Diners have developed sophisticated appetites for integrated global flavors across the menu, craving new culinary mash-ups from breakfast to dessert. Walnuts are easily utilized as building blocks of flavor, adding a delightful crunch, a savory butter, and even a creamy, rich sauce to a dish.

Menu developers can incorporate various forms of chopped, ground, or blended walnuts directly as an ingredient in handheld filings, or substitute for all or part of a ground meat component, offering a welcome plant-forward option. Straight from the pantry, prepared walnut butters and creams offer convenient, consistent ingredients and components from which you can build signature trending global handheld items like a Vietnamese-Style California Walnut & Pork Spring Roll.

Walnuts on a Roll

To showcase their versatility in form and texture, these spring rolls highlight fresh herbs, Vietnamese-inspired Walnut-Pork Lemongrass Sausage, and Walnut Chili Crisp for a Chinese accent. California walnuts are featured in multiple ways that bring the satisfying umami and crunch factor to the freshness of a traditional Vietnamese spring roll, serving as a replicable example of what walnuts can do to elevate a simple handheld item.

• Ground walnut meat is blended into the pork sausage filling to add texture and increase the amount of plant protein per serving.
• A spicy Roasted Walnut Chili Crisp provides a bright contrast.
• Create a creamy Walnut Coconut Dipping sauce with prepared walnut butter.

Lending a Hand to Handheld Mash-Ups

Meeting expectations for global flavors by innovating signature menu items is easy to accomplish with a variety of global handheld items. Handheld items are an all-in-one experience and the perfect opportunity to incorporate walnuts’ creamy, crunchy and meaty textures throughout, creating craveable culinary experiences.

Consider the delicious simplicity of a Walnut-Meat Empanada with Cilantro-Lime Dipping Sauce for an on-trend, plant-forward snack.

Why Walnuts?

Accessibility and variety: Walnuts are increasingly available in a variety of forms and nearly any size you need for your recipes (halves, chopped, ground and skinless, which reduces astringency and bitterness) and are already transformed into prepared components such as milks and butters. For operators who need a ready-to-use flavor boost, explore the innovative and growing pantry of seasoned walnuts available to shake on, stir in or serve at the bar, providing both consistency and easy sourcing of this produce item.

Versatility: Walnuts offer endless opportunities for those seeking to replace some animal proteins in their diet with plant-forward options. They improve the diner experience through flavor and texture enhancements, provide luscious, dairy-free options, and bridge culinary flavor traditions across layers of a dish.

Heart-healthy*: Walnuts are the only nut to contain a significant amount of the plant-based omega-3 fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid (2.5 grams/ounce) and are low in cholesterol and sodium.

Sustainability: California Walnuts are raised by 4,600 walnut growers, many of whom represent multi-generational family farms with plans to continue passing them on for future generations. The walnut industry promotes research and innovation regarding water quality and conservation; soil health; sustainable pest management; energy use; air quality; and utilization of the whole walnut, including the shell, which is used for cosmetics, abrasives, in water filtration, and various other applications.

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*Supportive but not conclusive research shows that eating 1.5 ounces of walnuts per day, as part of a low saturated fat and low cholesterol diet and not resulting in increased caloric intake, may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. One ounce of walnuts offers 18 grams of total fat, 2.5 grams of monounsaturated fat, 13 grams of polyunsaturated fat, including 2.5 grams of alpha-linolenic acid—the plant-based omega-3.