Boiled Peanuts

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All you need is shelled peanuts and salt to make this traditional Southern boiled peanuts recipe. The peanuts are boiled to the texture of your choice and are the perfect homemade salty snack to enjoy with an ice-cold glass of beer or soda.

Boiled peanuts.

Boiled peanuts have been popular in the South since at least the Civil War when our troops used to carry them as a large part of their rations. With salt being a natural preservative, the boiled peanuts could be carried and eaten for up to a week, providing a quick nutritional source on the go and helping to make up for the piteous lack of meat in the Southern soldier’s diet.

The first time I ever had traditional boiled peanuts was when I was a girl, not more than seven or eight. My family and I took the first of many trips to the Smokey Mountains. We were driving up these winding roads and stopped at a roadside vendor. I was curious about the cup of wet peanuts that had steam coming from them and the most delicious smell that set my stomach to grumbling. I definitely had more than one that day!

Nowadays, as soon as the slightest chill hits the air in Georgia, little tents, trucks, and roadside stands start setting up on street corners for one purpose: to sell boiled peanuts to fortunate passersby. With over 45% of the country’s peanut crop grown there, it’s no wonder boiled peanuts are in such abundance.

Now, if you can’t make a mad dash to Georgia right now, rest assured it’s super easy to make boiled peanuts from the comfort of your home. All you need for my Southern boiled peanuts recipe is raw peanuts and salt. Are you ready for the instructions? Place them in a pot with water, bring to a boil, and then simmer for 3 hours. Yep, that’s it. The easiest boiled peanut recipe you ever did see. Keep scrolling to learn exactly how to eat boiled peanuts because yes, it’s EVERYTHING.

Labeled ingredients for boiled peanuts recipe.

Recipe Ingredients

  • Raw or fresh green peanuts
  • Salt

How to Make My Boiled Peanuts Recipe

Place peanuts and enough water to cover them in large pot.

Place dried peanuts in a large pot and add enough water to cover the peanuts.

However, don’t stress too much as they’ll float to the top for now anyway.

Add sugar to pot.

Add the salt to the pot.

Stir together peanuts and salt.

Give that a good stir.

Cover pot with lid and simmer.

Now cover the pot with a lid, cook on medium heat until it comes to a good boil, then simmer.

Ladle full of boiled peanuts.

These are going to need to cook for about three hours but can cook longer if you like.

I cook mine most of the day. The texture you are going for is just slightly firmer than a cooked bean.

Remove from heat, drain, and eat!

Bowl of boiled peanuts.

How to eat boiled peanuts

Let me just say, the way you eat a boiled peanut is EVERYTHING!

Place the entire, uncracked peanut shell in your mouth. Yes, I am serious. Don’t get all fretful about germs and such, my goodness you just boiled them for several hours. Now do like I said and pop that entire peanut in your mouth.

With your mouth closed (unless you want to squirt your neighbor in the face with salty peanut juice), crack the shell open and drink the juice out of it. Then open it the rest of the way and take the shell out of your mouth, while eating the soft peanuts inside.

After a few of these, you’ll understand why the roadside vendors always give you a plastic bag or cup to hold your shells. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Plate of boiled peanuts.

Enjoy your traditional boiled peanuts!

Storage

When stored in their shells in an airtight container in the fridge, boiled peanuts will last up to 10 days. You can store them in the cooking liquid or drain them dry. You can also store them in the freezer for several months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.

Recipe Notes

  • You can easily double, triple, or quadruple the recipe ingredients.
  • For the salt, you can use plain old table salt or kosher salt, whatever you have on hand. Southerners don’t get fancy with this stuff. It’s part of our charm!
  • If you use fresh green peanuts, the cooking time can be shorter. Check-in after an hour.

Recipe FAQs

How do I make my boiled peanuts more or less salty?

Once they’re cooked, if they are too salty for you (personally, I don’t believe in such a thing as “too salty” when it comes to these), simply add a few more cups of water to dilute the cooking water and cook for half an hour more or so.

If they are not salty enough (you go, you), add a bit more salt and give it 30 minutes as well to get good and incorporated. The amount of salt I am listing here is what I have found perfect to replicate the roadside peanuts I love so much.

But if this is your first time making boiled peanuts, it’s all about trial and error to work out the best salty balance and your desired tenderness. As a general rule of thumb, the longer they simmer, the softer and saltier the peanuts become. I recommend starting with a cup of salt and then tasting it after a few hours, adding a few more tablespoons if you want a saltier peanut.

Can I use roasted peanuts in this boiled peanuts recipe?

No, you can’t make boiled peanuts with roasted peanuts, they have to be raw (or green as they’re sometimes called).

No, you don’t have to soak the peanuts before boiling them. Some recipes do this to reduce the simmer time and it helps them settle in the pot before boiling them, but I don’t think it’s necessary. If you want to though, add the shelled peanuts to the pot, cover them with water, and place a dinner plate on top to keep them submerged. Soak for 8 hours or overnight before continuing with this recipe from the top in the morning.

Can I make boiled peanuts in the slow cooker?

Absolutely! Follow the directions but place the ingredients in the crock pot instead. However, crock pot boiled peanuts take a lot longer to cook (like at least 22 hours if not longer).

Why do boiled peanuts get slimy?

Boiled peanuts can get slimy if they’re overcooked or sit in the brine for too long. Ensure you cook the peanuts just until tender and then drain them shortly after cooling to avoid them getting soggy.

