“I have been looking for a very old recipe that I remember my dad frequently eating as a snack in the evening, walnuts that were broken up and tasted of vinegar and salt. I don’t remember the walnuts being in a shell or him cracking them. I believe they were canned someway and stored. This was about 70 years ago. If anyone could help me find this recipe, sure would be appreciated. We have lived in WV all my life.”
—Linda Brown
I hope one of you can help Linda. I’m not sure if the walnuts were English or black, but am guessing they were black walnuts.
Granny and Pap loved black walnuts and I do too. If you’ve never tasted them before, they have a very distinct earthy flavor.
I love them in cakes, breads, and cookies but I also like them sprinkled with salt and eaten out of hand.
The trees are native to the mountains of Appalachia and this is the time of year they are ready for harvesting.
Tipper
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Hello Miss Tipper and everybody-
I started gathering walnuts about a week ago here in Gnaw Bone, Indiana. I filled a baby pool full of them. Now, as I harvest my summer garden, I’ve been after some ways to preserve what I have grown. Likewise, I’d like to preserve as many of these walnuts as I can.
I watched a few videos and it seems like the British way is to pull the walnuts down out of the tree early (July or so, maybe earlier) before the nut shell has fully formed under the husk. They cut top and bottom – just a tad – from each walnut and soak them in salt water for about two weeks. After that, they boil up a brine and pour it over the walnuts in the jar. Now, these walnuts still have their husks on – but by now they’ve gone from green to black and shrunk a great deal. I think the idea would be to open the jar and just eat them like that because they would be soft enough to chew through after being brined for some time.
Black walnut meat might go rancid after awhile but the unopened nuts should last a couple of years.
Thank you for your videos and this website. I’ve only just encountered y’all but I feel instantly part of the family.
Prayers for you and yours!
Wikipedia has a page for these. They seem to originate in England, made from walnuts that are underripe before they develop a shell. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickled_walnuts
As a young girl in a family of ten and poor by the world standards, but very rich in the things that really matter, daddy and momma would take us walking all over the surrounding hills looking for walnuts and hickory nuts. We knew they would be used for the holidays. With toesack in hand we would bring them home and pour them out on the ground where daddy would run over the hulls with our one work truck. After the sun had done its job, we would carry them in a paint can and get us a hammer and crack them on the fireplace. I thank God for these memories. I thank God for the glorious gift of a Godly father and mother who had it right. God was first ALWAYS in their life. I thank God for my brothers and sisters. We are an extremely close family. We all are getting up there in age and know that time is not our friend, but we all know that God will take us home someday and things of this earth won’t matter and that is is greatest treasure anyone can have. Be blessed.
I love black walnuts and am very fortunate to have black walnut trees line the lane where I live. Hubby and I already picked a batch. Hubby has the job of cracking them! he found a nutcracker online that works and makes the job much easier that’s hammer! I use them in a Christmas cookie recipe from my mother that has walnuts, maraschino cherries and chocolate chips. they are my favorite. The nuts do have a very distinct flavor, people love them or hate them. I always warn everyone who eats the cookies to be careful of any shells we missed! yummy now I am craving to them.
The recipe is on the internet – I tried to post to this blog and it would not allow me too.
This is quite interesting to read through! Black walnuts are high in tannins, so much so that the squirrels only eat a few at a time to avoid an upset stomach.
Years ago, I learned that (I believe) Native Americans would soak their nuts in salt water to get the tannins out. If you look at Sally Fallon’s “Nourishing Traditions,” you will see she soaks the nuts in salt and then air-dries them.
With pickled walnuts, wouldn’t this be another way to leech the tannins, preserve the walnuts, and add good bacteria to the diet? I’m thinking it could be a fantastic way to use the abundance of black walnuts in my yard! I’ll certainly give it a shot this year!
