Boiled Peanuts in Louisiana

Many years ago when I was just getting to know my in-laws, I asked my Cajun FIL, may he RIP, if he liked Cajun Boiled Peanuts.

He answered deadpan, "what's a peanut?"

I grew up in Mississippi. Boiled peanuts are and always have been”a thing “ there. Been in Louisiana since ‘85....generally not “a thing” here. And not executed well when tried.

It’s been a football season staple for me since I was a little kid. Boil plenty for Saturday football watching and also freeze green ones for boiling later in the year.
Baton Rouge area produce stands is about the furthest west you will find green peanuts for boiling. Hammond of course has them.
A few places down in La Place have them, but that’s as far south as I’ve seen them.

It’s almost time for the jumbos to hit the stores. My favorite time of the year

Pretty much a lifelong N.O. native and never heard of boiled peanuts until I went on a trip to the Smokies many years ago and saw them advertised roadside.

I've tried them, liked them and now boil my own at the house using seafood boil as the flavoring in the water and they come out great. Good thing is, they freeze well once done and I'll vacuum seal several bags to munch on from time to time.

I'll also boil them, let them drain real good and then toss them on sheet pans in the oven set at 175 to dry out a bit and they are good that way too, and a lot less messy to deal with. That's how my wife likes them best.

Grew up in the Ponchatoula area and I've been boiling peanuts my whole life. In the old days, I always had a relative or two that would grow them. Not so much anymore but I usually buy a sack or two every year to boil.

In the mid eighties, I was working construction out in California and I had several guys working for me that were from the Virgin Islands. My cousin shipped me a box of green nuts, so I boiled them and brought them to work to share. I gave away what I had but I could've sold those guys from the Islands a pickup truck full, if I would have had them. They loved them. :)

Since we are on this subject, I will be in Boloxi this weekend, anyone know the best place in the area to find peanuts?

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I have since come to learn you can buy them at gas stations in south Louisiana. However, they are really just a brand name of boiled peanuts from a can that are just warmed up and sold "fresh" in the gas station.

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Those can peanuts or the ones they put in a crockpot and let sit for days are pretty bad.

My Mississippi folks loved them and I do too. North La. Folks hated them. I started doing my own in crawfish boil a few years ago.