Southern Hot Boiled Peanuts
aka Hot Bawled Peee-nuts
Growing up in the south I remember pulling over on the side of the road to grab a bag of Hot Boiled Peanuts (pronounced Hot Bawled Peeee-nuts) from a local who had set up their sign along a back road.
Memories of eating the boiled peanuts while they were so hot still makes me laugh. Can't hold them except with your fingertips and yet you are going to put them in your teeth and bite open the shell! Yeah… you got the idea. Did I say they were called HOT BOILED PEANUTS??
Oh – but they were so worth it! Salty yet sweet…the true flavor of summertime in the south.
I missed hot boiled peanuts when we moved to Ohio. I tried the canned boiled peanuts – DON'T even think about eating that kind ever…
Not even the flea markets sold hot boiled peanuts! Say it isn't so!!! I found it hard to even find raw peanuts in the grocery store. Then, one day while in Kroger's, I found the gem of the south..RAW PEANUTS!! Imagine my joy and excitement as I tossed several bags into my cart..Happy Dance for me 🙂
Cooking peanuts is also an art…NOT…. it involves time, water and salt.
Ingredients:
1 pound Raw Peanuts
1 cup salt
Directions:
1. Wash peanuts to remove dirt and debris
2. Place peanuts in a LARGE pot (needs lid)
3. Cover peanuts with water (they will float at first so just fill the pot to the top!)
4. Mix in salt (Peanuts are like potatoes – they suck up the salt)
5. Bring to a boil, stir, reduce heat to medium-low and cook them forever!**
The forever part isn't true but they do take hours and hours… the average cooking time will depend on the freshness of the peanuts. On the stove top, they take overnight (10-12 hours). Every hour just give them a gentle stir, rotating the top to the bottom for even cooking. The longer they cook = the better they taste!
As the peanuts absorb the water and start cooking, they will become soft and pliable. Taste the water to determine the salt level desired.
In our house, we eat them right out the pot on the stove. There are rarely any left over to share or keep for another day! If you have any left over, drain and store in refrigerator for up to four days. Eat cold or pop in the microwave to warm.
** I have cooked these in the pressure cooker when desperate. Desperate times do call for desperate measures right? Same prep – wash, place in pressure cooker (do not fill more than half your cooker to allow for movement and swelling), cover with water to fill line, stir in salt (adjust salt to amount of peanuts used) and cook on highest pressure setting for 90 minutes. Release steam and test for doneness. Repeat cooking process for another hour if needed.
Disclaimer: Pressure cooker peanuts are not as salty, soft or in my opinion as good as when they are cooked on the stove or over an open fire for at least 12 hours! Just my opinion.
Disclaimer #2 – Don't ever, ever, ever ask for boiled peanuts when in the south… it is bawled peee-nuts…just trying to protect you from being laughed at by the locals! And never, never laugh when you see a hand painted sign that reads… HOTTTT BAWLED PEEENUTS!
STOP THE CAR!!! Pay the man for a couple of bags of pure sweet summertime!
Optional:
Add hot sauce for a little kick
My mom talks about eating these as a kid with her grandmother. I think I am going to make them for her when she visits. I know I saw raw peanuts in our local store recently.
I’m going to try this recipe. Thank you so much!
I love going to the High School football games here because they sell these at the snack stand! I love them so much & now I can just make them myself 🙂 Thank you for this recipe!
Guess what I’m doing? These look so good….I haven’t had good boiled peanuts in forever….time to make me some!
I grew up in the North so never heard of hot boiled peanuts before, they sound delicious! Thanks for posting!
I’m not Southerner but I’ll give this one a try. Thanks for posting.
I remember seeing these while traveling through Georgia some time ago. My Mom tried ’em, although she wasn’t a fan. Although I think I might like to give ’em a try. 🙂
God bless,
Miles
Being a Southern girl myself, this is an old favorite. I’m amazed no one ever made them chicken fried! I laugh now, because they make me think of actress Kathy Bates in her role as “the Squirrel Lady” from the film, ‘Rat Race’!
Thank you for the information. We will give this one a try.
I have never tried these hot peanuts before but they sounds delicious! I am almost temped to try and make some, I just might, maybe not now but maybe during the spring time, try it out on a small batch ,, 🙂
I have never, ever heard of “Hot Bawled Peee-nuts”! I love salted peanuts that you find in the store, but I find your method of cooking peanuts very intriguing!!! I would love to try some authentic Bawled Peee-nuts…before I went out and made my own. Because I’d want to know what kind of taste I should be looking for! Thanks for sharing!!!
This is so healthy!
This looks kind of gross to me. But maybe after I am pregnant I will revisit this idea and it will sound better! lol
Thanks for the recipe! I am from South Carolina originally and I love boiled peanuts. I am in NY now and no one probably has even heard of them here… LOL! When I was a kid I would go to the Flea Market outside of Charleston and always get a bag or two! They are so delicious and so different than a typical roasted peanut…. a different experience all together. I LOVE boiled peanuts and will be trying your recipe! Thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad I found this recipe post!! I lived in SC and loved boiled peanuts. I can’t find them anywhere in Tx. I will be making these!!
Hot boiled peanuts sound so delicious, I’m going to make it this coming weekend. I thank you so much for the share.
I have never had hot boiled peanuts before! They sound really good though, I’ll have to try making them sometime!
Thank you – these sound amazing! I have never had them, believe it or not.
Family will love this. Will be boiling peanuts very soon. xxoo
Easy recipe that my hubby will lone. I’ll be boiling peanuts very soon@
I live in the north, and have never tried hot boiled peanuts. I believe finding raw ones around here might be quite challenging.
never had these before…interesting thanks
I love boiled peanuts, never tried anything like these.
I have never tried Hot Boiled Peanuts and I think I might be missing out on a wonderful treat!
These sound so good. I’ll have to see if I can find raw peanuts here.
Sherryl…I love you! LOL I totally miss hot boiled peanuts! When we lived in South Georgia, we stopped all the time and bought them from the side of the road where someone had set up a place to sell them. I can’t wait to make these!!!
I’ve never tried this process before but would love to!
I love boiled peanuts! We make them for every family gathering that we can.
I like to add peanuts into some of my foods like some pasta but I have never cooked them like this. Interesting, I should give it a try.
So odd that you had a hard time finding peanuts, maybe we just have a bunch because I live in Milwaukee so the stores stock up for the Brewer’s baseball games. Anyhow, I had no idea that people boiled peanuts, I’d love to try them. I’ll have to ask my grandma if they ever had boiled peanuts.
I only have a hard time finding RAW peanuts. Roasted are everywhere.
I’ve never even heard of hot bawled peeenuts. I had to give up peanuts because I was on a low mold diet but I bet bawled ones would be allowed, I’m sure they’re really clean after going through all that salt and cooking. Thanks for introducing me to them, next time I am down south, I’ll have to look for them.
Wow, this is different but they do look tasty!
Mmmm….boiled peanuts. When I was out West my friends from the South would always lament how tough it was to find boiled peanuts. Silly, right?
OMGoodness! I haven’t had good old boiled peanuts in ages! Being a southerner, these were always around when I was a kid. Time to make some!
I have never try to fix these but think i fix fix it for the family
We first found boiled peanuts at a grocery store in Louisiana. In a can!!! My late husband fell in love with them and the search began back home in Texas. They were difficult to find, so, he started boiling his own. Did a fair good job too!!
I have had these before and they are interesting. Thank you for sharing, I always wondered how to prepare them.
i love peanut and then we used to have them all the time and during the holdiay we had them all the time
I haven’t tried these before but they sound good and easy.