Almonds vs walnuts vs cashews vs peanuts: nut economics
Peanuts carry more than twice the protein of walnuts, and walnuts carry about 130 kcal per 100 g more than either cashews or almonds. Those are the two real differences in the nut aisle. On Dietly labels, 100 g of nuts runs from 567 kcal for cashews to 701 for walnut halves, protein runs from 14.7 g in walnuts to 32 g in dry-roasted peanuts, and fibre runs from 3.3 g in cashews to 14.3 g in raw almonds. The one number most people never check is sodium, which is zero in the raw jars and up to 800 mg per 100 g in a roasted-and-salted one.
| Dietly label, per 100 g | Energy | Protein | Fat | Saturated fat | Fibre | Sodium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raw almonds | 571 kcal | 21.4 g | 50.0 g | 3.6 g | 14.3 g | 0 mg |
| Walnut halves | 701 kcal | 14.7 g | 68.5 g | 7.5 g | 6.3 g | 4 mg |
| Raw cashews | 567 kcal | 16.7 g | 43.3 g | 8.3 g | 3.3 g | 0 mg |
| Dry roasted peanuts | 597 kcal | 32.0 g | 46.0 g | 4.2 g | 7.5 g | 303 mg |
| Dry roasted peanuts, another brand | 593 kcal | 30.0 g | 46.7 g | 7.7 g | 8.7 g | 800 mg |
| Raw almonds, another brand | 580 kcal | 22.0 g | 50.0 g | 4.0 g | 12.0 g | 0 mg |
Peanuts win the protein column, and they are not a nut
At 30 to 32 g of protein per 100 g, peanuts are closer to a legume than to a tree nut, which is exactly what they are: they grow underground and belong to the same family as beans and lentils. That botanical footnote has a practical consequence. Peanuts deliver about double the protein of walnuts and roughly half again as much as almonds, at a fraction of the shelf price of any tree nut. If your reason for keeping nuts around is protein, this is a settled question, and the protein cost calculator will put a number on how large the gap is at your local prices.
The sodium trap in the same jar
The two peanut labels above are nearly identical on macros and differ by 497 mg of sodium per 100 g. A 30 g handful of the first is about 91 mg of sodium; the same handful of the second is 240 mg, which is a tenth of a day's intake in a snack most people repeat. Raw nuts read zero. This is the single biggest avoidable difference in the aisle and it never appears in the marketing, because salt is what makes roasted nuts hard to stop eating. The sodium vs salt explainer covers how to convert between the two figures when a label gives you the wrong one.
Walnuts and the omega-3 argument
Walnuts are the only common nut with a meaningful amount of alpha-linolenic acid, the plant form of omega-3. That is a genuine point in their favour and it deserves an honest qualifier: ALA is not the same as the EPA and DHA in oily fish, and the human conversion rate from one to the other is low. A 2022 review of ALA and cardiovascular outcomes treats it as beneficial in its own right rather than as a substitute for marine omega-3. Walnuts are also the most energy-dense item in the table at 701 kcal and 68.5 g of fat per 100 g, so a generous handful is a real part of a day's budget. The omega-3 explainer works through where the different forms actually come from.
Almonds, fibre and the calories you do not absorb
Almonds lead the fibre column at 12 to 14.3 g per 100 g and carry the lowest saturated fat of the four at 3.6 g. They also come with an interesting caveat that applies to whole nuts generally: the energy on the label overstates what your body extracts. Nut cell walls resist digestion, so some of the fat passes through unabsorbed, and a 2023 systematic review of metabolisable energy in tree nuts and peanuts found measured values consistently below the Atwater-derived figures printed on packs. The effect is largest for whole raw nuts and shrinks as they are ground, so almond butter is closer to its label than whole almonds are. It is a modest discount, not a licence, and no label anywhere reflects it.
What a handful actually costs
A 30 g handful, which is a realistic serving rather than a regulatory one, comes to about 171 kcal of almonds, 210 kcal of walnuts, 170 kcal of cashews or 179 kcal of peanuts. In protein terms the same handful is 6.4 g from almonds, 4.4 g from walnuts, 5.0 g from cashews and 9.6 g from peanuts. Nuts are worth eating: the evidence linking regular nut consumption to lower cardiovascular risk is one of the more consistent findings in nutritional epidemiology, and a 2019 meta-analysis puts the association at a meaningful size. They are also easy to eat 100 g of without noticing, which is where the energy density point does its work.
How to choose
- Protein on a budget: peanuts, unsalted, by a wide margin.
- Fibre: almonds, at 12 to 14 g per 100 g.
- Plant omega-3: walnuts, understanding that ALA is not a replacement for fish.
- Lowest saturated fat: almonds at 3.6 g per 100 g; cashews are highest at 8.3 g.
- Watching sodium: buy raw or plain roasted, and check the figure, because two jars of the same nut can differ nearly threefold.
To compare the exact jars on your shelf, scan them into the comparison tool and read the protein and sodium rows together.
Sources
- National Library of Medicine: nut consumption and cardiovascular disease incidence and mortality, 2019 meta-analysis
- National Library of Medicine: metabolisable energy and lipid bioaccessibility of tree nuts and peanuts, 2023 systematic review
- National Library of Medicine: alpha-linolenic acid, cardiovascular disease and cognition, 2022 review
Common questions
Which nut has the most protein?
Peanuts, at 30 to 32 g per 100 g on real labels, roughly double the 14.7 g in walnut halves and about half again more than almonds at 21 to 22 g. Peanuts are botanically a legume rather than a nut.
Which nut is lowest in calories?
Cashews and almonds, at about 567 and 571 kcal per 100 g. Walnuts are the highest at around 701 kcal, because they carry 68.5 g of fat per 100 g.
Are roasted nuts worse than raw?
The macros barely change. The difference that matters is salt: raw jars read 0 mg of sodium per 100 g, while dry-roasted peanuts in our data run from 303 mg to 800 mg depending on the brand.
Do you absorb all the calories in nuts?
No. Nut cell walls resist digestion, so part of the fat passes through unabsorbed, and a 2023 systematic review found measured energy values consistently below the figures printed on packs. The gap is largest for whole raw nuts and smallest for nut butters.