Masala Peanuts
Crispy, crunchy and coated with a delicious blend of spices, these Air Fryer masala peanuts are sure to become your next favorite healthy snack of all time. They’re vegan, gluten-free and have an addictive blend of salty and spicy flavor.
Batch make them over the weekend and you’ll have a delicious tea time or movie snack to munch on all throughout the week- if they even last that long.
I love hosting family and friends, and that, combined with my passion for cooking, has led me to experiment with lots of appetizers and snacks.
My spicy roasted cashews, Tajin nuts and ranch crackers have been huge crowd pleasers, but I really wanted to try out something that had that little touch of Indian flavors to it. And that’s when I thought of making these Air Fryer roasted peanuts.
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What's So Great About the Recipe?
My favorite part about these crunchy peanuts has to be the fact that they’re super customizable. Based on your personal taste preference you can adjust the seasonings and spices you’re adding in, which is great.
Plus, since they’re made in the Air Fryer, they’re super healthy and much better than those packaged, store-bought options.
Ingredients For the Masala Peanuts Recipe
You’ll need just a few pantry staples to make these spicy masala peanuts.
Unsalted peanuts: To start off, you’ll need some unsalted, unroasted peanuts. If you’re using peanuts with skin, remove the skin before using them.
Spices: I used a simple blend of spices including red chili powder, turmeric powder, some chaat masala and a bit of asafoetida.
Chickpea flour: Chickpea flour aka gram flour or besan, forms the base of the coating for these crunchy peanuts.
Rice flour: I also added a bit of rice flour to make the peanuts extra crunchy. You can skip this one if you don’t have it at hand, and they’ll still taste delish.
Lime juice: I also added some lime juice to get that bit of tangy, citrusy flavor to the peanuts.
Oil: You’ll need just a teeny bit of oil to grease the Air Fryer basket and to get the peanuts to crunch up nicely.
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- Don’t have any lime juice? A dash of lemon juice (even just the bottled variety) can work just as well.
- In fact, you could also replicate the same recipe while using other nuts of your choice. Almonds and cashew nuts are two great choices.
How to Make Masala Peanuts
Got all the ingredients ready? Here’s what you’ll need to do next to make these spicy and crunchy masala peanuts.
In a large mixing bowl, add the raw peanuts and the flours.
Next, add in the spices with the lime juice and oil.
Mix them well and keep them aside while you preheat your Air Fryer.
Transfer the peanuts to the Air Fryer basket and arrange them in a single layer.
Cook the peanuts at 360°F for about 4-5 minutes or until they become slightly golden brown.
Allow the peanuts to cool down completely and serve!
💭Top Tip
Make sure the peanuts are coated well in the gram flour mixture. You can also add a splash of water to get the batter to the right consistency.
How to Store Your Leftover Masala Peanuts
Your leftover masala peanuts can be stored for up to 2 weeks at room temperature. Simply transfer them to an airtight container and store them in a cool and dark place.
If the peanuts seem to have lost their crunchiness, you can revive them by microwaving them for a few minutes, or popping them in the Air Fryer.
Tips & Tricks to Nail the Recipe
- Want to bring in some extra flavor to these Besan masala peanuts? You can also add some of the classic ginger garlic paste into the flour mixture.
- Depending on your personal taste preference, you can adjust the amount of chili powder you’re adding into the mix.
- A pinch of garam masala can also be a wonderful addition to the mixture.
- If you’re starting off with salted peanuts for this peanut masala recipe, reduce the amount of additional salt and chaat masala that you’re adding in.
How to Serve Air Fryer Masala Peanuts
These crispy and spicy peanuts are the perfect snack for kids and adults both!
You can enjoy them with a cup of chai or serve them to the kiddos as a quick snack when the hunger pangs hit.
Another great idea is to use these crunchy flour coated peanuts to make peanut chaat. To do this, all you’ll need to do is combine the peanuts with some chopped onions, tomatoes, boiled potatoes, chillies, chopped coriander and other spices and mix-ins of your choice.
If you're making these for a party, you can also team them up with some other crunchy flavored nuts like salt and vinegar almonds and chili lime pepitas or other healthy snacks like Tajin chickpeas.
I love serving these with my baked aloo samosas or moong dal pakoras.
Recipe FAQs
Besan or chickpea flour is the ideal choice for this recipe. If you don’t have it, you could use half the amount of cornflour instead.
Yes, you can just coat the peanuts in the spices and air fry them too. Using a bit of flour will actually help because it’ll give the peanuts a nice crunchy coating, but it isn’t absolutely necessary.
More Snack Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Masala Peanuts
Ingredients
- ½ cup peanuts
- 2 tablespoon chickpea flour
- 1 tablespoon rice flour
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ teaspoon asafetida
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon chat masala
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add the raw peanuts and the flours.
- Next, add in the spices with the lime juice and oil.
- Mix them well and keep them aside while you preheat your Air Fryer.
- Transfer the peanuts to the Air Fryer basket and arrange them in a single layer.
- Cook the peanuts at 360°F for about 4-5 minutes or until they become slightly golden brown.
- Allow the peanuts to cool down completely and serve!
