Wonderful Pistachios: Should You Buy Them In The Shell?

Pistachios Bag


The Question


The Hypothesis


  1. Removing shells takes additional processing at the factory.
  3. Those extras cost additional money.

The Experiment


The Results

Turns out my hypothesis was totally wrong!

  3-pound bag
(in shell)
1.5-pound bag
(seeds only)
Cost $17.98 $14.98
Weight 1361 g 680 g
Weight of Shells 720 g N/A
Weight of Seeds 675 g 689 g*
Percent Yield 50% (of advertised)
48% (of actual)
Prep. Time 4 hours N/A


What should you do?


Glamor Shots

Shells from the 3-pound bag in a Krispy Kreme box
All of the seeds from the 3-pound bag
All of the seeds from the 3-pound bag

31 Replies to “Wonderful Pistachios: Should You Buy Them In The Shell?”







    they were cultivated in California and gained a foothold and would
    Baklava. The Pistachios give the Baklava a light greenish highlight.
    appropriate or for me arthritis, now older is no joy.

    Thank You






  12. Well maybe the pre-shelled pistachios are droppings from processing the pistachios in the shell. So there is no labor just a method to sell what falls out. Notice you always have some shells in the bag with no pistachio. Then there are the ones which didn’t crack and leaves you to hammer them or throw them. I always like eating the loose ones in the bag but I also thought the other day about how many shelled ones I would eat if I didn’t have to spend the time taking the shell off. I have only had one bag of shelled and they tasted fine to me.

  13. If your pistachios get stale:
    Place on baking sheet put in 200°f oven for up to 30 minutes.
    While still warm the oils in them will cause them to be softer & chewier, when cooled they will be crunchier and fresh.
    Humidity Sucks!
    (Unless you have naturally curly hair & want to show it off)

  14. I, like the others, prefer those in the shell because it takes more time to eat. Also, I don’t buy Wonderful, but buy Trader Joe (who it is said buys from Wonderful); however, I buy one bag of roasted, unsalted; one gab of roasted, salted; and one bag of roasted, 50% less salt, and combine them. Wonderful doesn’t offer 50% less in the stores where I shop. But for recipe purposes, I would prefer shelled.

  15. Just want to add in the use of the nut for baking possibilities. (I agree to shelling for immediate consumption)
    I will consider the freshness component, however when I am cooking or baking, the last thing I want to do is spend time shelling nuts. Also, the nuts are oxidizing as I shell them for the recipe requirements.
    Any thoughts?

  16. It may cost less to buy them shelled but there is one problem. It actually cost more shelled. Let me explain. I bought a bag of shelled and a bag of nut in shell. I ended eating the whole bag of shelled before I knew it. Gone. You’ll end up eating them like popcorn. Eating the bag with the shells on, I had to eat them one at a time preventing me from eating the whole bag making the bag of nuts last longer and enjoy every luscious nut. They may cost a little bit more but you’ll enjoy them longer and save money because you won’t eat them all at once. Can you just pick up one at a time and eat them one at a time. If you can do that, your stronger than I am.

  17. If you’re ever presented with a similar situation with other food products, you can check the serving sizes in the Nutrition Facts. A little math will give you a quick apples to apples comparison.

    Also agree with David. Shelled probably means higher consumption. The U.S. would be a lot thinner if we had to crack open all our food 🙂

  18. The husk should not be discarded as it contains antioxidants. Store your nuts in freezer whether nor not shelled to retain freshness

  19. I’ve been eating Pistachios for 55+ years… When I first started, they were red & white… Red was the dye, and the white ones had a thick layer of salt on them… Over all these years, I’ve kept eating them… Love the taste… So as an adult, I saw the prices go up, up, and up! With the prices getting so high, I quit eating them as an every day snack… Hallelujah! The prices have finally dropped to an amazing $5.99 per pound (in shell). I remember a couple years ago, Pistachio costs were $19.95 a pound… Sure glad the prices are affordable…Oh, I can eat a pound while piddling around Facebook… Trash can by my side! 😉

  20. I like Costco’s Kirkland brand pistachios better than Wonderful and other brands I’ve tried. I have found their nuts consistently fresh and – I don’t know why – generally larger than the other brands.

  21. He did not shell 3 pounds of pistachios without eating any. He must of had a backup supply. But thanks for doing this much needed comparison crazy man. This is the kind of thing that our taxes should be spent on.

  22. Before I found your article, I had already done the experiment (with Kirkland). The value I got was 45% of edible nut rather than your 48 %, which is close enough. There could be some difference due to humidity, salinity, oil content, etc.
    The pricing also takes into account the difference in weight and volume (useless), which has to be handled and transported.
    I like your conclusion.

  23. Another factor to consider would be the size of the nuts themselves. Some are tight and some are loose in the same shell size and weight.
    May be some ”bean counter” would have the patience to count how many beans per pound of different brands.

  24. I agree with BL. Shelled Ps are just better tasting, period. The skins makes the taste MUCH better than the bare ones. And anyone saying the time it takes to take the shells off are what make it taste better are out of their minds. IT’S THE SKINS!

    Maybe I’m just nuts…

  25. All I can say is, I am never buying pre-shelled pistachios to snack on again (would likely be fine for recipes though). Just purchased the Wonderful brand Roasted & Salted pre-shelled pistachios (12 oz) and they are not very good (sell by date is far in the future, so they are not an old package). The random bag of pistachios w/ shells I purcased from Giant tasted noticeably much better. Yes, it’s a bit of work (and messier) if you need to shell them yourself (esp if you like to snack while sitting in front of your computer at work), but there is really no comparison in taste. As with many things in life, those you have to work for generally are a bit better!

  26. In the shell is better! It takes longer to eat, licking salty shell feels good and you burn a bit of energy trying to reach the delicious shells.

  27. Just weighed out 100 grams of shelled nuts (Kirkland), cracked and ate the good stuff (53 grams) and wound up with 47 grams of shells for the chicken garden. Will update if the yield percentage differs significantly from this first test batch.

  28. So the math in all examples checks out, but what is the tipping point on pricing in the store. Product prices go up and down, so what is the costs difference to look for between shelled and unshelled to know if the shelled ones are still cheaper that day ? If costs is the only factor and not taste or time spent opening them.

  29. Thank you very much for sharing this. I wanted exactly the same analysis. Thanks for saving my time by posting your analysis otherwise I would have wasted my 4hours as well doing the same experiment 🙂 🙂

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