Food & Wine’s 20 Favorite Chestnut Recipes

December 22, 2025

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Best known for their cameo in the classic Christmas song, chestnuts are in fact delicious when roasted over an open fire. But they can also be candied, deep-fried, pureed, or turned into flour. Chestnuts are quite starchy when cooked, with a buttery, sweet flavor — perfect for both desserts such as chestnut pavlova and savory dishes like porcini-chestnut soup. Here, all of our best recipes featuring chestnuts.

Silky Chestnut Soup

Food & Wine / Photo by Rachel Marek / Food Styling by Lauren McAnelly / Prop Styling by Gabriel Greco

Wolfgang Puck’s silky-smooth autumnal soup showcases sweet and earthy chestnuts with fruity ruby port and luscious heavy cream.

Mushroom, Lentil, and Chestnut Mince Pie

Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Christine Keely

This spectacular vegetarian mince pie will command any holiday table. Its hefty filling calls upon mushrooms, black lentils, and chestnuts.

Vegetarian Bread Stuffing with Swiss Chard and Chestnuts

David Malosh

Layered with earthy Swiss chard and meaty chestnuts, Justin Chapple’s stuffing captures big umami flavor from the start thanks to dried porcini mushrooms infused into vegetable broth. Choose high-quality crusty bread for this recipe to ensure a fluffy texture and crisp top.

Chestnut Pavlova

Photo by Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Thom Driver

In this festive dessert, Nigella Lawson uses meringue as a base for salted chestnut paste, or crème de marrons, a French spread made with sweet pureed chestnuts. Unsweetened whipped cream provides a cool contrast to the thick chestnut layer.

Ossola-Style Gnocchi with Sage-Butter Sauce

Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Micah Morton / Prop Styling by Missie Neville Crawford

These robust cold-weather dumplings from the Ossola Valley in northern Piedmont include winter squash, chestnut flour, and nutmeg in addition to the potatoes. Expect intense flavor and a pleasant texture.

Wild Rice with Mushrooms, Cranberries, and Chestnuts

Marcus Nilsson

Served warm or at room temperature, this chestnut-studded rice salad is a great alternative to traditional stuffing. Swap out the chicken broth for vegetable broth to make it completely plant-based.

Flambéed Candied Chestnut Cake

William Hereford

Angie Mar tucks candied chestnuts inside a buttery bundt cake then finishes it with a dramatic pour of flaming Cognac for a sophisticated, showstopping dessert. It was served with a scoop of white truffle ice cream at The Beatrice Inn, but it’s also lovely with crème fraîche.

Wine-Braised Pork with Chestnuts and Sweet Potatoes

For meltingly tender pork, Jacques Pépin sears pork shoulder to make a toothsome crust, then braises it slowly with stock, wine, chestnuts, fresh herbs, and sweet potatoes.

Japanese Chestnut Tea Cake

Greg DuPree

Light and not too sweet, this buttery flourless tea cake from pastry chef Ayako Watanabe is made with both chestnut paste and chopped chestnuts. It’s dressed up with a simple dusting of powdered sugar and served with dollops of crème fraîche for the perfect anytime treat.

Baked Acorn Squash with Chestnuts, Apples, and Leeks

Tender roasted acorn squash halves are stuffed with a savory-sweet mixture of herb-flecked leeks, tart apples, and chestnuts for a warming side or seasonal vegetarian main.

Wild Mushroom Shepherd’s Pie with Potato-Chestnut Topping

Grant Achatz loads his hearty vegetarian shepherd’s pie with three whole pounds of wild mushrooms plus rutabaga, turnips, and sunchokes in a creamy mushroom-leek sauce, then tops it off with swirls of herbed potato-chestnut puree before baking to golden perfection.

Sautéed Chicken with Celery Root Puree and Chestnuts

Chef Mourad Lahlou turns simple pan-cooked chicken breasts into a seasonal masterpiece by plating them on a bed of velvety celery root puree surrounded by glazed chestnuts and a shower of fresh chives and tarragon.

Roasted Squash with Chestnuts and Pomegranate

Amplify the seasonal flavor of roasted red kuri or kabocha squash with butter-glazed chestnuts, red currants or pomegranate arils, and a drizzle of tangy pomegranate molasses.

Brussels Sprouts with Chestnuts and Bacon

Chef Lee Hefter’s spectacular dish showcases crisp-tender brussels sprouts with sweet chestnuts, finished in bacon fat and a splash of rich homemade turkey stock for a side that’s cozy, festive, and full of depth.

Roast Turkey with Chestnut-Apple Stuffing

This classic turkey from Maria Helm Sinskey is rubbed with an aromatic shallot-sage butter then filled with a nutty chestnut-apple stuffing. It’s the perfect blend of savory and sweet, and guaranteed to be a hit.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Salsify, Chestnuts, and Ham

Chef Michel Nischan scrubs and bakes two pounds of sweet potatoes for these buttery and intensely flavorful gnocchi, served with country ham, roasted chestnuts, and local produce you can adapt with the recipe.

Porcini and Chestnut Soup

Chestnuts complement earthy porcini mushrooms in this creamy blended soup from San Francisco chef Michael Tusk. Top each bowl with sautéed porcinis for a bit of textural interest.

Tofu Salad with Chestnuts and Apple Dashi

It takes just 20 minutes to put together this light and elegant no-cook first course from David Chang. Simply combine Fuji apple juice, shiro dashi, soy sauce, sherry vinegar, and sesame oil, then pour it around silken tofu topped with sliced chestnuts and frisée. A few drops of wasabi oil round it all out.

Root Vegetable Pan Roast with Chestnuts and Apples

This complexly flavorful side dish is seasoned with thyme and sweetened with maple syrup. Roasted potatoes, apples, and chestnuts are customary ingredients of the holiday season throughout many European countries and make a beautiful accompaniment to roasted goose, but the dish works well with turkey or chicken, too.

Chestnut Stuffing with Fennel

Suzanne Goin’s stuffing blends the sweet richness of roasted chestnuts with aromatic fennel and savory pancetta, all folded into lightly toasted bread cubes. It’s infused with fresh herbs and a splash of wine for depth and warmth.