Thanks for the post!
how I do black walnuts. The walnuts must still have the green hull. https://honest-food.net/pickled-walnuts-recipe/
Had to google pickled walnuts. Sure enough is a thing in England. Checked Amazon and Opies has them in a jar!
kitchenandotherstories.com Modified: Jul 23, 2025 · Published: Jul 3, 2022 by Chef Tripti ·
500 or 750 ml Jam jar or similar
Ingredients
10 Green Walnuts
2 teaspoon Coarse sea salt
25 gms Castor sugar
250 ml Malt vinegar
300 ml Water
Instructions
Wash and pat dry the walnuts. Using a fork, prick the walnuts all over.
In a pot or pan, add the water and the salt and bring to a boil. Once it boils and the salt has dissolved, immediately turn off the heat and set aside to cool.
In a sterilised jar, pack the walnuts tightly (tight enough so they don’t float up when adding the brine.)
Pour the cooled-down brine (salt-water) into the jar with the walnuts and seal tight. Leave the jar in a cool dark place for eight days.
After eight days, drain the brine. Place the walnuts onto a flat plate or tray, and leave them in the sun for a whole day. Turn the walnuts from time to time, so that they darken evenly. At the end of the day you will see that the walnuts have turned black.
Pour the malt vinegar and castor sugar into a pan and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat once the sugar has dissolved and set it aside to cool.
Once again, pack the walnuts into a sterilised jar tightly.
Pour the cooled-down pickling liquor into the jar with the walnuts and seal the jar shut. Set aside in a cool dark place (under 21ºC) for a month.
After a month, the pickled walnuts are ready to use as desired.
I’ll soon be 74 & I remember my grandparents cracking black walnuts that they had harvested on their farm. I can just see those black shells & remember how hard they were to crack. I never liked black walnuts or English walnuts, but my Dad loved black walnut ice cream. My favorite nuts are pecans, almonds & cashews. While working in the Culinary Arts Institute at the University the faculty had test strips to test students to see if they were “tasters.” They tested me & that strip was so bitter that I actually got slightly angry for a minute & spit it out. I was told that I was a “taster” and big food companies would pay me well to be a “taster” for their company. As I remember being a “taster” is a primitive throwback. I’ll have to do some research on it. Tipper & Acorns, do y’all have any knowledge about “tasters? My prayers for you Tipper, your family & sweet Granny. I pray for comfort & pain free days for Granny. Love to all from Mississippi
So many good stories in these posts
I found an abundance of “pickled walnut” recipes when I did a search but am suggesting reading one from the UK from katyinthekitchen.com. It is a fun read.
Wish I had heard of pickled walnuts earlier. My Dad had memories of loving black walnuts but, at the time, we had trouble finding some he liked. Now I’m wondering if pickked walnuts might have been what he remembered.
PS – holding you & all Granny’s family if my heart & prayers. The waiting & watching time of preparing for the passing of a loved one is one of the few things that does not get easier with “practice”. Hold each other close & keep sharing her stories.
I have never heard of pickled walnuts. I love a black walnut cake but haven’t had one in years. Black walnuts are hard to find here. I’ve had black walnut ice cream many years ago and it was delicious!
Amazon, Sam’s, Costco or grocery stores that ship have them. They are expensive no matter how/where you buy them.
I have started picking up black walnuts to crack for next years cookies and breads. My favorite is Italian cream cake using black walnuts. I have planted well over 1000 seedlings in the past 25 years and still transplant any that come up in the yard or garden.
I now have about 500 trees that have started producing nuts. This and last year were really bad years for nuts.
The most I ever shelled was 14 bushels of hulled nuts. That was way too much so I now limit to 6 bushels which produce 6 quart size bags per bushel. I have kept time and each bag represents 6 hours of labor.
When I go south, several cousins would be disappointed if they didn’t get their allotment of black walnut meat. Only old people like black walnuts. Even peanuts were a luxury growing up, but a brick or hammer would produce a black walnut snack.
Pet Dairy used to make a black walnut ice cream. I haven’t seen Pet ice cream in my area in ages. A family friend used to make black walnut poundcake, which was so good.
I found a recipe at kitchenandotherstories.com. Apparently is is an old English recipe. Hope this helps.
