Walnuts and pecans are both rich, buttery tree nuts that show up in the same baking recipes, close in nutrition, with one clear standout difference.
| Nutrient | Walnuts | Pecans |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 730 kcal | 750 kcal |
| Protein | 14.6 g ✓ | 9.96 g |
| Total Carbohydrate | 10.9 g | 12.7 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 5.21 g | 5.79 g ✓ |
| Total Sugars | 0 g ✓ | 3.97 g |
| Total Fat | 69.7 g | 73.3 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6.05 g ✓ | 6.46 g |
| Sodium | 0 mg | 0 mg |
Notable compounds in each
When to choose each
Walnuts carry meaningfully more protein than pecans, along with a small edge on saturated fat, while pecans have a slight fibre advantage. Walnuts are also the better-known of the two for omega-3 (ALA) content among tree nuts, one of the few nuts with a meaningful plant omega-3 contribution. Pecans lean sweeter and richer in flavour, which is why they turn up in desserts like pecan pie far more than walnuts typically do, despite the two being nutritionally very close.
Common questions
Are walnuts really higher in omega-3 than other nuts? Yes — walnuts are one of the few tree nuts with a meaningful amount of plant-based omega-3 (ALA), well ahead of pecans, almonds or cashews, which is a large part of why they’re singled out so often in heart-health advice.
Which has more calories, walnuts or pecans? They’re very close — pecans are marginally higher at around 750 kcal per 100g versus roughly 730 kcal for walnuts, a small enough difference that portion size matters far more than the choice between them.
Nutrition values are USDA FoodData Central approximations — see our editorial approach for how we source and verify data.