How much sugar is in peanuts?
Peanuts has 1.4 g of sugar per 1 oz (28 g) — about 0.3 teaspoons. That's 4.9 g per 100 g, and it's all naturally occurring — whole peanuts has no added sugar.
USDA FoodData Central · dry-roasted, unsalted · FDC 173806
Sugar by portion
| Portion | Sugar | ≈ teaspoons | Total carbs | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 oz (28 g) | 1.4 g | 0.3 tsp | 6 g | 164 |
| 100 g | 4.9 g | 1.2 tsp | 21.3 g | 587 |
| 1 oz (28 g) | 1.4 g | 0.3 tsp | 6 g | 166 |
Teaspoon figure converts grams of sugar at ~4.2 g per level teaspoon, for scale only. This is the total sugar naturally present — whole peanuts carries no added sugar. Values from USDA per-100 g data (FDC 173806, SR Legacy). dry-roasted, unsalted.
Plain peanuts are a genuinely low-sugar snack. A 1 oz handful (28 g) carries only about 1.4 g of sugar — roughly a third of a teaspoon — which comes from 4.9 g per 100 g, and it’s entirely naturally occurring, with no added sugar in plain dry-roasted peanuts. For a food people sometimes lump in with sweet snacks, that’s almost nothing: the sugar barely registers against the ~164 calories and ~14 g of fat in the same handful. Peanuts simply aren’t a sugar food, and the small amount they do carry is the nut’s own.
Barely any sugar — and it’s all natural
Here’s the part the snack aisle muddies. Of peanuts’ modest carbohydrate, sugar is the smallest slice: of the 21.3 g of total carbs per 100 g, only 4.9 g is sugar, while 8.4 g is fiber and the rest is mostly starch. So when someone asks “do peanuts have a lot of sugar,” the honest answer is no — a realistic ounce delivers about 1.4 g, and there’s nothing on the “added sugar” line of plain peanuts at all. That low, all-natural sugar number, paired with peanuts’ fat and fiber, is part of why they have a low glycemic impact and get suggested as a blood-sugar-friendly snack.
The sugar trap is the flavoring, not the nut
Where the number jumps is the coating, not the peanut. Plain dry-roasted peanuts stay near 1.4 g of sugar an ounce; honey-roasted, candied, and “butter toffee” peanuts add sugar syrups and glazes that can multiply that several times over, and many sweetened trail mixes do the same. Those are effectively different foods — the nut underneath is still low-sugar, but the coating isn’t. The clean pick is plain dry-roasted, unsalted, which keeps both the sugar and the sodium low. By sugar, plain peanuts sit far below a piece of fruit and below most nuts people consider “savory.” If you want an even-lower-sugar nut, walnuts carry only about 0.7 g per ounce; either way the rule is the same — read the label on anything roasted, flavored, or candied, where the added sugar shows up.
For the protein and fat side of the same handful, see protein in peanuts.
Packaged nuts options, graded
Prefer something off the shelf? Here are the best-graded nuts in our catalog — each scored on our transparent Labelgrade, where added sugar is penalized but naturally-occurring sugar isn't. Check the sugar line on each label.
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Labelgrade 79/100 · 1 g sugar (0 g added)
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much sugar is in a 1 oz serving of peanuts?
About 1.4 g of sugar in a 1 oz handful (28 g) of plain dry-roasted peanuts, which is 4.9 g per 100 g (USDA FDC 173806). That's a small amount — roughly a third of a teaspoon per serving — and it's all naturally occurring, with no added sugar in plain peanuts.
How many teaspoons of sugar is that?
Only about a third of a teaspoon per ounce, using 4.2 g of sugar per level teaspoon. Plain peanuts are a low-sugar snack — the sugar barely registers, and most of what little carbohydrate they have is fiber and starch, not sugar.
Do peanuts have added sugar?
Plain dry-roasted peanuts do not — the ~1.4 g per ounce is entirely the nut's own natural sugar (USDA FDC 173806). Added sugar shows up in flavored versions: honey-roasted peanuts, candied or 'butter toffee' peanuts, and many trail-mix blends can carry several times more sugar from added syrups and coatings.
Are honey-roasted peanuts high in sugar?
Much higher than plain. Plain peanuts have about 1.4 g of sugar per ounce; honey-roasted and candied versions add sugar coatings that can push a serving several grams higher, plus extra calories. If you're watching sugar, plain dry-roasted (unsalted) is the clean choice and the coatings are what to read for.
Is the sugar in peanuts a problem for low-sugar or diabetic diets?
Plain peanuts are about as low-sugar as a snack gets — roughly 1.4 g per ounce — and their fat, fiber, and protein give them a low glycemic impact, so they're often suggested as a blood-sugar-friendly snack. The thing to watch isn't the nut but the flavoring: honey-roasted and candied coatings change the picture. This is general information, not medical advice.
When was this data last verified?
2026-06-18, against USDA FoodData Central FDC 173806 (Peanuts, all types, dry-roasted, without salt; SR Legacy). We re-verify reference pages periodically and update when USDA revises its data.
Whole-food values are USDA reference data, not a Labelgrade (that score is for branded packaged products, where we penalize added sugar). See our methodology and the added-sugar calculator.