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Learn How to Roast Hazelnuts (Filberts) in minutes in the oven or in a skillet (and the best way to remove their skins, too!). Enhance their natural flavor through roasting while adding a little extra crunch in the process.
Hazelnuts are most widely known as a key ingredient in Nutella spread(chocolate hazelnut spread), but they are delicious in a wide variety of recipes.
You can enjoy them raw, but roasting hazelnuts really brings out their warm, nutty aroma and flavor. Any nut that can be roasted should be roasted, at least in my book. It’s easy enough to do in the oven or on the stove.
Hazelnuts typically have a thin paper skin on the outside, but you can easily rub that off after roasting. Just wrap the roasted hazelnuts in a towel or cloth napkin, secure the bundle, and rub against a flat surface. See my photo below to learn how easy it is.
Table of Contents
Ingredient notes
- Hazelnuts: Cooking times vary depending on which method you choose, and you can toast blanched hazelnuts (no skins) the same way. Keep an eye on your hazelnuts. They can go from zero to burnt in under a minute. Don’t walk away.
- Oil or butter: Roasting in fat is optional for plain raw hazelnuts and helpful when you want to add spices and seasonings.
Step-step instructions
To roast hazelnuts in the oven:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and arrange hazelnuts in one single layer.
- Toast until golden brown and fragrant, about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
To toast hazelnuts on the stove:
- In a medium skillet over medium heat, add the hazelnuts.
- Toast until golden brown and fragrant, about 5-10 minutes, stirring the nuts occasionally.
To remove the hazelnut skins:
- Place on a clean kitchen towel or clean tea towel, cover, and let steam for 1 minute.
- Using the towel, gently rub the hazelnuts to release their skins.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: The recipe as written makes 1 cup of toasted hazelnuts (enough for 4 servings, ¼ cup each). It can easily be doubled or tripled as needed.
- Storage: Store raw and roasted hazelnuts for a year or more in the refrigerator or the freezer (not the pantry) in an air-tight container or Ziploc bag. They spoil easily, especially when roasted.
- Freezer: For longer storage, store hazelnuts in the freezer. Both raw and toasted hazelnuts, once opened and exposed to air, are prone to turning rancid. Unopened, factory-sealed hazelnuts are safe in the pantry until their expiration date.
- Simple spread: Drizzle some fresh ricotta cheese with honey, then sprinkle with toasted chopped hazelnuts. Serve with toasted baguette slices.
- Dreamy ice cream sundae: Top your favorite vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and toasted hazelnuts for a luscious treat.
- Candied hazelnuts: Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a nonstick skillet. Add 1 cup hazelnuts and ½ cup sugar, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Toast over medium-low heat until fragrant, about 5 to 10 minutes.
- Sweet rosemary hazelnuts: Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a nonstick skillet. Add 1 cup hazelnuts, ¼ cup brown sugar, 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary, and a pinch of salt. Toast over medium-low heat until fragrant about 5 to 10 minutes.
- Other great nuts for roasting: Walnuts, pecans, pistachios, and cashews are all great candidates for roasting. Perfect to top desserts or add texture to your savory dishes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Roasted hazelnuts will last for a year or more in the refrigerator or the freezer (not the pantry) in an air-tight container or Ziploc bag. They spoil easily due to their high fat content, especially when roasted.
Roasting hazelnuts boosts their warm, nutty aroma and flavor.
Put your hazelnuts to work
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How to Roast Hazelnuts (Filberts)
Ingredients
Instructions
To toast hazelnuts in the oven:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or foil for easy cleanup.
- Arrange in a single layer on prepared baking sheet. Toast until browned and fragrant, stirring occasionally, about 10-15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and wrap in a kitchen towel to steam for 1 minute. Rub nuts in the towel to remove loose skins (don’t worry if there is still some skin left) and cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the pantry for 6 months or freezer storage bag in the freezer for up to 1 year.
