Baked Masala Peanuts
Oct 26, 2020
Crispy, baked peanuts spiced with Indian spices! These Baked Masala peanuts make a great chai/coffee time snack and are also vegan and gluten-free.
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Baked Masala Peanuts – crunchy, spicy roasted peanuts which are baked in the oven making them a healthier alternative to deep frying.
These spiced peanuts make a great snack with chai or coffee.
I love munching on something savory with my evening chai. I remember mom always made some homemade chivda or namak para or something for her evening chai.
And I am the same, I can’t have my chai just like that without munching on something. I guess it’s an Indian thing!
My favorite chai time snacks include this roasted poha chivda, jeera biscuits, masala cheese cookies and many more.
These days one of my favorites are these Baked Masala Peanuts. I make a batch every few weeks and it lasts me for few days. They take no time to put together and result in a great crunchy snack all done in the oven.
Earlier I would make this recipe by frying the peanuts, which was obviously tasty but when you want to munch on it everyday, you look for a healthier option and so I started baking these and they come out just as great.
These Masala Peanuts
✔are baked, thus making them a healthier alternative to deep frying.
✔makes a great snack for chai time.
✔also great to carry as a snack on road trips.
✔involves very little prep and super easy to put together.
✔stay good in an airtight container for weeks.
✔is vegan and also gluten-free.
With the festive season here, these will be a great addition to your list of savory snacks. Most of the Diwali savory snacks are deep fried, so it’s nice to have a no-fry option, isn’t it?
These peanuts are coated with a spicy masala, so let’s see what all is in there.
Ingredients
Besan: aka gram flour is one of the main ingredients for these masala peanuts. It’s gives flavor to the peanuts and also act as a binding agent.
Rice flour: so this give crispiness to the peanuts. You should not skip it.
I have not tested this recipe with cornstarch so I cannot say for sure but you can try it as a substitute if you don’t have rice flour.
But if possible stick to rice flour please.
Spices: since these are masala peanuts we use a lot of spices like chaat masala (gives it that tangy taste), turmeric (which is optional but gives color and flavor).
The main spice that I use here is Kashmiri Chili Powder, it gives a nice red color and is mild in taste. So it doesn’t make the peanuts spicy which is I what I prefer.
If you like spicy peanuts, you can simply replace some of the kashmiri red chili powder with a hot red chili powder.
Ginger-garlic paste: again this is for flavor mainly. You can either use store bought ginger-garlic paste or pulse fresh ginger and garlic in a food processor and use that in the recipe.
The spices stick to the peanuts because of 2 ingredients- oil and water.
Remember to not add a lot of water, you just want the masala to get little wet and stick to the peanuts. When you place the peanuts on the baking sheet, you will notice that some peanuts will not have masala on them.
Simply take the excess masala and push it on top of those peanuts before baking.
How long to bake for crunchy peanut masala? I tried this recipe several times and tested different baking temperatures.
I found that 25 minutes at 375 F degrees works best for crispy peanuts.
However, do remember that every oven is different. If your oven runs little hot, keep an eye on these after 20 minutes. You do not want to burn them.
Storing the peanuts: I like to store them at room temperature in an air tight container. They would easily last for weeks.
I finished all of mine with in 10 days so I can’t exactly say the total shelf life but it should be good for weeks.
Method
Pre-heat oven to 375 F degrees and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with a oil spray. Set aside.
1- To a large bowl add- besan, rice flour, ginger-garlic paste, Kashmiri red chili powder, turmeric (if using), chaat masala and salt. You can replace 1/2 teaspoon of Kashmiri red chili powder with regular chili powder if you prefer spicy peanuts.
2- Mix until everything is well combined using a whisk. Set this aside.
3- To another bowl, add 1 cup of raw peanuts and then add 2 tablespoons oil to peanuts and mix so that the peanuts are coated with the oil.
4- Now transfer the prepared besan-rice flour-spice mixture to the bowl of peanuts.
