Best Peanut Butter

Despite the rise in nut butter alternatives brought on by peanut allergies, there has never been a greater choice when it comes to the best peanut butter. 

Just see how varied the peanut butter section is growing. If you're open to trying various seed butters, the selection is even more diverse. The fact that peanut butter walks a thin line between being a healthy food and being high in fat makes picking the proper brand even more difficult. Additionally, the issue of added sugar is always present. How significant is the 1 gram of sugar added that sets most conventional no-stir peanut butters apart from their unsweetened counterparts?

Here are 5 professional picks for peanut butter spreads that you might want to add to your shopping list if you're seeking for a more nutritious option (or just confirmation that your favorite brand is the best).

1. Santa Cruz Dark Roasted Creamy Peanut Butter - Best Overall

Santa Cruz is simply the best peanut butter available that doesn't contain any flavor enhancers, such as sugar, salt, honey, etc. Perhaps it's those "dark roasted" peanuts. It simply smells and tastes like peanuts, yet for some reason unique to the Santa Cruz blending method, this peanut butter stays more evenly emulsified and less separated than the majority of other natural varieties.

That stated, there will be oil separation in all natural peanut butters. Having an Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Mixer available will lessen the inconvenience. The usefulness of this one-use purpose item more than makes up for the tiny amount of room it takes up in the drawer.

Santa Cruz even passed the test in the kitchen. To make sure that the peanut butter was the main flavor, we chose a flourless peanut butter cookie, and Santa Cruz peanut butter was excellent. The peanut butter cookies it produces are a little puffier than those made with Jif or Skippy, and the cookie aficionados we enlisted to test it thought the flavor was even better. Overall, the slightly unconventional cookie shape is justified by the distinctive peanut flavor.

In cooking, it was also less greasy than other natural brands. Additionally, it is frequently one of the more affordable organic alternatives. Almost entirely peanuts, organic, and moderately priced. The winner among peanut butters.

PROS:

• Amazingly nutty peanut flavor

• Organic 

• Holds blending properly

CONS:

• Need to stir before use

• Fragile glass jar

SHOPPING LINK:

The idea of producing Justin’s peanut butter was started when Justin Gold smashed peanuts in his kitchen in Colorado. He knew he had stumbled upon something when he created squeeze packs to make peanut butter to make it extremely portable. He then ventured into flavors, additional nut butters, and snacks. 

Although Justin's peanut butter comes in sweetened varieties, this original, creamy variety tastes fantastic on its own and doesn't require stirring. It has a pleasant, simple, natural peanut flavor, bakes cookies that are pretty close to those you'd get using one of the top brands, and is only a little oily, which you can make up for by using other oils in the kitchen.

Hormel Foods, the parent company of other well-known snack brands like Planters, SPAM, Applegate, and Skippy, currently owns the business. However, Justin's is produced using different production methods and is classified as a "spread" because it comprises nearly 90% peanuts.

PROS:

• No stirring required

• Good peanut flavor

• Spreadable

CONS:

• A little oily

• No longer a homemade product

• More pricey than similar brands

SHOPPING LINK:

3. Smucker’s Natural Creamy Peanut Butter - Best for Added Salt

Although this peanut butter tastes pretty good, they are not quite as tasty as our best overall pick. While it's not organic,  the Smucker's in particular has enough salt added to bring the serving size up to 110mg of sodium, which is still less than the leading brands' 140mg and 150mg of sodium, respectively (Skippy). It does  need stirring, but if you use the jar-flip method, its jar will accept the paddle mixer and stay reasonably well combined. 

PROS:

• Peanut flavor is brought out by light salt Light salt brings out peanut flavor

• Nice peanut taste

CONS:

• Needs stirring 

• Not organic

SHOPPING LINK:

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4. SKIPPY Creamy Peanut Butter

Although the flavor is unmistakably that of "peanut butter," it also contains a significant amount of extra salt and sugar. It falls  short because, when compared to the other nut butters, it doesn't have the same peanut flavor. Although it has a powerful flavor, the salt and sugar as well as probably memory are deceiving the taste buds.

PROS:

• Common taste

• Gives better results in some baking and cooking 

CONS:

• Lots of added sugar and salt

• Not organic

• Hydrogenated oils

SHOPPING LINK:

5. Peanut Butter & Co. Simply Smooth Peanut Butter Spread

This peanut butter and palm oil mixture, for some reason, comes out pastier than other butters and doesn't have a particularly pleasant peanut flavor. Somehow, the flavor has been buried. Although it contains four times as much salt as Justin's, it's not as flavorful. However, it's slightly less pricey than Justin's, which is a comparable mixture and one of our top picks.  

PROS:

• Easily spreaded

• No stirring required

CONS:

• Lots of added salt

• Mediocre taste

SHOPPING LINK:

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Regardless of what you're seeking in the best peanut butter - whether you want organic, salty, low-sugar, or a childhood, creamy taste - everyone is searching for one similar thing: a rich, nutty, peanut flavor.  We've selected the tastiest, most widely-available peanut butter choices for a late-night mouthful or a fluffy plate of peanut butter cookies.