Many, many years ago, I spent a month in Thailand as a young student and ate my way through the entire country. No joke, I think we ate more than the elephants that we hung out with.
The trip was all about food; we fished, farmed, shopped and cooked with our Thai hosts. My favorite ingredient from the trip was kaffir lime, the leaves are used in everything from soups to curries and sauces. They have a bright citrus flavor with a bit of a floral note, and are unlike anything else I had ever tasted before. They are used almost like a bay leaf in a lot of dishes but they can also be thinly sliced and sprinkled over rice or something spicy to help balance the meal.
For this recipe, I used dried kaffir lime leaves that are available on Amazon or most well stocked grocery stores. It’s delicious, but fresh leaves would have been even better! They are harder to find, especially here in the Midwest but they should be available at Asian markets where they can be found fresh or frozen. If you can’t find fresh or dried kaffir lime, then skip it and add 1 tablespoon fresh lime zest, it’ll still taste awesome!
These spicy cashews can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container for a few days, but they are so addicting that you probably won’t have any left! Ideally, this spicy snack is served with a cold beer or a stiff drink to cut the heat. Cheers!
PrintChile and Kaffir Lime Cashews
An irresistible Thai-inspired spicy snack!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 cups 1x
Ingredients
- 4 cups whole raw cashews
- 5 dried small red chiles, stemmed and seeded, roughly chopped
- 5 fresh or dried kaffir lime leaves, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ancho chiles
- 1 teaspoon coarse Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325°F. In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients; toss to coat.
- Spread cashew mixture in an single layer on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake 16 to 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or until cashews are light golden and fragrant.Cool completely.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 cup
- Calories: 57
- Sugar: 1g
- Sodium: 76mg
- Fat: 5g
- Saturated Fat: 2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3g
- Carbohydrates: 3g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 1g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Here are a few more happy hour snacks…
Bourbon and Honey Glazed Pecans from Bourbon and Honey
Chipotle Lime Mixed Nuts from Simply Recipes
Homemade Beer Nuts from A Farm Girl Dabbles
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