• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Start here
  • Baking 101
  • Recipes
  • Shop
  • Cart

The Bake School logo

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Start here
  • Baking 101
  • Recipes
  • Shop
  • Contact
  • Cart
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Start here
    • Baking 101
    • Recipes
    • Shop
    • Contact
    • Cart
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Baking techniques

    Published on: July 16, 2014 by Janice; Updated on: October 8, 2021 9 Comments

    How to peel pistachios

    351 shares
    • Facebook337
    • Yummly
    • Email
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    How to peel pistachio nuts to remove skins showing shelled pistachios before boiling, after blanching, then peeled to reveal green pistachio nut

    Ever wonder if you could remove the skin from pistachio nuts? Yes, you can! It takes only 3 steps to peel pistachio nuts (though a little tedious) revealing the green, sweet pistachio nut that makes for greener baked goods like baklava, muffins, and more.The 3 stages of peeling pistachios: 1st shell them; 2nd blanch them; 3rd peel them to reveal the green nuts

    Recipe testing for cookbooks has taught me a few things, and this is one of those things. Before this year, I had no idea that peeling pistachios was an option. I didn't know how it was done, nor that the method is different for pistachios than it is for hazelnuts (not that I can eat hazelnuts, but I still at least know how to peel those).

    Why peel nuts?

    Most nuts, once shelled, have a paper thin skin covering the actual nut. For some nuts this peel is easily removed, like the brown papery skin on peanuts. For others, like pistachios, it's much more challenging to remove the peel or skin on pistachio nuts. You may want to remove the peel from nuts if you want a cleaner nut flavour from the nuts, especially if you are grinding them. You also may want to remove the peel to remove the brown skin that will lead to discolouration in baking. For example, peeled pistachios make greener pistachio baklava.  Almonds are a great example too because blanched ground almonds have a lighter, creamier colour.

    how to blanch and peel pistachios by blanching the pistachios and then shocking in a bowl of ice water | Janice Lawandi @ kitchen heals soul

    How to remove the skin or peel from hazelnuts

    To remove the skins/peel of hazelnuts, usually you toast them in the oven, then pour them onto a kitchen towel, cover them, and then rub them like mad. The peel rubs right off into the kitchen towel. Pistachio skins tend to be a little clingier, so the method is different.

    How to peel pistachio nuts to remove skins showing shelled pistachios before boiling, after blanching, then peeled to reveal green pistachio nut

    How to remove the skin or peel from pistachios

    Here are the steps to peel pistachios and remove their skins:

    1. heat a large pot of boiling water and drop them in when the water comes to a rolling boil
    2. Let the pistachios boil for about a minute or so, at which point you will notice the peels lifting off. The goal here is not to boil the pistachios til they are mushy, after all.
    3. Strain out the nuts and drop them into an ice bath immediately to chill them.
    4. When the pistachios are thoroughly chilled, the peels should just lift off. This is a slow, tedious task. I suggest you peel them while watching Netflix. You can also rub the blanched pistachios in a kitchen towel to loosen the skins, and then the skins might just rinse off at that point. 

    How you choose to get the peel off in the end is your choice, but the point is that to skin hazelnuts, you toast the hazelnuts to lift the skin off, then rub them. But to skin pistachio nuts, you have to blanch the pistachios and shock them in cold water to lift the papery brown pistachio skins off, revealing the green pistachio nuts underneath.

    I let the peeled pistachios air dry on sheets of paper towel, and I use them within a day. Some dry out peeled pistachios in a low oven to remove moisture for longer term storage (try baking them at around 200 ºF for an hour or two, which I realize is a very long time, but if you did a big batch of pistachios, it will take over an hour). Once dried, you can grind the green pistachios to make ground pistachio for pistachio baklava or pistachio financiers. 

    ground pistachios that are greener because the pistachio nuts were peeled first | Janice Lawandi @ kitchen heals soul

    How to peel pistachios
    Print Pin

    How to peel pistachios

    Learn how to blanch and peel pistachios with these easy steps
    Author Janice

    Instructions

    • Heat a large pot of boiling water.
    • Drop the pistachios in the pot when the water comes to a rolling boil. Let the pistachios boil for about a minute or so, at which point you will notice the peels lifting off. The goal here is not to boil the pistachios til they are mushy, after all.
    • Strain out the nuts and drop them into an ice bath immediately to chill them.When the pistachios are thoroughly chilled, the peels should just lift off. This is a slow, tedious task. I suggest you peel them while watching Netflix. You can also rub the blanched pistachios in a kitchen towel to loosen the skins, and then the skins might just rinse off at that point. 
    • How you choose to get the peel off in the end is your choice, but the point is that to skin hazelnuts, you toast the hazelnuts to lift the skin off, then rub them. But to skin pistachio nuts, you have to blanch the pistachios and shock them in cold water to lift the papery brown pistachios off, revealing the green pistachio nuts.
    • I let the peeled pistachios air dry on sheets of paper towel, and I use them within a day. Some dry out peeled pistachios in a low oven to remove moisture for longer term storage (try baking them at around 200 ºF for an hour or two, which I realize is a very long time, but if you did a big batch of pistachios, it will take over an hour).

