These Chili Lime Cashews are a flavor packed snack that will quickly become your new addiction. Simple to make with just a handful of ingredients.

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If you’ve been around for some time you know that I’m a snacker. I truly don’t understand why someone would turn down popcorn, nuts or a cheese and cracker situation. Like, why?

When it comes to my snacks, I like crunchy and salty all the way. There is truly nothing better than a kettle potato chip. Come at me.

Nuts are a big go to for me since they hit all the right taste and texture marks and they are a healthier choice. I especially love them when they are packed with lots of flavor.

Start with Raw Cashews

Roasting cashews may seem intimidating at first but trust me, it couldn’t get easier. First, start out with raw cashews.

You can find these with all the roasted nuts in the snack aisle of your grocery store. They are often located in the bulk bins of lots of stores as well.

Because we’re spicing and roasting them ourselves it’s important they start out raw so they have the extra time to soak up all the flavors.

The Ingredient List

You only need a few ingredients to make these chili lime cashews.

Fresh lime zest and lime juice add so much citrus zing to the cashews. The recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of zest which was 1 large lime for me.

Be sure not to zest the lime too far. If you get to the pith, the zest will become bitter so make sure to stop zesting before you get there. This microplane is my favorite for zesting citrus.

It’s great for feeling fancy with your parmesan too. Just saying.

The zest in the nuts adds a delicious punch of that zingy lime flavor.

You can often finding varying heat levels of chili powder so pick what you prefer. If you want them to have a little kick with the zippy lime, go for a medium chili powder. The combination of slightly spicy with lime is kind of magical and I highly recommend.

If spicy isn’t your thing, go for a mild chili powder and you’ll get all the flavor without the heat. Either choice is sure to be a hit.

Making Chili Lime Cashews

The process for making these cashews is ridiculously easy. Simply mix together the olive oil, lime juice, lime zest, chili powder and salt in a bowl.

Add the cashews to the bowl and mix until evenly coated. Dump them on a parchment or foil lined baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes at 300 degrees F.

Stir them every 5 minutes to ensure they don’t burn and come out evenly crunchy. This might not be your favorite step since you have to be pretty attentive but I have a solution.

My theory is to grab a book and sit at the kitchen table. You’ll get 30 minutes of reading in and have a delicious snack at the end. Win win.

Tips for Roasted Cashews

There are a few important things to keep in mind when you’re roasting raw cashews (or any nut).

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