts have many health benefits, as they have a lot of healthy, polyunsaturated fats, which are good for your heart and can help keep cholesterol down, as they also contain omega-3.

Why are pickled walnuts black? ›

Soaking the walnuts in brine causes a chemical reaction to take place and the walnuts turn dark brown to black in colour when exposed to sunlight. The now-black walnuts are then placed into jars and a pickling solution poured over them.

How long does it take to ferment nuts? ›

' Basically to ferment the seeds, beans, nuts and grains you need to cover with warm (room temp) filtered water for 24-48 hours and add a tbsp of acid (lemon juice, apple cider vinegar or pure whey) to each cup of seeds/grains etc you will be using.

Why should we soak walnuts before eating? ›

Walnuts should be soaked because doing so makes them easier for the body to digest than eating them raw. The phytic acid found in nuts, which is reduced by soaking walnuts, contributes to increased absorption as well. Raw walnut digestion may be more difficult for those with weak gut.

How long should I boil walnuts for? ›

Place 5 cups of the water in a pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the walnuts and stir. Allow the water to return to a boil and boil for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and run cold water into the pot.

Can you boil walnuts instead of soaking? ›

So, if you forget or don't have the patience to wait 8 hours while the walnuts soak (I certainly don't), I suggest boiling them! This will soften them really quickly (only about 15-20 minutes, as opposed to 8+ hours of soaking) so they blend well and you end up with a silky smooth and creamy walnut milk.

How do you get the bitterness out of walnuts? ›

Place walnuts in boiling water for five minutes to remove bitter taste. Remove from water and drain, then run cold water over the walnuts.

Is there a downside to eating walnuts? ›

Your body may have a hard time absorbing iron.

Walnuts contain phytic acid, a compound that can inhibit the absorption of iron. And although they aren't the nut with the highest concentration of this acid, (we're looking at you, Brazil nuts!), they do contain some and it should be taken into account when you eat them.

Who eats pickled walnuts? ›

Pickled walnuts (from English walnut, Juglans regia) are a traditional British delicacy.

Is it OK to eat a handful of walnuts everyday? ›

An ounce (30 grams) of walnuts a day has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease. The recommended serving size is a small handful or 1½ ounces (45 grams) a day. Walnuts make an excellent nutrient-dense snack, and you can easily carry them wherever you go.

How did Native Americans use black walnuts? ›

The Comanche created a paste from the leaves and husk of the fruit for treatment of ringworm. Black walnut was also used by the Appalachian, Cherokee, Comanche, Iroquois, and Rappahannock to treat athlete's foot, hemorrhoids, and as an insecticide.

Why are black walnuts so expensive? ›

Tree Quality – The higher the quality of the black walnut tree, the higher its value. Learn more about determining black walnut tree value by reading this article. Harvest Quantity – The more black walnut trees loggers harvest from a property, the higher the price you can expect to receive.

What is the disease in the black walnuts? ›

Thousand cankers disease (TCD) ravages black walnut trees, which are recognized as some of the rarest, most valuable hardwoods in North America. The disease is caused by a harmful fungus (Geosmithia morbida) spread by walnut twig beetles (Pityophthorus juglandis).

How do you activate raw walnuts? ›

Dissolve salt in enough water to cover the amount of nuts/seeds you are activating. In a large bowl place your nut or seed of choice. Cover with the salt water solution. Soak for the required number of hours.

Can you eat fermented nuts? ›

Probiotics had generated delicious savory, tangy, and umami flavors! Crunchier than raw almonds, they're fantastic by the handful, on your charcuterie board, or in your trail mix. Fermented almonds have superpowers beyond their craveable taste and crunchy texture.

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