Praying for Granny and all of you. ❤️
Good morning everyone. I just did a Google search and there seems to be a lot of links about pickled walnuts. Apparently they are traditionally a British snack. Either way, my favorite use of black walnuts are in my fruitcakes each year. (still keeping Granny close to my heart with prayers).
I’ve never heard of pickled walnuts but I love black walnut cake.
I love black walnuts, the only kind of nut I ever ate until I was a teenager and discovered peanuts poured in a bottle of pop was the coolest fad for school lunch. We never ate pickled walnuts, and I don’t remember anyone in my area doing so.
Shirl, I am 71 and still like putting peanuts in my dranks- Coke cola, Pepsi, or RC, I wouldn’t turn around for the difference between any of the three, I recently bought a box of 48 of the small packs of Planters peanuts from Amazon for $8. Drank is an oldtime country word in my area among us oldies meaning any kind of soda drink.
The only thing that ever made me want a pocket knife is the memory of Papaw using his to eat an apple, which Randy reminded me of. To me, as a child, he made that apple look like the most delectable food you could imagine, cutting away thin slices, which he carried to his mouth on the knife blade, then closed his eyes to savor it as he chewed. All my life, and still at 64, I cut my apples into slices (with a paring knife) because I never have enjoyed just biting into the fruit after watching Papaw eat and enjoy his apples. And over the years, I have cut myself enough times with pocket knives borrowed from my husband, to know I need to stick to paring knives.
I worked with a man whose Mother in England canned walnuts. I believe the vinegar dissolved the shells over time.
I don’t have a recipe for pickled walnuts, but I know they are eaten a lot in the UK. On trips to England, I have seen pickled walnuts used as a relish.
My dad loved black walnuts and divinity candy, which in my part of the country was always made with black walnuts. I did not inherit his taste for either of these. I always thought black walnuts had a faint earthy taste which I didn’t care for. You have to really love these nuts to free them from their hulls! Two of my great grandparents are buried in a cemetery that has a couple of black walnut trees.
Never heard of pickled walnuts, but I bet they are good. My grand parents had a huge walnut tree and in order to shell them they would put them in the low spots of the drive way and let the cars and tractor run over them…I done my share of picking those nuts out of the drive 🙂 Thanks for the memories !
I love black walnuts but they are so hard to crack! My aunt used to make a black walnut cake that was amazing with a cream cheese icing.
Sending prayers for your sweet mama❤️❤️
Another use from the old days (1700’s & 1800″s) was Walnut Catsup. There are many fine recipes for this concoction, and I would surmise that it was found on many Appalachian tables back in those days.
hoping granny is well, or at least comfortable. hang in there.
My grandpa cracked black walnuts on a cast iron shoe last, usually outside, and picked out the meats by a wood-burning heater, often while listening to the news. Aside from that, I’ve heard that Indians crushed green walnut hulls and leaves to kill fish for food. If that would work, it would likely be illegal today in most states.
Sorry I’m no help on this topic. My Mother loves black walnuts. One of her brothers gathers & cracks them every fall/winter. They use them in a black walnut cake & fudge. I’ll ask & see if either of them have ever heard tell of pickled walnuts. I do look forward to seeing if anyone makes an answer. Continuing Prayers for Granny & y’all.
I have heard of pickled walnuts once, I think. Interestingly, I read awhile back (can’t remember where) that liking or not liking black walnuts is a genetic trait. If you have the gene for not liking them, then the gene makes you taste the bitterness more than anything. So thankful I have the gene to like them, lol!
Growing up, I have great memories of cracking out black walnut kernels. What a treat! Now I buy them when they can be found, but they rarely make it into baked goods because I can’t stay out of them. I’ve never heard of pickeling them though.
I enjoyed reading Linda’s post about pickled walnuts, but can’t say I’ve ever heard of pickled walnuts until now. I hope she finds the recipe. I have dill pickle popcorn seasoning that I put on my popcorn sometime to give it that dill pickle flavor. Maybe she could mix up some pickling brine, then soak her walnuts in it overnight. Then take out from brine draining them well and spread them out on a baking sheet and roast them just enough to dry them out or dehydrate them. Afterwards store in jar to keep fresh. I don’t know if that would work or not, but if Linda can’t find a recipe it might be worth trying.
