Savoury Granola, grain free

Savoury Granola, a mix of seeds and nuts toasted with your choice of flavourings, is great for quickly adding nutrition, texture and flavour to loads of different meals.

Kept in a jar in the fridge, a batch will last for weeks, ready to sprinkle over salads, roasted veg and just about anything else. If you can resist nibbling it, that is.

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Savoury Granola

We eat lots of seeds, and a fair few nuts, in our house. When I’ve plated a meal I’ll often finish it off with a scattering of one or more. Maybe sesame seeds over a falafel bowl  or fried eggs with hoisin and sriracha. Pine nuts over pasta. Pumpkin seeds over a butternut squash soup.

However, not only are many of these much better toasted, but I often fancy a mix of different nuts and seeds.

While toasting is quick, you don’t really want to be doing it as an afterthought while you’re serving up. Also, me being a short arse, it can be a pain reaching up for this, then that, jar from the back of the kitchen cupboard. Especially when I’m hurrying to get food on the table.

So, why not have a handy jar of mixed nuts and seeds, ready toasted, in the fridge?

Even better, how about flavouring them with garlic, herbs and spices to bring more interest to your plate?

Making Savoury Granola

Firstly, confession time. Like my No Added Sugar, Grain Free Granola to accompany fruit and yogurt, smoothies and porridge, Savoury Granola isn’t actually granola. It’s really a sprinkle, having none of the sugars that are used in commercial varieties to clump ingredients together.

But I don’t think that matters. And the good news is that Savoury Granola is made in less than thirty minutes.

All you do is combine a variety of nuts and seeds with your chosen seasonings and some olive oil. Then it’s just a case of spreading them on a baking tray and toasting in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes. And that’s it.

Here I’ve used chopped almonds, pine nuts, pumpkin, sunflower, sesame and flax seeds plus hemp hearts. But you can use any nuts and seeds you like. Which makes this recipe handy for using up any odds and ends of nuts and seeds lurking in your cupboard.

Around 200 grams of nuts and seeds nicely covers the base of a standard size baking tray, so that’s the amount I tend to make in one go.

My favourite way of flavouring the Savoury Granola is a combination of garlic granules, onion granules, soy sauce, black pepper and a touch of salt. I think these make for an all-purpose sprinkle, or you could just leave them plain.

You could also go in a more Middle Eastern direction with ground cumin and coriander, Indian with garam masala, or perhaps a hot and smoky version with chilli and smoked paprika.

However you flavour it, make sure you wait until the Savoury Granola’s completely cold before transferring to a jar. Stored in the fridge, it will stay fresh for at least two weeks. But I’ve often eaten it after more than a month and it’s still absolutely fine.

Uses for Savoury Granola

Once you’ve got your jar of tasty toasted nuts and seeds in the fridge, you’ll find yourself reaching for it to sprinkle over all sorts of dishes. Which is no bad thing, considering some of the reported health benefits of nuts and seeds.

Salads are the obvious choice. Here I used it to add even more flavour and texture to a bowl of chicken with grains and a mixed salad with Caesar Salad dressing.

I think a sprinkle of Savoury Granola is particularly welcome when a dish would otherwise lack crunchy texture. In this bowl of courgette ‘noodles’ with cream cheese and chives its salty tang really lifted the flavours too.

Even simple fried eggs benefit from a scattering of savoury, toasted nuts and seeds.

And doesn’t this Sriracha, Soy & Honey Glazed Salmon look even more appetizing with its crunchy topping?

Other things I’ve enjoyed sprinkled with Savoury Granola include:

• Soups; use instead of croutons
• Sandwiches & wraps
• Roasted vegetables
• Apple slices spread with peanut butter or cream cheese
• Savoury breakfast yogurt bowl with tomatoes, cucumber & mint

In fact, I don’t think there’s much that can’t be improved with a few spoonfuls of crunchy, nutrition-packed Savoury Granola.

If you’ve made this Savoury Granola, I’d love to hear what you think. Why not leave comment in the reply box below?

5 from 1 vote

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Savoury Granola, Grain Free

A mix of seeds and nuts, toasted with your choice of flavourings, is great for quickly adding nutrition, texture and flavour to loads of different meals. Kept in a jar in the fridge, a batch will last for weeks, ready to sprinkle over salads, roasted veg and just about anything else.

Course Side Dish, Snack, Condiment

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 1 medium jar

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• 30 g chopped almonds
• 30 g pumpkin seeds
• 30 g sunflower seeds
• 30 g pine nuts
• 30 g sesame seeds white and/or black
• 30 g hemp hearts
• 20 g flax seeds
• 1 tbsp soy sauce optional
• 1 tsp garlic granules optional
• 1 tsp onion granules optional
• 0.5 tsp black pepper optional
• salt to taste optional
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas 4

2. Put all the nuts and seeds in a bowl and sprinkle with your chosen seasonings.

3. Drizzle over the olive oil then stir to mix everything together well.

4. Distribute the mixture over the base of a baking tray in a single layer.

   Put in the oven and bake until brown, crispy and toasted (approx 15-20 min). Stir occasionally and make sure the nuts and seeds aren't burning. Turn down the oven if necessary.

5. When done to your liking, remove the tray from the oven and set aside until the granola is completely cold (spread it on a paper towel if you want to remove excess oil).

6. When it's cold, transfer the granola to a jar and store in the fridge.

   Should keep for at least 2 - 4 weeks.

Recipe Notes

Use any type of nuts and seeds you like or happen to have in cupboard and try different flavourings, e.g. ground cumin or coriander, smoked paprika, chilli.

You might also like Grain Free Granola with No Added Sugar for sprinkling over porridge, yogurt or smoothies with fruit.