15 Common Types of Nuts

Almonds are seeds that come from the almond tree. They’re hard but sweet, and they’re used to create almond milk, almond oil, and even almond flour. You might chop them up in salads. Try adding sliced almonds to vegetable sides like this green beans almondine. You can also candy almonds and use them to make crust or breading.

Marcona almonds are a Spanish variety that’s rounder, flatter, and more tender than regular almonds. They’re usually roasted or fried in olive oil and salted, and you may have eaten them on a cheese and charcuterie board. Their sweetness makes them a delicious snack.

Brazil nuts (which are seeds that come from the aptly named Brazil nut tree) originate in the rainforest and have a buttery flavor. Their high fat content gives them a rich, creamy texture. They’re most often blanched or eaten raw.

Their buttery, slightly sweet taste makes it hard to stop popping cashews. They are often made into cashew milk and nut butter. Beyond snacking, cashews can also be added as a garnish to make a stir-fry, and I like to use them in my baked energy bars.

“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire” isn’t just a song lyric. People love to roast and eat them. Just don’t eat the shell or skin. They have a spongy, soft texture once cooked (mostly when you boil them). They taste more grainy than nutty and are often compared to the taste of sweet potatoes. Once cooked, they are also buttery and soft like a potato.

Coconuts conjure up images in the summertime, but once the “meat” is dried, there’s so much you can do with coconuts. You can buy coconut in flakes, desiccated, or shredded, and it comes both sweetened and unsweetened. Add it to salads, oatmeal, crusts, and baked goods like my coconut custard pie.

Probably best known as a part of the tasty twosome that make Nutella or Gianduja (a type of chocolate) so delicious, hazelnuts are small, round, and sweet. Like almonds and cashews, you can also grind hazelnuts to use in seafood crusts and baked goods. They’re crunchy and have thin brown skin that flakes off when toasted.

Although most known for their role in sugary macadamia nut cookies, brownies, and other desserts, their rich, buttery flavor works in savory dishes too. You can also add them to salads and puree them into soups. Additionally, you can turn them into nut butter for spreading or baking.

As one of the lesser-known types of nuts, you might not recognize them right away. They resemble the teardrop shape of almonds but may be smaller. Taste-wise, they’re most like sunflower seeds or pine nuts. Their lighter notes lend them well to salads and garnishing. Try lightly toasting them and snacking away.

Despite not being a nut at all, they’re technically a legume. Peanuts are often used in snack mixes with other nuts and, of course, homemade peanut butter. They are also used in Asian cuisine, like Kung Pao chicken, to add crunch and texture. Their rich, roasted flavor also makes them great in baked goods and peanut butter cookies.

Pecans are larger and crinkled, funnier-looking than some nuts, but their sweetness makes them a great baking partner (especially on these no-yeast sticky buns). Glaze or toast them as a sweet snack. Add them to leafy greens or a chicken salad sandwich.

Possibly the smallest nut on this list, pine nuts are perfect for toasting and adding to salads. It brings out their light, sweet flavor. They are light in color and have a soft, oily texture. And we can’t forget that pine nuts are a vital ingredient when making your homemade pesto.

As one of the more rich-tasting nuts, pistachios make a great crust for seafood but lend themselves equally well to desserts (ehm, pistachio chai popsicles anyone?). They are green underneath their light brown shells, which aren’t meant to be eaten. 

Here’s another one that isn’t really a nut: tiger nuts are small tubers that grow underground on a type of sedge plant. They are small and wrinkly looking, like a chickpea with more texture. They sometimes look like corn-puffed cereal. They taste earthy with slight sweetness, and they’re chewier than you might expect after snacking on other more well-known nuts. You can eat them straight as a snack or add them to salads and overnight oats.

At a distance, walnuts look like small pieces of peanut brittle, kind of wild and misshaped. They are soft with some crunch. You can use them to replace pine nuts in pesto, use them in dessert dishes like this pineapple upside-down cake, or chop them and add them to a beet salad or slaw.