Nutty, toasted, and slight musty and earthy notes, hazelnuts have wonderful and long-lasting flavors to be included in many recipes. Along with their sweet and nutty flavor, they can add a dense crunchy texture to the dish.
Due to its natural sweetness and saltiness, hazelnuts pair well with many sweet and savory dishes when paired properly with other ingredients.
What to eat with hazelnuts? The classic ingredients to consume with hazelnuts are soft and mild aged cheese, honey, dijon mustard, parsley, potatoes, sugar, thyme, and wine.
Depending on how hazelnuts are prepared, toasted nuts add a crunchy texture to a salad, roasted vegetables, pasta dishes, blend well with vinaigrette for dressings, and baked goods.
Mostly found in Italian cuisine, especially with prosciutto di Parma, French cuisine and Southern cuisine to add nutty flavor to a dish because of its unique richness. Hazelnuts offer complexity to salads, dressings, sauces, and pastries.
In this article, we focus on the many dishes that can be eaten with hazelnuts. Answered below are frequently asked questions about what to eat with hazelnuts to execute food pairings that complement together very well.
What goes well with hazelnuts?
Whether the raw or roast hazelnut are introduced to chocolate, sauce, or meal, there are specific ingredients that actually pairs well with the nut. From vegetables to condiments, wine, and many more, the food pairing options are well defined.
Here are classic ingredients that go well with hazelnuts:
- Vegetables: asparagus, beets, carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes
- Condiments: caramel, maple syrup, vanilla
- Chocolate: dark, white
- Nuts: almonds, chestnuts, walnuts
- Dairy: cream, ice cream, custard, mascarpone
- Oil: hazelnut oil
- Sugar: brown, confectioner’s granulated
- Tea: chai, mint, green tea
- Coffee: espresso
- Wine: oaky New World Chardonnary, white Burgundy, vintage port
- Dessert wine: Malmsey Madeira, Vin Santo, sherry especially sweet oloroso
- Liqueur: cognac, amaretto, Frangelico, orange, rum
What fruit goes well with hazelnuts?
The buttery flavor of hazelnuts makes it the best pairing for fruits to complement the natural sweetness they contain. An example of fruits that blend perfectly with hazelnuts include:
- Stone fruits: apples, apricots, cherries, nectarines, peaches, pears, persimmons, plums
- Citrus fruits: grapefruits, lemon, orange
- Berries: cranberries, grapes, raspberries, strawberries
- Dried fruits: dates, figs, prunes, raisins
- Tropical fruits: bananas, kiwi, mango
What spice goes with hazelnuts?
Whether it is for cooked meals or dessert and garnishes, hazelnuts can be combine or prepared with a variety of spices. They are ground to a coarse consistency or roasted together with spices like:
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
- cumin
- coriander
- ginger
What cheese goes well with hazelnuts?
Dairy based cheese is the best cheese to blend perfectly with hazelnuts. The hazelnut itself also makes a great non-dairy cheese, however the mild and subtle flavor of this nut pairs wonderfully with soft cheeses in particular.
Here are the most favored cheese option that go well with hazelnuts:
What herb goes well with hazelnuts?
Herbed hazelnuts are great for a snack, salad, pesto, or even tossed on roasted vegetable or blended with butter to drizzle over fish. There are many usages of herbs when mixed with hazelnuts.
Hazelnuts can blend with most of the herbs because they add a distinctive taste to them, the best herbs to combine with hazelnuts include:
What flavor goes well with hazelnuts?
Hazelnuts go well with a variety of flavors since they have long been a favorite nut of bakers and chefs alike.
Hazelnut spread or Nutella is a prime example with its rich, buttery, sweet flavors blended with the woody flavors of luscious dark chocolate and cinnamon.
Other than the well-known spread, other classic flavor combination that go well with hazelnuts are:
- hazelnut + dark chocolate + dried cranberries
- hazelnut + balsamic vinegar + gorgonzola cheese + pear
- hazelnut + figs + orange zest + olive oil
- hazelnut + maple syrup + rum + star anise
Eat With Hazelnuts: Conclusion
Hazelnuts tend to be commonly used in baked goods, chocolate, spread or confections. However, this does not mean that they can’t be incorporated into a more healthy fare as well.
They can be stirred when raw, roasted, or toasted into various recipes. From salads to garnishing roasted meats and vegetables, toasted crunchy hazelnuts are an excellent choice to add a final touch to a dish to make it more delicious.
In addition, hazelnuts are used in topping sweet and savory desserts, giving them texture and making them more complex.
Because of its mild and elegant nutty flavor, it pairs wonderfully with soft cheese, honey, dijon mustard, potato dishes, thyme and a glass of wine..
When in doubt about whether hazelnuts are only used in the world famous sweet spread, use these flavor combination and ingredients to use in your recipes for a flavorful new adventure.