21 Chestnut Recipes That Demand a Spot on Your Holiday Table (2024)

FAQs

How to score chestnuts? ›

Place the chestnuts flat side down on a cutting board. Use a small paring knife to score an X through the skin on the rounded side of each chestnut. Once you've scored them all, place the chestnuts in a bowl of hot water for 1 minute. This will help them steam in the oven.

Chestnuts were ground and cooked in milk and honey or sugar as a breakfast food, and this was also fried to make a sweet fritter. Chestnuts were also added to porridges. Chestnut flour, made from grinding chestnuts that were dried in the smoke over a chestnut wood fire, was used in pasta, cakes, bread, and pastries.

Chestnuts contain fat-soluble vitamins (Ascorbic acid, B1, B2, B3, B6, and E) which promote healthy skin and improve brain function [15,33]. They play a key role in the aging process, help prevent blood clotting, are gluten-free, and are of great benefit to patients with celiac disease [4,34,35].

The edible part of the chestnut is protected by its prickly outer shell, then by brown skin and finally by the tan. This fine pellicle is bitter and astringent and it should be removed.

Wholesale prices for large, high-quality chestnuts are $3.00-5.00/lb, and higher for organically grown chestnuts. Retail prices range from $3-10.00/lb.

Raw chestnuts are safe to eat for most people. However, they do contain tannic acid, which means they could cause stomach irritation, nausea, or liver damage if you have liver disease or experience a lot of kidney problems.

Just 10 roasted chestnuts include 17% of what you need for the day — a major plus considering most of us don't get nearly enough. Americans eat on average about 16 grams of fiber per day, half of the recommended amount of 25 to 30 grams.

Raw chestnuts are safe for most people to eat, but because they contain tannins, they may cause digestive disturbance and nausea in some individuals.

Sweet chestnuts are edible, but horse chestnuts are poisonous. If eaten, they can cause digestive problems such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and throat irritation. More than one in 10 cases of poisonous plants being mistaken for edible plants involve horse and sweet chestnuts.

Roasted chestnut is a popular autumn and winter street food in East Asia, Europe, and New York City. Asian chestnuts (Castanea crenata, C. mollissima) as well as European chestnuts (C. sativa) can be used.

Why can't I peel chestnuts? ›

There are two main ways to prepare chestnuts so their shells and icky hairy skins come off with the minimum of fuss: roasting them or steaming them. In either case, you'll need to cut an "x" or at least a "y" into the chestnut shell. This will let the shell loosen itself from the nut as it cooks.

Scoring chestnuts before boiling or roasting helps with removing them from their shells. Once fully cooked, peel the outer layer using the scored shell and then peel away the inner skin. If it is not peeling easily, you can use a sharp paring knife to help you along the way.

Preparing Chestnuts

Afterward, it's essential to score the chestnuts to prevent them from bursting during the cooking process. For effective scoring and better control, we recommend using a specialized chestnut knife. Make an 'X' incision on the rounded side of the chestnut.

Check they're glossy, not too damaged and that none have any holes. Once you're at home, put them in water to check that all your chestnuts are healthy and edible. The ones that bob back to the surface are probably empty or not edible.