I also enjoyed reading Randy’s comment how his grandparents would sit around the fireplace reading. It was interesting that his grandfather would peel an apple then scrap it until it made a texture like applesauce. I’ve never heard of any one doing that before, but it makes sense. Apples tend to get mushy when over worked. I bet it was delicious and all natural.
Great post today from both Linda and Randy’s.
Christine, I guess he did this because of having false teeth, the time period I am referring to would have been in the late 50’s or early 60’s. I guess dentures back then would had been crude when compared to today’s dentures. A story my Daddy liked to tell about me was about me choking and waking him up one night while I was asleep by trying to pull my teeth out like I had seen my Granddaddy do and saying they won’t come out.
Pickled walnuts are a British condiment, commercially available online. They are immature nuts preserved in a brine. The texture is a bit waxy and the flavor somewhat soapy, not unlike the nuts in the extinct black walnut ice cream. As kids my sister and I were tasked with cracking and picking the nut meats. What was once the stuff of nightmares is now, that we’re in our seventies, part of our fond childhood memories.
I have never heard of pickled walnuts. I remember my maternal grandparents sitting around their old coal heater on winter nights cracking and picking out black walnuts.. They never owned a TV or listen to a radio. Grandmother would use the walnuts in things she would bake. One thing Tipper didn’t mention that I loved but can no longer find is black walnut ice cream. I have 5 large black walnut trees on my place, nowadays I can’t even give the walnuts away. They are too much trouble to crack and pick out for most folks. Another memory of these grandparents while sitting around their old heater in the one room they mostly stayed in during the winter is of them sitting in the chairs reading their Bibles or granddaddy reading the Progressive Farmer magazine while eating an apple. When granddaddy would eat an apple, he would peel it and then scrap the apple with a kitchen case knife making it like applesauce before eating it.
Randy. I used to gather those when I lived in Blue Ridge, Ga and an old timer told me to put them in the freezer for a little bit, he didn’t say how long, and they would be easier to crack. My mother had a ‘nut cracker’ that I could place them in and they cracked fairly easy. The other way I cracked them was placing the nut in a pair of plyers and hammer away. That way of course has to be on some kind of concrete as using a stone or pavement didn’t work real well. Try the freezer, maybe that will work for ya!…Happy nutting…
Glenda, my Grandaddy would sit on one side of the heater and use a brick as well as I can remember and a claw hammer to crack the walnuts while Grandmother sit on the other side picking out the “goodies.” They threw the hulls or shells in the heater. I do not try to save them, without my wife to bake things from them, I just let the squirrels have them. By the way, if you ever watch a squirrel crack black walnuts with their mouth, you will understand why SMART squirrel hunters will not pick a squirrel up until they are sure he is graveyard dead. Dumb squirrel hunters quickly become smart after a squirrel clamps down on his hand!
Randy – I remember eating black walnuts as a child once or twice. I have no idea where they came from, but we had to use a hammer to get them open. I would gladly pay for the walnuts and the shipping if you will mail me a few pounds to Texas!
Nan, I will check in to doing this for you, because of back problems I have problems picking them up. Maybe you could send me your mailing address or contact information through my email stopman409@aol.com– I will tell you the story about an email address like that. You can have the walnuts, just help with the shipping. I don’t know how many I will have this year because of the hot dry summer. The walnuts are beginning to fall, I will start picking some up if I can beat the squirrels in case you want to do this.
Randy, I love the memory you shared. My daddy loved black walnut ice cream. I hadn’t found it in years and it’s hard to find black walnuts here to make it. I have a small bag in my freezer for special things like cake. Anyway, I found an ice cream parlor that still has hand dipped ice cream. We always get butter pecan. One day they only had one scoop left and I told my husband to take it. I asked the young lady if she had anything else and lo and behold she said ‘black walnut’. I told her I would have that and it was so so good. I told her I hadn’t seen it in years and years. She stated it was a good seller and they would have it as long as it was. I suspect it’s us folks that ain’t spring chickens anymore who know how good it is that will help the cause.