5- Using your hands, mix everything together so that peanuts get coated with the masala.
6- Start adding water, little by little until peanuts are just moistened. Around 1 to 1.5 tablespoons water, do not add more water.
7- You just want the masala to stick to the peanuts, that’s all.
8- Arrange the peanuts in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. If you see peanuts which don’t have masala stuck to them, just push some of the masala on top of those peanuts.
Bake at 375 F degrees for 25 minutes. You may stir it once in between. Keep an eye after 20 minutes, every oven is different so keep an eye after 20 minutes so that they don’t burn.
Let the masala peanuts cool completely and then store in an airtight container. Enjoy with chai or coffee!
If you’ve tried this Baked Masala Peanuts Recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe! You can also follow me on Facebook and Instagram to see what’s latest in my kitchen!
Baked Masala Peanuts
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw peanuts 160 grams
- 2 tablespoons oil 30 ml, I used avocado oil
- 1/2 cup besan 57 grams, gram flour
- 2 tablespoons rice flour 28 grams
- 1.5 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
- 2 teaspoons kashmiri red chili powder replace 1/2 teaspoon with regular chili powder for spicy peanuts
- 1/8 teaspoon turmeric optional
- 1 teaspoon chaat masala
- 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1.5 tablespoons water as needed
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 375 F degrees and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with a oil spray. Set aside.To a large bowl add- besan, rice flour, ginger-garlic paste, kashmiri red chili powder, turmeric (if using), chaat masala and salt. You can replace 1/2 teaspoon of kashmiri red chili powder with regular chili powder if you prefer spicy peanuts.
- Mix until everything is well combined using a whisk. Set this aside.
- To another bowl, add 1 cup of raw peanuts and then add 2 tablespoons oil to peanuts and mix so that the peanuts are coated with the oil.
- Now transfer the prepared besan-rice flour-spice mixture to the bowl of peanuts. Using your hands, mix everything together so that peanuts get coated with the masala.
- Start adding water, little by little until peanuts are just moistened. Around 1 to 1.5 tablespoons water, do not add more water.You just want the masala to stick to the peanuts, that's all.
- Arrange the peanuts in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. If you see peanuts which don't have masala stuck to them, just push some of the masala on top of those peanuts.Bake at 375 F degrees for 25 minutes. You may stir it once in between. Keep an eye after 20 minutes, every oven is different so keep an eye after 20 minutes so that they don't burn. Let the masala peanuts cool completely and then store in an airtight container. Enjoy with chai or coffee!
Notes
- You can add hing (asafoetida) along with the spices as well. Do use gluten-free hing though if you wish to keep these gluten-free.
- If you do not have rice flour, cornstarch will be a good replacement.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I have no chaat masala do you have any ideas about substitutes? Or is it really integral to the flavor? Thanks
if you have amchur (dry mango powder) use that and you can also squeeze some lemon juice
Hi Manali,
I would like to try this in my air fryer – any tips on temperature and time, as things cook at lower temp, lesser time than normal ovens? Thanks
hi Anu, I don’t have an air fryer so I am not very familiar with it, sorry
Hi,
I made these yesterday and most of the peanuts turned out crispy, some were not crispy probably because some of the flour was very dry and didn’t stick to the peanuts, I used 1.5 tablespoons of water, but next time I will probably use one tablespoon more to make the flour stick to the peanuts. Thank you for this recipe.
hmm that’s strange because masala or not, the peanuts should crisp up because they are in the oven for so long
These were perfectly crispy and delicious. I used paprika instead of chili powder, because of a health requirement, and didn’t have chaat so used mix of cumin and amchur powder, and substituted half the water for lemon juice too. Did it with rapeseed oil. Thank you for great recipe.
glad to know!
Love the idea to squeeze lemon juice
Hi
I just tried these and they weren’t as crispy, could this be because I used cornflour instead of rice flour?
could be, rice flour works really well. Also maybe your oven needed more time? mine comes out super crispy.
Can I use olive oil or any other oil for coating?
of course