Soak & Dehydrate Nuts for Optimum Digestibility
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
Thank you for this! I think this will make a wonderful difference!
Can’t wait to try it out!
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.
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.
Thanks! I think I will give it a try.
I love crispy nuts…. I dry them out in my oven with just the oven light on and it works fine.
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! 🙂
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.
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!
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.
@Shannon,
You s hould NEVER eat raw peanuts; they are a legume, not a nut. Also they are very prone to molds and often have aflatoxins in them.
SuzieQ – Thanks for the tip! I have read about that too and am trying to move away from even roasted peanuts, even though peanut butter is possibly my favorite food.
your entries could have been written by me. it’s absolutely remarkable, and I love it!
Thank you. My son has gone raw and I am hoping to help dehydrate some of his nuts and seeds. Does anyone have soaking times for dehydrating the many other different nuts and seeds.
Villa – I think all are about the same except cashews. I do 6 hours max on cashews and the rest I do 8-12 hours.
I soak many different kinds of nuts & seeds in salt water, then dry them to resell again. I do almonds, pecans, English walnuts, black walnuts, pecans, cashews, Brazil nuts, macadamia, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds. Then we make trail mix with raisins, and also a seasoned mix with butter, honey and my spice blend. Cashews are soaked 6 hours, and the rest are soaked 7 hours. You can soak & dry practically anything!
By the way, all our nuts & seeds are Organic, except black walnuts and macadamia, which we can’t seem to find.
Hi Shannon,
I love the simplicity of your recipes for soaking and dehydrating nuts. I’m an Acupuncturist / Nutrition Consultant and would like to have such resources for my patients. Could I post this recipe on my blog website with a link and credit to you? Please let me know. It would go here:
http://karasorensen.com/blogs/holistic_health_solutions
Best,
Kara Sorensen
Kara – Sure! I do not mind links as long as there is attribution.
Hi Shannon,
I’m new to soaking nuts. Do you know anything about the importance of dehydrating the soaked nuts? Would it be enough to just soak them if I eat them straight away? Or should I definitely dehydrate them, too?
Annika,
You do not have to dehydrate nuts after soaking them. Raw food guru and author, Ani Phyo, who I first learned about soaking nuts, suggests using nuts immediately after soaking in protein shakes.
Carla – Yep, if you’re just going to blend them up or use them in a moist state you don’t have to drain them. Thanks for letting us know!
I want to make almond flour from my nuts. Do I have to use salt in the soaking? Will the salt affect the recipe? Will the process still be complete without the salt?
Do the almonds need to be dehydrated if you are just planning to bake with them immediately? (I would be incorporating mine into a pie crust that uses almonds, coconut oil, and dates -blended in a food processor and stopping just short of almond butter before pressing into a pie dish and baking.) So, is it possible to skip the dehydrating step?
Do you have to rinse the nuts after they have been soaked or just drain the water?
Some say no and some say yes. I usually do, just because they look a bit like they could use a rinsing :).
I just dried some almonds overnight in the oven. A good bit of them have black spots on them. They are “raw” but likely pasteurized. Do you know what would cause this? Is that mold?
Craig – I am not sure, sorry.
Should the nuts be rinsed after soaking and draining, before dehydration? Thanks.
When you soak your grains (such as oats for breakfast, etc.), do you drain them before cooking?
Kelcey – I don’t drain off the soaking liquid. My understanding is that in the soaking process we are encouraging phytase (an enzyme) to work on the phytic acid of the grains. So instead of draining off the phytic acid you are actually neutralizing it.
What about popcorn?
Interesting site! I was wondering after soaking and dehydrating your almonds, what is the shelf life if stored in air tight container on pantry shelf?
Hi, thanks for the great info!
What about oats? I love using my rolled oats making granola! Should i soak them as well?
Best!
All this info regarding soaking and dehydrating nuts and seeds is very interesting–I’m dehydrating my soaked almonds to make nut butter as I write–recently I heard about it being a good idea to bake oats before cooking them–200 degree oven for and hour or two(can’t remember which) to get rid of the starch for better digestion. Has anyone else heard of this and is there any truth to it? I heard it about 3 years ago and did it diligently until a couple of years ago now–as the idea escaped my memory until I came across your site regarding nuts and seeds!!OOPPS:)
What temp do you dehydrate almonds at? I heard lower the temp the better. Do you agree?
Do the nuts need to be organic? Or specified that they’re unpasteurized or raw?
Anina – They should specify that they are raw or unpasteurized, yes. If not, they will not benefit much from the soaking process.