    More Baking techniques

    • Oven rack position
    • Pie crust in a stand mixer
    • Pie crust in a food processor
    • The jam setting point and how to determine jam set
    351 shares
    • Facebook337
    • Yummly
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

    Baking resources

  • Baking conversion charts
  • Baking ingredients and pantry staples
  • Baking substitutions
  • Common baking conversions
  • Choosing baking pans
  • How to measure ingredients for baking
  • Mixing methods
  • Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Mallory @ Because I Like Chocolate says

      July 16, 2014 at 4:40 pm

      It's sure easy in theory but I bet it is time consuming. I think for the most part I am ok keeping the skins on! haha

      Reply
    2. Brazilian says

      May 08, 2015 at 3:03 pm

      Alternative method: grow your fingernails. 😉

      Reply
    3. Barbara says

      September 19, 2017 at 8:44 am

      This was extremely helpful - thank you very much!! I was on my last nerve peeling them right out of the shell, and your post was the first thing that came up when I googled. My pistachios turned out exactly the way I wanted them!! Rather than laying them out on paper towels to dry , I lightly toasted the blanched peeled pistachios for a few minutes in the toaster oven to dry them out because I needed to use them right away in biscotti. Thanks!

      Reply
    4. tilly says

      March 02, 2019 at 12:18 pm

      isn't the thin peel on the pistachio very healthy?
      i always eat it...

      Reply
      • Janice says

        March 02, 2019 at 12:32 pm

        Absolutely! I eat it too! But if you want a "greener" pistachio filling for your baklava, the dark skins have to be removed. I removed them for purely aesthetic reasons and it's optional! https://bakeschool.com/buttery-pistachio-baklava/

        Reply
    5. Carolyn says

      September 19, 2019 at 8:40 pm

      I'll be making pistachio gelato, and peeling the skins off makes for a purer green color, as in the recommendation for making baklava. Carolyn

      Reply
    6. Debbie says

      October 29, 2019 at 12:18 am

      Pistachios frequently have mold on them. Blanching them gets rid of the mold.

      Reply
    7. Rachel says

      June 04, 2020 at 4:33 am

      Thank you for this, it’s so helpful! Would you have any advice on time and temperature to roast the pistachio nuts after blanching and peeling them? I’d like to use them to make spreads that I can store long term, so I need them to have zero moisture.

      Thank you so much! The end result is so much more green after blanching! Takes that bitterness away 🙂

      Reply
      • Janice says

        June 04, 2020 at 1:40 pm

        Hi Rachel,

        I'm so glad this post was helpful! As for drying them, low and slow is the way to go. So baking at around 200 ºF for an hour or two, which I realize is a very long time, but if you did a big batch of pistachios, it will take over an hour. Note that some people will toss the blanched pistachios with a small amount of a neutral oil (like canola). I think this little amount of oil might help speed up the process of drying them out and help the nuts become more crisp, though I'm not positive.

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    This is a picture of Janice Lawandi

    Hi, I'm Janice! I am a baking-obsessed recipe developer with a PhD in Chemistry who writes about baking and the science of baking.

    More about me →

    Give back

    If you enjoy the free content on this website, consider saying thank you!

    Eggless chocolate cake

    Chocolate layer cake with cream cheese frosting and chocolate sprinkles on a cake stand.
    Learn to make an eggless chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting with this easy recipe!

    Bake with citrus

    • Lemon loaf cake
    • Lime marmalade
    • Pavlova
    • Orange pie

    Baking conversions

    How to poach pears

    Poached pears on an enamelware plate.
    This simple poached pears recipe is easy and you can use the fruit for salads, appetizers, and desserts!

    Footer

    If you enjoy the free content on this website, consider saying thank you!

    Buy Me a Pound of Butter

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Meet Janice
    • FAQ
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and conditions
    • Press

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Services
    • Portfolio

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    COPYRIGHT © 2022 · THE BAKE SCHOOL