All About Walnuts

Walnuts are one of the more useful tree nuts to keep in the kitchen — not because of any single miracle property, but because they’re an easy way to add fat, protein, and a few minerals to an ordinary day.

What’s actually in a walnut

A small handful, around 30g, has roughly 4-5g of protein and 18g of fat, most of it unsaturated, including alpha-linolenic acid, a plant source of omega-3. There’s also magnesium, copper, and manganese in smaller amounts. None of that makes walnuts a treatment for anything. It makes them a reasonably dense snack, nothing more dramatic than that.

Raw or roasted

Raw walnuts keep more of their natural oils and don’t need added salt or sugar. Roasted walnuts taste stronger, but they oxidise faster once the bag is open, so a small amount eaten within a few weeks beats a large bag that turns stale in the pantry.

Storage that actually matters

The fat in walnuts goes rancid faster than in most other nuts. Kept airtight in the fridge, they’ll last for months. Left in a warm cupboard, a few weeks is closer to the limit — and a rancid walnut just tastes bitter, not dangerous, simply unpleasant enough that you’ll notice and toss it.

Pairing walnuts with dates

Walnuts and dates turn up together in a lot of Middle Eastern and Iranian snacks for a practical reason: dates supply sweetness and moisture, walnuts supply crunch and fat, and neither needs anything added. Stuffing a pitted Medjool date with half a walnut is a two-ingredient snack that holds up for a few days in a sealed container. Our Medjool supplier guide covers grades if you’re buying in any quantity.

A simple way to buy

Whole walnuts in the shell keep longer than shelled pieces, but shelled halves are far more convenient for daily eating. If dates are already part of the weekly shop — Kurma Rabbi is one variety worth trying alongside walnuts — buying both on the same trip keeps a simple snack drawer stocked without much planning. For more on choosing and pricing Medjool specifically, see our Medjool buying tips guide.

That’s about it: a nut worth having around for what it actually contains, not for anything it’s claimed to cure.