{"id":2085712,"date":"2024-12-03T20:15:37","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T06:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/?post_type=recipe&p=2085712"},"modified":"2025-03-22T11:18:57","modified_gmt":"2025-03-22T16:18:57","slug":"boiled-peanuts","status":"publish","type":"recipe","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/recipes\/boiled-peanuts\/","title":{"rendered":"Boiled Peanuts"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a child, I had an album of American folk songs that included a Civil War-era classic called “Goober Peas.” I didn’t know what the title meant, but I knew it was about eating something delicious. It turns out that “goober” is derived from the word “nguba,” which means “peanut” in several African languages. The soldiers in the song are snacking on boiled peanuts, made made by simmering green peanuts in salted water.<\/p>\n

While one recent American president, Jimmy Carter, was a peanut farmer, peanuts aren’t native to the United States. Enslaved Africans brought the legumes to the United States, where they cultivated and cooked them, primarily in southern states. Eventually, boiled peanuts became part of the cuisine of the American South, along with other southern recipes<\/a> like shrimp and grits, collard greens and fried green tomatoes.<\/p>\n

While the recipe is simple, you generally don’t chuck grocery-store peanuts in water and boil them. The boiled peanuts recipe starts with green (raw) peanuts and calls for cooking them in their shells in salted or seasoned water. You don’t eat the shells; instead, it’s common to suck the salt water from the shells and then break them open to get at the seeds. After boiling, the peanuts take on a texture similar to that of cooked beans\u2014soft, yet slightly toothsome. They’re an excellent snack, whether from a roadside stand, at a gathering or in your kitchen.<\/p>\n

Ingredients for Boiled Peanuts<\/h2>\n