How much sugar is in walnuts?

Raw walnuts are practically a no-sugar food. A 1 oz handful (28 g, about 14 halves) carries only about 0.7 g of sugar — under a fifth of a teaspoon — which comes from 2.6 g per 100 g, and it’s entirely naturally occurring, with no added sugar in plain walnuts. Against the ~183 calories and ~18 g of fat in that same handful, the sugar is a rounding error. Of the common nuts, walnuts carry the least sugar, so if “low sugar” is what you’re after, the plain nut is already there.

Almost no sugar — and it’s all natural

Walnuts barely register on sugar because there’s so little carbohydrate to begin with, and what’s there leans toward fiber. Of the 13.7 g of total carbs per 100 g, only 2.6 g is sugar while 6.7 g is fiber, with the rest mostly starch. So when someone asks “do walnuts have sugar,” the honest answer is: almost none — a realistic ounce delivers about 0.7 g, and there’s nothing on the “added sugar” line of plain walnuts at all. That near-zero, all-natural sugar number, paired with walnuts’ fat and fiber, is why they have a minimal glycemic impact and get suggested as a blood-sugar-friendly snack.

The sugar comes from the glaze, not the nut

Where the number changes is the coating, not the walnut. Raw and dry-roasted walnuts stay near 0.7 g of sugar an ounce; candied, “maple,” and “honey-glazed” walnuts add sugar syrups that can multiply that many times over, and the chopped walnuts folded into brownies or banana bread come with the sugar of whatever they’re baked into. Those are effectively different foods — the nut underneath is still nearly sugar-free, but the glaze isn’t. The clean pick is plain raw or dry-roasted. By sugar, walnuts sit at the bottom of the nut bowl, below peanuts and almonds, and far below any fruit. The rule for all of them is the same: read the label on anything candied, glazed, or flavored, where the added sugar shows up.

For the fat-and-omega-3 side of the same handful — the real reason to eat walnuts — see protein in walnuts.