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.
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 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 remove the skin or peel from pistachios
Here are the steps to peel pistachios and remove their skins:
- heat a large pot of boiling water and drop them in 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 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.
How to peel pistachios
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).
Mallory @ Because I Like Chocolate says
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
Brazilian says
Alternative method: grow your fingernails. 😉
Barbara says
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!
tilly says
isn't the thin peel on the pistachio very healthy?
i always eat it...
Janice says
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/
Carolyn says
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
Debbie says
Pistachios frequently have mold on them. Blanching them gets rid of the mold.
Rachel says
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 🙂
Janice says
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.