Substitute for pine nuts?

[agumble]

Does anyone know of anything that can be substituted for pine nuts? They're ridiculously expensive at my grocery store - about $5.00 for a package containing 1/4 cup, which is nowhere near the amount needed for most of the recipes.

[spiralgirl]

agumble,

Sub them with any nuts you have around. That's what I often do like walnuts, pecans, or almonds.

[trinity082482]

I find the one nut that comes close to a pine nut is a sunflower seed.. They don't taste alike but they are both "oily" and they both make great "meaty" tastes in a recipe. Although.. I am pretty sure they cost about the same as pine nuts..
Awe, I'm not much help am I. :(

[sxyynggrl4u]

I buy all of my nuts and seeds from nutsonline.com They have really great products (organic and raw) at the best price around. I have ordered with them several times and everything was always fresh. As soon as I place the order within like 15 min I always receive my tracking number and my orders are always delivered within 3 days! Amazing! Also, I buy a months supply of nuts, seeds and my favorite organic dates. Hope that helps.:)

[brownies]

There really is nothing that has the same flavor as pine nuts. My suggestion would be to use at least half pine nuts and the other half use sunflower seeds which are the cheapest seed/nut you can find. I do this with all my nut recipes. It helps cut down on costs.

[spicyfull]

I get Pine Nuts from Trader Joe's.

[RaeVynn]

I find the one nut that comes close to a pine nut is a sunflower seed.. They don't taste alike but they are both "oily" and they both make great "meaty" tastes in a recipe. Although.. I am pretty sure they cost about the same as pine nuts..
Awe, I'm not much help am I. :(

Actually, sunflower seeds run about $3 a pound, and a 2 pound sack of pine nuts, at Costco, is about $12. You might look at the prices at nutsonline.com

If you are looking for the same creamy effect as pine nuts, though without the distinctive "pine" flavor, try cashews. Otherwise, it usually works fine to substitute sunnies, or pumpkin seeds, for more expensive nuts, especially in a highly seasoned mix.

[jacsam]

I mix my pinenuts with cashews to stretch them.....you still get the taste that you get from a pinenut. If a cup of pinenuts are called for, I'll use 1/2 cup cashews and the other half pinenuts.

[LotsaRaw]

I buy all of my nuts and seeds from nutsonline.com They have really great products (organic and raw) at the best price around. I have ordered with them several times and everything was always fresh. As soon as I place the order within like 15 min I always receive my tracking number and my orders are always delivered within 3 days! Amazing! Also, I buy a months supply of nuts, seeds and my favorite organic dates. Hope that helps.:)

I just called them and discovered I can place a phone order and pick up locally at their Linden, NJ location and save on shipping!!! Their prices look great! (especially for the cases - perfect for dates, cashews, and almonds)

[ChrisW]

Our local health food chain (Seasons in Portland OR) has pine nuts but cautions that there's a worldwide shortage, that the ones they could find came from China, and some people report a metallic taste in their mouths. Any insight on whether that's because of different species of trees there or because of the apparently slapdash approach to food processing that we've seen in some food products? And whether there are any reliable sources?

[speltrong]

We buy our pine nuts from the refrigerated bulk section at our supermarket.. they're a lot cheaper than buying the ones in the bags in the baking section, though they are admittedly still pricey.

[Lady Green Jeans]

I bought mine recently at Costco. Winco has them in bulk for $18lb. Trader Joes was not as cheap as I would expect. Do not recall the price, though. I did not purchase them there.

I hope the Costco ones from China do not cause any of the issues I have been recently reading about. Will know when I use them in a recipe.

Thanks for the good thread.

[RawBogan]

I bought a batch of what I'm assuming are the Chinese pine nuts recently, made a large batch of Alfredo sauce and ate it all. A couple of days later I ended up with 'pine mouth', a strong bitter taste in my mouth whenever I ate anything and lingering for about half an hour afterwords. It lasted about 5 days, was no fun at all and I don't think I'll be touching another pine nut for quite a while!

[myndzai]

The problem with some sources of pine nuts is that they are either roasted (Trader Joe's) or not organic. I found a site that sells Kirkland pine nuts, though I can't find them with a COSTCO search, but if you do find them, they're the approx cost as online before the S&H. Online I can't find them any cheaper than $25-27/lb before S&H.

They're just expensive; no doubt about that. I'm "lucky" to have 2 places in town where I can get them for ~$30, which is a few dollars less than online, if not significantly so. I don't know about you, but I have decided to consider them an important staple, like meat or fish used to be -- I'd splurge for the expensive item now and then. And I agree that they can be combined with sunflower seeds, cashews, etc., and they may not be quite "top sirloin," but you get that very special, inimitable flavor.

Here's a site that's interesting: pinenut.com
It seems their crop is very seasonal though. Still, it's worth a visit for the blog. Here's what they wrote me:

Clare,
. . . We are out of pine nuts. There should be a link on the email where you join our mailing list. The harvest is shipped out of the forest in October.
Penny Frazier
Goods From The Woods

[queenbeetv]

Hi, Thanks for the info. I like the taste of pine nuts on the one occasion I had them, but didnt like the subsequent itching and hives all over my body. I think I will go with a mix of cashews and sunflower seeds for my stuffed grape leaf recipe. From what you guys have to say, that seems to be the closest I can get to a pine nut taste. Thanks to all.
QB

[Living Food]

Does anyone know of anything that can be substituted for pine nuts? They're ridiculously expensive at my grocery store

It is virtually impossible to find truly raw nuts in grocery stores; not even all health food stores sell the. Even nuts labeled "raw" can still have been pastuerized (which kills them), they just haven't been roasted. I find that the best place to get raw nuts is either straight from the tree or from a website that sells seeds/nuts intended for sprouting (like sproutpeople.org).

[iwuvmydoggy]

Does anyone know of anything that can be substituted for pine nuts? They're ridiculously expensive at my grocery store - about $5.00 for a package containing 1/4 cup, which is nowhere near the amount needed for most of the recipes.

if you have a korean or asian grocer near you, you can buy pine nuts by the pound in there for cheap. koreans use them all the time in soups and stuff... they also have really cheap bean sprouts and some different herbs and vegetables & fruits you can check out. :)

i know that's not a "substitute" but just something i noticed in my area.. :)

[queen bee]

I live in Oregon where hazelnuts (filberts) are plentiful and fairly cheap. I have substituted them for pine nuts in pesto and a chocolate cake. I find the texture and taste to be an improvement since pine nuts seem a little bland.