Mixed nuts are a popular snack food often consisting of roasted and salted peanuts, almonds, and walnuts. The types of nuts included can vary widely by recipe, and mixed nuts can also come with a variety of added flavorings such as wasabi, barbeque, or butter toffee. Serving mixed nuts is a popular option at bars and parties. Small amounts of this snack can also provide a good energy source for some endurance activities such as hiking due to the nuts' high amounts of protein. Instead of buying premade nuts, some people like to use their own recipes for roasting and seasoning this favorite snack at home.
People buying mixed nuts can usually find many different varieties from both online sellers and in grocery stores. Pricing can often vary by the types of nuts included in different recipes, and some vendors offer discounts on bulk orders. Some varieties of nuts can be more expensive than others if they need to be imported rather than grown and harvested locally. Most of these nut batches are priced by the pound or kilogram depending on the seller as well as the geographic region.
Some people may classify mixed nuts as junk food, although this snack actually has higher nutritional value than some others. Nuts such as cashews contain significant amounts of monounsaturated fats that nutrition experts recommend for maintaining a healthy heart and circulatory system. Walnuts have rich levels of antioxidants that can reportedly help lower the risks of certain cancers. Many recipe batches of mixed nuts can have high levels of saturated fat along with protein, iron, and zinc. Some of the fat comes from the cooking oil used to roast them, so nutritionists usually advise eating these kinds of nuts in moderation as part of a healthy diet.
Flavorings for mixed nuts come in many varieties ranging from spicy to sweet. Some home cooks like to add their own favorite flavors to a batch of mixed nuts as well. One of these recipes typically calls for roasting the nuts in a skillet along with ingredients of choice such as honey, toffee, sea salt, or chilli powder. The roasting process usually takes only a few minutes in order to mix the nuts together with the rest of the flavoring ingredients. A batch of flavored nuts can also be browned on a greased cookie sheet in the oven as an alternative to using a stove top skillet.
