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The best peanut butter for 2021
These are the best classic and flavoured peanut butters to buy now
No longer simply reserved for toast, today peanut butter is used in a plethora of ways. From baking in the likes of this peanut butter caramel slice, adding to speedy curries or spiking smoothies, a spoonful provides a healthy dose of protein, dietary fibre and beneficial monounsaturated fats.
What is the best peanut butter?
- Best peanut butter: Manilife Deep Roast Crunchy Peanut Butter
- Runner-up peanut butter: Pic's Peanut Butter Crunchy
- Best peanut butter with honey: Whole Earth Smooth Peanut Butter With Honey
- Best budget peanut butter: Aldi Crunchy Peanut Butter
- Best for a curry: Meridian Crunchy Peanut Butter
- Best savoury peanut butter for cooking: M&S Crunchy Peanut Butter with Maple & Pecan
- Best budget smooth peanut butter: Sainsbury's Peanut Butter Smooth
- Best for families: Organic Kitchen Peanut Butter Smooth
How we test
The Good Housekeeping Institute tried 10 jars of classic, flavoured, smooth and crunchy peanut butter, from supermarkets and leading brands, to see which was the tastiest spread. These are the ones worth your money.
Tempted by cashew, almond or hazelnut butter instead? Read on for the full list of all the top-scoring nut butters for 2021.
Score: 90/100
When it comes to peanut butter, Manilife has something of a cult following. The brand roasts its Argentinian nuts, in a similar way as you would with coffee beans, resulting in a deeper, more intense flavour. You’re left with a dark, chunky blend containing whole and half peanuts and just a pinch of sea salt.
Score: 86/100
With nothing but peanuts and salt in the recipe, the Pic’s crunchy nut butter is a healthy, unsweetened choice. Our panel found a generous scattering of peanuts throughout and reported no oil separation at all. They thought this one smelt of a Snickers bar, and tasted similar to crunchy nut cornflakes — a winning combination.
Score: 78/100
Made with real honey and smooth peanut butter, Whole Earth’s formula is not as sweet as you might expect. Testers enjoyed the sweet and salty combination, and thought it was a great choice for those that prefer a smooth nut butter. Contains sustainably sourced palm oil.
Score: 76/100
Rather impressively from our best budget buy, this jar contains absolutely nothing but peanuts. So as you might expect, the flavour is completely natural, with chunky pieces of roasted nuts throughout. That said, it’s a little one dimensional (some would have liked a little more sweetness), but at this price it’s ideal for adding to smoothies and bakes.
Score: 74/100
Containing no added sugar or salt, this healthy jar contains nothing but whole roasted skin on peanuts. We found it needed a good stir to combine but thought the pure peanut flavour would make a fantastic addition to satay sauce — try it in this tofu noodle soup.
Score: 74/100
Despite being spiked with maple syrup, sugar and warming cinnamon, this nut butter wasn’t quite as sweet as we were expecting. Instead the peanut/pecan combination reminded some of salted sesame oil, which could work well in savoury dishes. The caramelised pecans add a nice crispy texture. Contains palm oil.
Score: 73/100
This inexpensive, smooth spread is gently balanced with sugar and salt for a classic nutty flavour reminiscent of peanut butter brittle. Ideal for kids' pack lunch boxes, this is a textbook nut butter that won’t break the bank. Contains palm oil.
Score: 71/100
If you’re feeding a family, it can be easy to get through little jars of peanut butter pretty rapidly. This one-kilo tub should keep you stocked up with the good stuff for a while longer. Made from organic peanuts and nothing else, the flavour is very creamy and the perfect balance of sweet and salty.
Stacey looks after all food and drink reviews — from coffee pods and veg boxes, to natural wine and tequila. Stacey is also founder of Crummbs, where she’s written nearly 2,000 restaurant and hotel reviews since 2013. Prior to this, Stacey wrote hundreds of in-depth buying guides for the Independent, i newspaper and BBC Good Food, as well as reviewing restaurants and interviewing celebrities in her column at Balance Magazine. Stacey has also appeared in BAFTA-nominated BBC documentary Blood, Sweat & Takeaways, where she investigated South East Asia's food production industry, appearing on both Newsnight and BBC World Service to share her findings. Regularly checking out the latest restaurants, bars and product launches, Stacey also loves experimenting with recipes at home, and is a WSET-certified wine and spirits expert, with over 10 years of experience in the business. You can follow Stacey on Instagram @crummbs_uk
Mel is the Senior Food & Drink Writer for Good Housekeeping UK, covering all the delicious new product launches that come her way, writing about food and drink topics, and curating gift guides for the best foodie products to buy. Alongside that, she can be found developing and creating cocktails for GH and holds her WSET Level 2 in Wine and Spirits. She was part of the Good Housekeeping Institute food testing team for over four years before moving over to the digital side, so knows a thing or two about great food products. You'll find her scouring the supermarket shelves in her spare time for new and exciting ingredients to experiment with in her kitchen.
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