10 Best Substitutes For Pine Nuts

There's no doubt that pine nuts help make the creamiest pesto, and rightfully so as, right behind macadamia nuts, they are the second most expensive nut in the world. These small nuts will set you back about $23 per pound because of how long they take to grow (via Money Inc).

Spending a big chunk of your grocery budget on pine nuts every other week may be out of the question, especially when you can substitute them for other less expensive nuts. You can substitute pine nuts with other seeds or nuts depending on what you're planning to use them for. Whether it's the lush creaminess you want for a smooth pesto, or the faint nutty sweetness that it can add to desserts, as long as you know what you're doing with the pine nuts, there's an easy swap that will do an equally fine job. 

There is another bonus to swapping this nut for another ingredient — in addition to saving money, you'll avoid pine mouth, the metallic aftertaste some people get after eating pine nuts (via Bon Appétit).

While pine nuts are expensive and comparatively harder to find, a substitute that you're more likely to have stocked in your pantry is almonds. Although almonds don't have the same punch as pine nuts do in terms of flavor, much like cashews, toasting does a good job of bringing the nuttiness out (via a couple cooks). Adding more almonds to your diet is a plus, as they can help regulate blood sugar levels and lower bad cholesterol (via Healthline).

Soaking almonds overnight and peeling off the skin before using them in your recipe will work best, as soaked almonds will be softer and closer to the texture of pine nuts. Healthline notes that soaked almonds can be easier to digest and are more buttery in flavor than raw almonds.

Almonds can be used in place of pine nuts to make pesto and also add a nice crunch topped on salads and pasta dishes. To substitute pine nuts with almonds, Greedy Gourmet recommends using a 1:1 ratio.

Hazelnuts tend to be used often in Italian and Mediterranean recipes so they make for an excellent substitute to pine nuts. Due to its sweet taste, Substitute Cooking suggests going for hazelnuts in sweeter recipes more than savory ones, especially when working with chocolate. After all, hazelnut is what Nutella is made from.

While you can use hazelnuts without toasting them, if you want more of the nut's flavor and aroma — toast them first. Hazelnuts may not be for everyone as the skin of hazelnuts makes the nut quite bitter. Instead, blanch them first by boiling them in hot water, then peel off the skin before chopping them and adding them to your recipe.

Hazelnuts have a much stronger taste than the subtle flavor of pine nuts which is why Greedy Gourmet recommends using a smaller quantity than you would pine nuts. For best results, use ½ a tablespoon of hazelnuts for every tablespoon of pine nuts required in your dish.

Another nut that can be used in all sorts of recipes where pine nuts typically shine is the pecan. Pecans have a distinct sweet and butter-like taste, so they fare particularly well in desserts like cakes, breads, cookies, and ice cream (via Recipe Marker). When using pecans in place of pine nuts in ice cream, roasting the nuts in some honey, grinding them up, and then churning the mixture into ice cream works especially well.

Substitute Cooking finds that pecans contain more natural oil than other nuts and so, they tend to be oiler than pine nuts. When grinding pecans into a smooth paste to use in pesto, be prepared for there to be way more oil than you expect, and make sure to tweak the amount of olive oil you use accordingly.

To use pecans as a pine nut alternative, use ¾ of pecans to the number of pine nuts required in your recipe.

Swapping pine nuts for others with a similar flavor profile may be a no-brainer, but there are some seeds that you can use as well. Pine nuts do resemble seeds more in appearance than nuts after all. Using seeds, like pumpkin, have the added advantage of making your dish suitable for anybody with nut allergies. 

Pumpkin seeds can be used in pretty much any pine nut recipe and in any form — plain, salted, roasted, or raw (via Substitute Cooking). When using pumpkin seeds as an alternative for pine nuts in pesto, be careful of your pesto's consistency. As with pecans, pumpkin seeds too tend to have more oil than pine nuts and so, your pesto can be oilier than you want it to be. Make sure to adjust the amount of olive oil that you add to your pesto when using pumpkin seeds.

To use pumpkin seeds for pine nuts, use ½ tablespoon of pumpkin seeds for every tablespoon of pine nuts required in your dish.

Here's a substitute that you probably wouldn't think of as a close alternative to pine nuts — sesame seeds. Long used as the key ingredient to making tahini, which is a staple in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines, the small seeds act as a base for hummus. Sesame seeds turn into a beautiful paste when ground up.

While sesame seeds do make an excellent earthy and grainy paste, it's not recommended using them in place of pine nuts when making pesto, as it has a drastically different texture and flavor.

Instead, the site recommends using sesame seeds in any dish where pine nuts are used as a flavor enhancer alongside other bold ingredients, rather than the star ingredient: Think salads, sauces, and desserts. You could also toast the sesame seeds first to further bring out the flavor (via Substitute Cooking).

To substitute pine nuts with sesame seeds, use 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds for every tablespoon of pine nuts that your recipe calls for.