To toast hazelnuts on the stove:
- In a medium skillet over medium heat, heat hazelnuts until browned and fragrant, stirring occasionally, about 5-10 minutes.
- Remove from skillet and wrap in a kitchen towel to steam for 1 minute. Rub nuts in the towel to remove loose skins (don’t worry if there is still some skin left) and chop or use as desired. Or, store in an airtight container in the pantry for up to 6 months or freezer storage bag in the freezer for up to 1 year.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Hazelnuts: Cooking times vary depending on which method you choose, and you can toast blanched hazelnuts (no skins) the same way. Keep an eye on your hazelnuts. They can go from zero to burnt in under a minute. Don’t walk away.
- Oil or butter: Roasting in fat is optional for plain hazelnuts and helpful when you want to add spices and seasonings.
- Yield: The recipe as written makes 1 cup of toasted hazelnuts (enough for 4 servings, ¼ cup each). It can easily be doubled or tripled as needed.
- Storage: Store raw and roasted hazelnuts for a year or more in the refrigerator or the freezer (not the pantry). They spoil easily, especially when roasted.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Why can’t you American recipe authors realise that the internet is a global thing and that your recipes might be read by the rest of the world, who pretty much ALL use the Celsius scale?
I’m not suggesting you should use it alone, but that you should include it as well as Fahrenheit, and therefore cater to EVERYONE, not just USA readers.
Hi Rafael, thanks for taking the time to write. I hear your frustration. It comes down to a legal issue. The site is created for people in the USA for legal reasons, and if I start to target people outside of the USA by providing metric measurements, I am more susceptible to requirements such as the GDPR. There are special rules that need to be followed. So, Iโm really sorry about that. Please write with any questions about conversions, Rafael, and I’ll do my best to help you. Thanks. -Meggan
Haven’t tried the recipe yet, but I’m sure it’ll be great!
I’ve got a couple bags of hazelnuts that I haven’t known how to use. I’ll probably roast most of them, now that I know how.
I’d like to salt them as well. Won’t removing the skins rub off the salt? Should I blanche them before roasting, in order to salt them. How exactly do you go about blanching? I’ve heard of it, but I’m not sure & don’t wanna mess em up.
Is it just throwing them in boiling water for a minute? If so, how long do you leave them in the boiling water & should you put them in a colander and shake to get all the water off, then roast them right away afterwards?
I messed up an entire bag of pistachios awhile back, trying to salt them. That was a big waste of $! I don’t wanna end up wasting my hazelnuts too.
I also have some unsalted walnuts, I’d like to salt. What do you think the best method would be for salting each of these types of nuts?
Hi Heather, thank you for writing. Are the nuts already shelled? There’s no need to blanch the shelled hazelnuts. You can rub the skins off with a towel before roasting if there is a lot of skin, toss them with oil and some salt or seasonings and roast them as directed. Walnuts can be roasted in similarly, the directions can be found here along with more information: https://www.culinaryhill.com/how-to-toast-walnuts/. I hope you love them. – Meggan
Hi! Should the hazelnuts be free of moisture when finished roasting? Ours are slightly chewy still… don’t know if this is fine or undesirable. Thanks!
Hi JoAnna, yes. They should be crunchy on the outside and dry on the inside to be roasted properly. You can roast them a little longer to have them dry out more, if you like. Please write again with anymore questions! – Meggan
I just roasted my hazelnuts using this recipe. It worked perfectly. After roasting I could rub off a lot of the black skin. Thanks much.
You’re welcome, Soroor! – Meggan
absolutely did not work. Roasted 15 minutes, tried to rub off skin, nothing. Nuts are still hard and covered with unmovable skin. What next?
Hi Kay, I’m so sorry. Sounds like they didn’t get hot enough. The skins should start to be peeling away on their own when they are roasted. You can try doing them on the stove, or return them to the oven at a higher heat and keep an eye on them. I would recommend using an oven thermometer and letting your oven preheat well to make sure it reaches the proper temperature. Sorry about that again! – Meggan