Here’s two easy ways that you can make walnut oil at home

Walnuts, like most other nuts, have a high-fat content, which can be extracted in the form of an oil through careful processing. Walnut oil, in particular, is widely considered to be one of the healthiest and most beneficial oils on the market, due to its high omega-3 content and fat-soluble vitamins, vitamin E, and vitamin K which are not lost during the extraction process. 

Are you recently discovering all the wonderful health benefits of walnuts and trying to increase your intake? Before you continue, we advise you to read our post on Everything You Need To Know About Walnuts to find out everything from the difference between black vs english walnuts, where they come from, how to store them and how to incorporate them in your daily diet!

Often separated from the nut fibre via cold-pressing techniques, walnut oil is one of the most expensive oils that you can buy, especially if you choose to buy oil that has been extracted from premium grade walnuts. As a result, people have started to try their hand at making walnut oil at home. 

We’d be lying if we said that extracting walnut oil from walnuts was easy, which is why we’ve included two different methods below, the first will produce 100% walnut oil but requires some specialist equipment, whereas the second is a walnut infused oil ad can be made a lot more easily.  

Method 1 - How to make 100% walnut oil

When it comes to making delicious walnut oil, the key is to ensure that you always buy premium quality walnuts. You can buy walnuts in the shell or out of their shell, bearing in mind that shelled walnuts will need to be cracked before processing. Sadly, to extract a usable amount of walnut oil from walnuts, you will need to invest in an oil press, these can be manual or mechanical and can get quite pricy. This recipe will make approximately 1.5 litres of walnut oil, depending on the walnuts quality and the efficiency of your oil press. 

Equipment and ingredients: 

• 6lbs of English walnuts in their shells (or half this amount if shelled)
• A nutcracker if cracking your own walnuts
• A food processor
• An oil press 

Method

1. If using in-shell walnuts, then the first thing you will need to do is to crack your walnuts to extract the walnut meat from within. If using shelled walnuts, then you can skip this stage.
2. Next, add your shelled walnuts to a food processor and pulse to form a ground walnut meal. Do not blitz your walnuts for too long at any one time as this will cause the oils to separate too quickly. You will need to blitz your walnuts in small batches so as not to overload the food processor. 
3. To make the walnut oil easier to extract, you may then want to gently heat your walnut meal by spreading the walnut meal onto a baking tray and gently roasting it at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 5 minutes. This will increase your yield of walnut oil significantly and will also add a nice nutty flavour. 
4. Finally, it’s time to add your roasted walnut meal to your oil press, collecting the oil in a jug or bowl. For maximum clarity, you will then want to filter your oil through a cheesecloth to remove any small particles. 

Simply store your oil in small dark bottles and you can keep them in the refrigerator for up to two months. 

Method 2 - Walnut infused oil 

If you don’t have the time or the equipment to make 100% pure walnut oil, then walnut infused oil will still provide you with some of the same benefits and a whole lot of walnut taste. 

Equipment and ingredients:

• ¾ of a cup of shelled walnuts (pieces are fine)
• 1 and ¼ cups of vegetable or olive oil
• A food processor 

Method:

1. The key to making delicious walnut infused oil is to extract the maximum amount of flavour from your walnuts. Start by boiling them for approximately 3 minutes to soften them slightly, drain them and then lay them out on a baking tray and roast in a single layer in a 350-degree oven for approximately 15 minutes. Give them a stir midway through. 
2. Once roasted, allow the walnuts to cool before adding them to a food processor and pulsing to create walnut pieces, don’t pulse them too fine, you want them to still be in pieces and not dust. 
3. Finally, add your walnut pieces to your jar or bottle and combine with your oil of choice so that the flavours can infuse. 
4. After a few days, the oil will have absorbed all of the beautiful nutty flavours from the walnuts and is ready to be drizzled over a fresh green salad. 

So there you have it - two different ways to enjoy the delicious flavour of walnuts in oil form, which will you try?