Smoked Peanuts in the Shell

Last Updated on October 6, 2023 by Carne Diem

Appetizers and Sharables

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These fresh roasted peanuts are lightly salted and then smoked for a perfect game day snack. This simple peanut recipe only takes a few simple ingredients. Finish the roasted peanuts with some kosher salt, or get creative and make a variety of seasoned peanuts.

Growing up I still remember going to watch baseball games with my family during the NBC World Series in Wichita. My favorite part of the game, other than watching the game itself, was splitting a big bag of roasted peanuts with my brother. The simple childhood delights of finding the allusive "triple peanuts" is a cherished memory that I share with my brother and family. To this day, no trip to a baseball game is complete without my favorite game day snack: roasted peanuts in the shell.

Thankfully, fresh roasted peanuts are an easy salty snack to make at home. Over the years my children and I have started making roasted peanuts to take to their sporting events. While this salty game day snack turns out great in the oven, our favorite way to make the salted peanuts is by roasting them in our smokers. This recipe also makes for a great snack to make while tailgating at your favorite sporting event.

Making Roasted Peanuts on a Smoker

Making smoked peanuts at home is a simple process that only requires a few simple ingredients. To make the fresh roasted peanuts you will just need salt, peanut oil and a bag of raw peanuts. You want to be certain that you are raw peanuts for this recipe, not green peanuts or previously roasted peanuts.

Raw peanuts vs green peanuts

Raw peanuts and green peanuts are not the same thing. Raw peanuts have been air dried to reduce their moisture content for storage. Green peanuts are freshly dug up peanuts that have not been dried and retain their full moisture content. Raw peanuts typically have a moisture content of about 10% after air drying, while green peanuts maintain a moisture content of 35-50%.

Sort through the raw shell on peanuts and remove any that look like they have mold or mildew on the shells. Be especially diligent to remove any peanuts with white or green mold as this could be Aspergillus which produces the harmful aflatoxin.

Sort and soak the peanuts

Once you have sorted through your raw peanuts, place the peanuts in a large bowl or bag with the saltwater mixture. Typically, about 3 tablespoons of salt in 8 cups of water is enough to lightly salt the peanuts. For a saltier peanut, you can add additional salt.

Soak the peanuts in the water for 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally. Soaking the raw peanuts in the water can help season the peanuts and helps remove any dirt or debris. Soaking is also effective in reducing any fungus on the peanuts, that may have been missed, by up to 65%.

After soaking the raw peanuts in the saltwater, drain the water from the peanuts and spread the whole peanuts in a single layer on a sheet pan or grill pan. Pat dry with a paper towel. You do not need to completely dry the peanuts as keeping the outside of the nuts damp, helps with smoke adherence.

Pour the peanut oil into the pan and mix to coat the peanuts. Sprinkle the remaining salt over the peanuts. You can increase the salt if you want a saltier peanut, the recipe as given is for a lightly salted peanut.

Smoking the Peanuts

Set up your smoker for indirect heat and preheat to 300 degrees. You want to be certain that the peanuts are in a single layer in the pan and not overcrowded.

Smoke the peanuts for about 60-75 minutes, stirring and rotating the pan about every 15 minutes. For a smokier in the shell peanut, you can decrease the smoke temperature and increase the smoke time.

Test a peanut for doneness and remove from the heat or cook for an additional 15 minutes until done.

Try some of our other peanut recipes and other recipes using tree nuts:

• Christmas Salad With Chestnuts and Cranberry Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Ground Nut (Peanut) Stew
• Smoked Bourbon Maple Pecan Pie
• Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi Mahi With Coconut Sauce
• Fried Boursin Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

Aftter you are done smoking the peanuts, place the peanuts in a paper bag and serve warm. The smoked peanuts will typically keep for about 4 months, but they are certainly better when fresh.

For more great appetizers give some of our other great snack recipes a try:

• Grilled Bacon Wrapped Dates: Devils On Horseback
• Bourbon Cinnamon Sugar Pecans
• Smoked Dry Rubbed Chicken Wings
• Grilled Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts
• Fried Sausage Wontons

Smoked Peanut Variations

One of the great things about making roasted peanuts at home is that you can make a variety of different styles of flavored peanuts. Some of our favorite variations are listed below.

BBQ Peanuts

To make barbeque style roasted peanuts simply add about a tablespoon of your favorite BBQ seasoning to the peanuts after soaking. Depending on the amount of salt in the BBQ rub, you may choose to decrease the salt used to sprinkle on the peanuts.

Smoked Peanuts with Bacon Salt

Everyone loves bacon and these bacon flavored peanuts are always a hit with our friends and family. To make the bacon flavored roasted peanuts, simply replace the Kosher salt with Bacon Salt, when you season the peanuts after soaking them.

Spicy Fresh Roasted Peanuts

For those that like a little heat you can kick up the spice level of your peanuts my switching out the peanut oil for some chili oil in the recipe or adding 1 tablespoon of hot sauce to the oil.

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