These Mexican spiced peanuts are a great snack alone, but they also pair wonderfully with Mexican horchata. Try a rum horchata cocktail or a non-alcoholic cinnamon vanilla horchata with these chile lime peanuts for your next Mexican celebration.
Jump to Recipe
Why pair chile lime peanuts with horchata?
Horchata is a dreamy, creamy drink made with rice, and it is particularly wonderful with spicy food.
There are a number of variations for an “authentic” horchata, depending on whether you favor the Spanish version or one of the many Mexican versions.
The versions made with milk rather than just water are particularly good with spicy food as the milk can mute the heat a bit.
Most research cites El Salvador as the origin of the Mexican version of Horchata, although the ingredients vary throughout Mexico and Spain. In some countries the drink is tan in color and made with milk, some countries substitute moro seeds or jicaro seeds for the rice, and Spainish versions typically use tigernuts over almonds.
Ingredients that are common to most recipes however, include sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.
How to Make Horchata Base
For a good recipe to make the horchata base without the sugar click here
Adding spirits to the horchata
If you prefer to celebrate with a little rum in your horchata, try this cocktail:
- 2 oz rum (or brandy)
- 1/2 oz vanilla liqueur
- 1/2 Cinnamon Vanilla Syrup
- 4 oz horchata base
Combine all ingredients in a tall glass of ice. Stir and garnish with a cinnamon stick and a hot red pepper. Serve with the chili-lime peanut appetizer.
Chili-Lime Spanish Peanut Appetizer:
The perfect foil for a rich, creamy Horchata cocktail is a bowl of light, somewhat spicy, spanish peanuts. These are a cinch to make and pair well with horchata. Recipe is from Serious Eats
Chile Lime Peanuts
Equipment
- large bowl
- Rimmed baking sheet
Ingredients
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice 2 or 3 large limes
- freshly grated zest of one lime
- 2 Tablespoons chili powder
- 1 Tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- ¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 cups shelled unsalted peanuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250ºF. Whisk lime juice, lime zest, chili powder, salt, sugar, and cayenne pepper together in large bowl. Add peanuts and stir until evenly coated. Scrape nuts onto large, rimmed baking sheet. Bake until nuts are fragrant, dry, and beginning to darken, about 30 minutes