Roasted Pecans Recipe – a low carb substitute for honey mustard pretzels!

If you like honey mustard pretzels, you will love this roasted pecans recipe. Low carb nuts make for a great high protein snack and when mixed with a honey mustard sauce they are addicting! So next time you are craving pretzels, grab some of these honey mustard roasted pecans! Each serving has only 2.5g net carbs.

You might also like these Thai curry low carb nuts recipe!

A year or two ago I made a popular keto strawberry pretzel dessert. Because I couldn’t use pretzels I realized that roasted pecans are very similar in texture and taste. This was a game changer for me because I really like pretzels. 

So today I made a low carb honey mustard roasted pecans recipe that has all the flavor of my favorite pretzel flavor – honey mustard! While it’s not exactly like a honey mustard pretzel, it is very tasty and super addicting.  You only need a few ingredients and you will have a big batch of these roasted nuts to grab for a high protein low carb snack.

The Best Low Carb Nuts to snack on

I like to munch on nuts because most nuts are high in healthy fats, a good source of protein and yet low in carbs. In other words, a great keto snack! However some are lower in carbs than other. Here are a few different kinds and their nutritional information for 1/4 cup servings:

• pecans – raw – 190 calories, 1g net carbs
• almonds – raw – 160 calories, 3g net carbs
• Brazil nuts – raw – 200 calories, 2g net carbs
• walnuts – raw – 200 calories, 2g net carbs
• cashews – raw – 160 calories, 8g net carbs
• macadamias – dry roasted – 230 calories, 2g net carbs

That doesn’t mean you should eat as much as you want because nuts are also high in calories and it’s easy to over do it. Try to stick with a 1/4 cup seasoning or less. Also note nutritional information may vary from brand to brand.

 

 

Roasted Pecans Recipe Ingredients

I originally bought a honey extract to give this recipe that honey flavor, however the taste was odd. So I just went with a little bit of real honey and added some Swerve sweetener. The rest of the ingredients were butter, yellow mustard, ground powdered mustard, onion powder, garlic powder and of course pecans.

 

 

Low Carb Honey Mustard Sauce Recipe

Below you can see what the honey mustard sauce looks like. If you want you can use another type of mustard. I have a hot mustard I want to try next time and dijon would be nice too.

To make the low carb honey mustard sauce, melt butter in a ramekin in the microwave. Add in honey, onion powder, garlic powder and Swerve sweetener. Mix well and set aside.

 

 

Next you want to take raw pecans and mix them in a bowl with the honey mustard sauce. Make sure to use RAW pecans and not roasted ones because they would just burn in the oven. Also make sure the nuts are well coated.

Cover a cookie sheet with either a piece of parchment paper or a silicone mat. Spread the nuts out and make sure they aren’t overlapping and place in a 250°F oven

 

 

How long to roast pecans

The total time to roast pecans is 1 hour in a 250°F oven. You want to stir them around every 15 minutes. If they seem like they are burning before the 1 hour, take them out. Sprinkle the dry mustard powder on top and let them cool. 

When you take them out they may seem a little soft but once they dry they will be crunchy.

 

 

How to store these low carb roasted nuts

I like to store nuts in the refrigerator to last longer but you can also freeze them. However since we are using a sauce to cover these I would definite keep these in a sealed container or baggie in the refrigerator for up to a month. You can also keep them on the counter for a week if they are in an airtight container. 

 

 

Roasted Pecans Recipe Tips

• What kind of mustard to use? I used a plain yellow mustard for this recipe but dijon mustard would also work great. 
• What if I don’t care about carbs? I would use 1 – 2 tablespoons of honey and eliminate the Swerve sweetener.
• Are roasted pecans good for you? Both raw and roasted nuts are good for you. However roasting nuts at a high temperature may effect their healthy fats. Roasting at low temperatures is better. Read more about raw vs. roasted nuts here
• How do I store raw pecans? For raw nuts, you can store them in a sealed container at room temperature for a month. In a airtight container they can stay refrigerated for  up to 6 months or in the freezer for up to a year.
• Do roasted pecans need to be refrigerated? For roasted nuts or flavored nuts like this recipe I would only keep them on the counter in a sealed container for 1 week or in the refrigerator for 1 month.
• How can you tell if pecans are bad? Because nuts have a high fat content they are at greater risk to turn rancid. You will know they are bad if they have a faint paint thinner smell to them. An easier way is to t aste them and if they have a sour or bitter taste they are bad. 

 

 

So if you are like me and love honey mustard pretzels, give these roasted pecans a try. Low carb nuts make for great snacks because of their high plant protein content and good fats. They are also very portable and filling!

The nutritional information for 1/4 cup of pecans is:

239cals / 24.5g fat / 5.7g carbs / 3.2g carbs / 3.8g protein = 2.5g net carbs