Southern Boiled Peanuts Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Do you have to soak raw peanuts before boiling? ›

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.

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.

Read more about the amount of salt required to boil peanuts here. I've been boiling green peanuts for a lot of years. I use 3 pounds of salt per bushel which is 35 pounds, and boil for at least 3 hrs. I cook peanuts by the bag and use a 100qt pot.

Put the water, salt, seasoning, peanuts in a large stockpot, bring to a boil: Cover and reduce the heat just enough to maintain a low boil. Boil for 2 to 3 hours or longer (some boil their peanuts all day), until peanuts reach desired level of softness.

Boil the peanuts for at least three hours. After three hours, take out a peanut and try it – if it's not soft enough, keep boiling until the desired softness is reached. If you like melt-in-your-mouth boiled peanuts, you may prefer to boil them all day.

Aluminum pots blacken when boiling peanuts. Over time this darkening may transfer to the boiled peanuts. Iodized salt. I've never experienced this myself, but some people say that iodized salt causes blackening of boiled peanuts.

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

The truth is, both work great but raw peanuts take more time to soften. Green peanuts are freshly dug and haven't been through a drying process, so their moisture content is already high. It's like boiling fresh beans versus dry. One is quicker to cook than the other but they both taste great in the end.

The longer you allow the peanuts to soak in the brine, the more flavor they'll soak up. It is very hard to overcook boiled peanuts. When in doubt, give them a little longer.

Is it possible to overcook boiled peanuts? ›

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.

If the boiled peanuts you had were mushy and difficult to remove from the shells, then they were overcooked. If they were slimy, then they were spoiled. Salt water is not slimy. Fresh boiled peanuts are not slimy.

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.

You need but three ingredients to make boiled peanuts. (1) Green peanuts, (2) Tap water, and (3) Salt. Don't use any fancy pants, imported Basque hand-crushed, sun-dried sel de mer. Use Morton's Iodized.

Yes you can reduce the amount of salt in boiled peanuts. I put over salty boiled peanuts in clean fresh water and simmer them for a few minutes, and then let them soak in the water. The more water used, the more salt removed.

Raw peanuts can be boiled in a pot, a pressure cooker, or a slow cooker. Green peanuts need at least 1 hour of boiling up to 4 hours. Raw, dried peanuts require more boiling, up to 24 hours in a slow cooker, or an open pot. A pressure cooker boils dried peanuts much faster, especially at high altitude.

Fill pot with water and allow peanuts to soak 8 hours or overnight. Peanuts will absorb a lot of the water making it necessary to add water until the pot is filled. Add salt to taste. Cook peanuts on low for 8 hours and then on high for 1 1/2 hours or medium for 4 1/2 hours.

Add salt and cover the peanuts with filtered water.

The important thing is to completely cover the peanuts so they can fully soak. It's fine to leave the salt out of the soaking solution if you're planning on a really quick soak where the peanuts don't actually sprout.

Rinse peanuts to remove excess dirt. In a large pot or bowl, dissolve salt in water. Place peanuts in brine and place a plate on top of nuts to submerge. Soak 6 hours.