Dry-roasted peanuts

What it is and how to eat it

The peanut (Arachis hypogaea) is a legume, a relative of beans, whose pods ripen underground, although it is eaten and sold like a nut; it is called cacahuete in Spain, cacahuate in Mexico and Central America and maní in much of South America and the Caribbean. It is sold in the shell, shelled and roasted, fried and salted, candied and, in Mexico, also chili-coated or as cacahuates japoneses, with a crunchy coating. This page covers dry-roasted peanuts without oil or salt, with 587 kcal, 24.4 g of protein, 8.4 g of fiber and 49.7 g of fat per 100 g according to USDA.

A 30 g (1.1 oz) handful, about 30 peanuts based on USDA's average weight, provides 176 kcal, 7.3 g of protein, 2.5 g of fiber and 14.9 g of fat: only 17% of its energy comes from protein, so it does not replace the protein part of the plate. The 2025 nutrition advisory on GLP-1 therapy notes that foods high in protein or fat can further slow gastric emptying and suggests avoiding fatty foods in the first few days of treatment; in those days, and after each dose increase, a few chopped peanuts over yogurt or a teaspoon of peanut butter in a sauce may sit better, as in the tofu with peanut sauce and vegetables. Unsalted dry-roasted peanuts are a better choice than fried and salted ones, served in a small bowl instead of eaten from the bag.

What the evidence says

In the Holt satiety index (1995), which used salted roasted peanuts, they scored 84, below white bread, the reference (100); the index measures how full people feel over the two hours after 240 kcal servings. About 82% of their fatty acids are unsaturated and provide 55% of their energy, so they meet the "high unsaturated fat" condition (at least 70% of fatty acids and more than 20% of energy) that the EU requires for the claim "replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats in the diet contributes to the maintenance of normal blood cholesterol levels"; the effect depends on replacing other fats, not on adding peanuts to the diet (Regulations (EC) No 1924/2006 and (EU) No 432/2012). In a crossover study with 15 normal-weight adults who received about 505 kcal of peanuts a day, almost three times this serving, for 8 weeks with no instructions, they offset 66% of that energy by eating less of everything else and gained 1.0 kg, against the 3.6 kg expected without compensation, and when peanuts replaced other fats their weight did not change (International Journal of Obesity, 2002); it was funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) through its peanut research program (Peanut CRSP), and it was not done in people taking GLP-1 medications. Like grains and other nuts, peanuts can contain aflatoxins, mold toxins that EFSA considers genotoxic and, in the case of B1, able to cause liver cancer, so the EU sets maximum levels for peanuts (Regulation (EU) 2023/915), and peanuts are one of the 14 allergens that labels must highlight (Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011).

The sources for this section are listed under "Sources" at the end of the page.