These spicy honey roasted pecans are seasoned with honey, cayenne pepper and thyme. They are just lightly sweetened, so low in sugar but still have a delicious sweet and salty flavor. This recipe for spicy pecans is a great salad topper and is gluten free, refined sugar free and paleo.

I've been putting a lot of raw nuts on my salads lately and decided I needed to "spice" things up a little and make my own simple seasoned nuts.

I love all nuts, but pecans are one of my favorites in terms of taste and texture. Thus, this easy recipe for spicy roasted pecans was born - turning out to be my new favorite paleo salad topper.

These honey roasted pecans are seasoned with cayenne pepper, thyme, avocado oil and salt and sweetened with a little honey.

Why you'll love these honey roasted pecans

Healthy Ingredients: made with just 6 simple, wholesome ingredients you can feel good about eating.
Paleo and Gluten free
Vegan Friendly: swap the honey for maple syrup to make these spicy pecans vegan
No Refined Sugar or Seed Oils

Ingredients

These seasoned pecans are made with a handful of simple, real food ingredients. The full recipe can be found in the recipe card below, but here's an overview of the ingredients you'll need:

pecans - since you'll be roasting the pecans yourself, make sure to use raw, unseasoned pecans.
avocado oil - you'll need just a little oil to make these pecans. You can swap the avocado oil for olive oil if you prefer.
honey - just a little raw honey to flavor the pecans. If you need this recipe to be vegan, you can use maple syrup instead, but I like them better with honey.
thyme - adds a bit of flavor and pairs perfectly with the other seasonings. Rosemary would be a great option too.
salt - enhances all the flavors
cayenne pepper - these call for a small amount of cayenne to give these nuts a spicy flavor. It's not over-powering, so don't worry! If needed, you can replace the cayenne with chili powder.

Ingredients needed to make spicy honey roasted pecans.

How to make spicy pecans

Seasoning and roasting pecans is so easy! Here's what you need to do:

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the pecans in a mixing bowls and coat them with the oil and honey.
Next, sprinkle the spices over the pecans. Mix until well coated.

Spread the pecans onto a lined baking sheet, then bake in your oven for about 10-15 minutes. Baking time will vary slightly depending on your oven temperature and the color/material of the baking sheet you use. Therefore, be sure to keep a close eye on the pecans while they bake.
After baking, remove the roasted pecans from your oven and let them cool to room temperature on the pan. You can pop them in the fridge to cool faster.

Storage

These savory spiced pecans are best kept in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge. Keep at room temperature for up to two weeks, or two months in the fridge.

How to Eat Spicy Honey Pecans

I most definitely made these spicy pecans as a salad topper, but I will argue that they'd go well on nearly anything and everything.

They'd go well with vanilla ice cream as a crunchy topper for salmon or on a sweet potato casserole. The honey accentuates the natural sweetness of the pecans and is balanced by the earthy dried thyme and spicy cayenne. This sweet and salty combo not only makes these pecans irresistible, but great as a topper on any dish.

More Recipes with Pecans

Looking for more delicious paleo recipes with pecans? Check out these reader favorites: