To the untrained eye, pecans and walnuts can look eerily similar. But there are differences between these delicious nuts! They’re great as snacks, versatile in recipes, and provide many health benefits that can reduce your risk of developing chronic health conditions.
Understanding the difference between pecans and walnuts can help you decide which one you might like more!
Appearance
Typically, walnuts are lighter and slightly larger than pecans. When removed from their shells, they have a golden color. Walnuts are also softer; grinding or crumbling them is easy.
Pecans are usually darker, while walnuts are stubbier and have two hemispheres with a brain-like shape. While pecans have a similar form, they’re flatter and more elongated, and their shells are more difficult to open than walnut shells.
Taste
If you have a sweet tooth, you might love pecans more, as they’re less bitter than walnuts. You'll find pecans in desserts more often than walnuts. Walnuts work very well in savory recipes, and their slight bitterness and crunchy texture can liven up everything from oatmeal to salads and pasta.
Overall, you can use pecans and walnuts interchangeably in recipes. When shopping for nuts for a specific recipe, walnuts tend to be more expensive but have a longer shelf-life than pecans.
Nutritional Value
Like most other nuts, walnuts and pecans offer a ton of nutritional value to our diets. There’s little difference between nuts and walnuts in the nutrients they provide, but pecans have slightly fewer calories and offer more fiber than walnuts. If you're creating recipes to encourage weight loss, pecans can give you a bit more of a feeling of fullness, thanks to their fiber content.
However, walnuts are higher in protein, which can benefit you if you substitute nuts for a meat source. Both walnuts and pecans offer benefits to your cardiovascular and digestive systems, besides providing many other advantages.
Understanding the difference between pecans and walnuts can give you some fun facts to share the next time you’re preparing a snack! Find pecan nuts for sale at Sohnrey Family Foods!
FAQs
Pecan and Walnut Nutritional Facts
What is the difference between pecans and walnuts? ›
Pecans are smaller, sweeter, and cheaper than walnuts, with a higher degree of fiber, monounsaturated fat, and vitamin E. Walnuts are larger, more textured, and more expensive than pecans. They reign supreme in protein content, most micronutrients, and polyunsaturated content.
How to tell pecan from walnut? ›
Pecans are usually darker, while walnuts are stubbier and have two hemispheres with a brain-like shape. While pecans have a similar form, they're flatter and more elongated, and their shells are more difficult to open than walnut shells.
What is the number one healthiest nut? ›
1. Almonds. Relatively low in calories, almonds are an excellent food for health due to their protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
How closely related are walnuts and pecans? ›
Walnuts and pecans are certainly related, both belong to the botanical family, Juglandaceae; and to the sub-family, Juglandoideae; and even to the 'tribe' Juglandeae. But beyond that they are categorised into different sub-tribes, pecans being Caryinae; and walnuts being Juglandinae.
Do squirrels prefer pecans or walnuts? ›
Squirrels' favorite natural foods are hickory nuts, pecans, black walnuts, and acorns. Their favorite feeder food is black oil sunflower seeds, their least favorite feeder food is Nyjer® (thistle) seed.
Which is healthiest walnuts pecans or almonds? ›
Antioxidants are known to help protect the body against disease. The scientists said that all nuts have good nutritional qualities but walnuts are healthier than peanuts, almonds, pecans and pistachios.
How can you tell a walnut? ›
The shoots and twigs have a chambered pith, a characteristic that can quickly confirm the tree's identification when a twig is cut open. The fruit of a walnut is a rounded, hard-shelled nut. Butternuts are similar, but this type of native walnut has oblong ridged fruits that form in clusters.
How can you tell if pecans are rancid? ›
They should have a firm, almost crunchy texture and a rich golden or amber color. On the flip side, bad pecans may show signs of spoilage, such as a rancid smell, a shriveled appearance, or a soft and rubbery texture. And if you're daring enough to taste some, it's likely a bit bitter and honestly, gross.
What is the color difference between pecan and walnut wood? ›
Pecan/ Hickory
It has an inherent wide array of color variation, caused by the natural mix of sapwood and heartwood found throughout most all planks. It is significantly lighter in color than Walnut, yet remarkably has a very similar grain and overall appearance to Walnut with the correct stain color.
Brazil nuts, cashews and macadamia nuts are higher in saturated fat. Too much of this can contribute to raised cholesterol levels, so only eat them occasionally. Chestnuts are an exception – they're lower in all types of fats and higher in starchy carbohydrate than other nuts.
Which nut is a superfood? ›
According to Harvard Health, some of the healthiest nuts are: Almonds. Brazil nuts. Cashews.
What nut should you eat everyday? ›
Most nuts appear to be generally healthy. But some may have more heart-healthy nutrients than others. For example, walnuts contain high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. Almonds, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts and pecans also appear to be quite heart healthy.
Should I eat pecans or walnuts? ›
While pecans have fewer calories and more fiber, walnuts offer a higher degree of protein. Whichever you choose, you'll enjoy heart-healthy nutrition with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and healthy cholesterol properties.
Why does my tongue hurt after eating walnuts? ›
If you experience an itchy mouth or ears, scratchy throat, hives on the mouth, or swelling of the lips, mouth, tongue, or throat after eating walnuts or other related fresh fruits, raw vegetables, or tree nuts, you may suffer from Pollen Food Allergy Syndrome (PFAS) also called Oral Allergy Syndrome (OAS).
Do walnuts go bad? ›
Walnuts go rancid when exposed to warm temperatures for long periods of time. Heat causes the fat in walnuts to change structure, which creates off odors and flavors. Fresh walnuts smell mildly nutty and taste sweet. If your walnuts smell like paint thinner, you know they're rancid.
Why are pecans the healthiest nut? ›
Pecans contain more than 19 vitamins and minerals – including vitamin A, vitamin E, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, several B vitamins and zinc. One ounce of pecans provides 10 percent of the recommended Daily Value for fiber1.
Should I eat walnuts everyday? ›
A serving of walnuts is roughly 1 ounce, or about ¼ cup. However, some studies suggest eating 1.5 to 2 ounces may be beneficial to reap the health benefits walnuts offer. With this in mind, and considering walnuts are calorically dense, Kalloo recommends aiming for a handful daily to reap their many health benefits.
Are pecans anti-inflammatory? ›
The anti-inflammatory properties of pecans reduced low-grade inflammation that leads to chronic inflammation and the development of a range of prevalent diseases. This also shows pecans maintain body weight and prevent diabetes despite consuming a high fat diet.
What nut has the most protein? ›
FAQs. Which nut is highest in protein? Peanuts are the highest protein nut containing 6.58 grams of protein per 1-ounce serving. Peanuts are closely followed by almonds and pistachios, which contain 6.07 and 5.81 grams of protein per 1-ounce serving respectively.