What seasonings can I add to my boiled peanuts recipe?

Many boiled peanut recipes include seasonings using dried herbs and spices. We’re keeping things simple today, but here are some suggestions. Just add about 2 tablespoons of any of these options when you add the salt:

  • Old Bay seasoning
  • Cajun seasoning (Cajun peanuts are very popular).
  • Creole seasoning
  • Lemon pepper seasoning
  • 2 cups of apple cider vinegar for salt and vinegar peanuts.

Check out these other snack-sized treats:

Peanut Butter Candy

Candied Pecans Recipe

Cream Cheese Mints

Candied Peanuts (2 Ingredients Only)

Potato Candy Recipe Made The Ole Fashioned Way

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls (No Baking Necessary)

Boiled peanuts.

Boiled Peanuts

All you need is shelled peanuts and salt to make this traditional Southern boiled peanuts recipe, a homemade salty snack best enjoyed with a glass of beer or soda.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 5 minutes
Course: Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: boiled, peanuts

Ingredients

  • 1 pound raw or green peanuts
  • 1 cup salt

Instructions

  • In a saucepot, cover dried peanuts with water and add salt.
    1 pound raw or green peanuts, 1 cup salt
  • Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for at least 3 hours or more if you like.
  • Place the entire peanut in your mouth to eat. Crack it open with your teeth, drink the juice, and eat the peanut while discarding the peanut shell.
Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

 

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84 Comments

  1. Y’all do have it good in the South! I’m displaced out here in Colorado and can’t get green peanuts anywhere. Finally found a bag of raw peanuts at Walmart, but I boiled them for 26 hours and they never get as soft as I like them. Sure miss grabbing a handful out of the bushel baskets at the farmer’s markets back home- or buying a little paperbagful from the roadside stand! Thank the Lord they at least have Krispy Kremes out here finally.

  2. Nothing makes my southern accent come out stronger than 1. being around my NC mountain relatives or 2. eating hot b’old p-nuts. Since those two things usually happen around the same time I’m really not sure which has the greater influence on my accent and grammar! Neither my dear husband nor our Georgia-born-and-raised children appreciate them so each fall I’m “stuck” eating the whole cup.

    1. You only eat a cup full? Don’t worry the rest of your family will learn to like them just as much as you do and then there won’t be as many for you. That’s what happened to me, being from Waycross, GA and growing our own peanuts we’d cook about fifty gallons of peanuts freezing about half so we’d have some in the freezer during the winter. Then I married someone who had only ever had the ones you buy on the roadside that had the heck boiled out of them and lot’s of tomes they weren’t made fro green peanuts but had been soaked to death and then boiled. No wonder she didn’t like them, Then she had mine and couldn’t get enough! Then we had kids! There went all my boiled peanuts!

  3. Christy,

    I am in Southeast Alabama and you will find plenty of trucks with hand painted signs for boiled peanuts, they even sale them at the gas stations. Love them so much!

    1. I am from Southeast Alabama where lots of peanuts were once grown. The world’s only monument to an insect, the Boll Weevil Monument, is in Enterprise. The weevil wiped out cotton and farmers began to grow peanuts which were easier on the soil. When I was a girl, lots of people made spending money selling boiled peanuts for ten cents a bag, about a cup of peanuts. Those were good days for a kid. Too bad green peanuts are so hard to come by, and I can only dream of a hot bag of freshly boiled peanuts.

  4. This is a copy of my status from Saturday on Facebook.

    Beautiful fall day that made me nostalgic. So I bought some Kraft Caramels for the candy dish in honor of Grandma Mattox, raw peanuts to boil and some apples. They didn’t have any Arkansas Blacks but I did ask the produce guy about apples. He didn’t know too much about the apples, I bet Mr. Hilton could have told me. ;-0.

    I am from South Georgia and always loved boiled peanuts. We always cooked them ourselves. Never bought from the side of the road til after I married and lived in SC.
    Now we live in the Nashville area but it seems boiled peanuts are not popular here. ;-( But I found some raw peanuts @ Kroger on Saturday so got my fix in.

    Grandma Mattox was my husband’s grandmother and Mr. Hilton was his dad,who was a produce manager at Kroger for 40 years. Both are now gone.

  5. I use my crock pot all the time & they never mess up! I recently participated in a yard sale at Church and sold them for a $ bag–I made $20.00 easy and they cooked overnight on low…..I love being a Southern Lady!! <3

  6. Needed my peanuts in a hurry today, so I used my pressure cooker! Worked great! boiled peanuts in an hour!!

    1. Hi Leslie Jean, I just got a recipe for making boiled peanuts in the Instant Pot. It said to pressure cook them for 3 hours on high pressure. I am wondering if 3 hours would be too long, since yours were done in 1 hour. Were you using an Instant Pot? I’ve never made them and had to get the raw peanuts via mail order, so I want to get it right the first time and not waste the peanuts. Thanks in advance for a reply.

  7. Ain’t it funny how some foods just say home. Boiled peanuts to me say North Carolina, home. They were one of my sons first solid foods when he was just a few months old (we did’t worry with things like allergies then). One of his first words was “bean” (bean meaning peanut). My father-in-law calls ’em boiled goobers. No rich man ever had a better meal than boiled peanuts and a cold coke. We sure are blessed in the south.

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