I Tried 10 Popular Peanut Butters & the Best Was Sweet, Salty, and Cheap

Peanut butter is one of those sneaky superfoods. When made correctly, it provides high protein levels, healthy fats, and vitamins and minerals. It's as filling as all get out and pairs well with dang near anything. Celery, apples, bananas, jelly, crackers, chocolate, oatmeal, marshmallow fluff, and smoothies are all on the table. My family even spreads it on bread to eat alongside bowls of chili—a Midwest delicacy.

Peanut butter is also one of those items that inspires strong brand loyalties. Some people are ride-or-die Skippy fans. Others only fly with Peter Pan and an entirely different group—including my chili-loving family—only stock Jif.

We all have our nutty preferences to consider, which makes finding the best store-bought peanut butter a tough nut to crack. I was up for the challenge and ready to take off my peanut butter blinders to find the tastiest jar on the shelf. I ended up sampling 10 different brands with a mix of both creamy and crunchy varieties. Here are my final sweet and salty results, from my least to most favorite spreads.

Peanut Butter & Co. Bee's Knees Peanut Butter Spread

The name of this company should tip you off that it's serious about its peanut butter. The spread is the brand's bread and (peanut) butter and has been its sole focus since its inception in 1998. As such, 11 versions of the spread sit on its books, from classic and crunchy to white chocolate and maple. Don't forget about its almond butter, chocolatey hazelnut spreads, and peanut butter cookies.

I picked up a 16-ounce plastic jar of the company's The Bee's Knees variety for $4.99, not realizing until well after the fact that it includes honey. Yes, I am aware of how dumb that sounds. I blame the waves and waves of golden goodness I was staring at for clouding my mind.

The look: Thick with no residual oils resting on top. Its sticky and dense nature makes it difficult to scoop or spread, even at room temperature.

The taste: The addition of honey couldn't pull this one up from the depths of last place. Underneath this initial layer of sugary sweetness lies an undeniable packaged or artificial taste, like it was a product from a lab rather than natural peanuts. This was enough to warrant a pretty quick no from me. The gummy texture on top of it made it too much to bear. A message from me to you, Bee's Knees: Kindly buzz off.

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Whole Foods 365 Organic Crunchy Peanut Butter Spread

With the whole alternative nut butter craze, I thought traditional PB might be a rarity at Whole Foods among the selection of soy butter, sunflower seed butter, and the like. However, ample options lined the shelf. All are natural or organic and free from hydrogenated fats and preservatives. This also goes for the chain's 365 line, and the organic crunchy variety is made with just four ingredients: organic dry roasted peanuts, organic expeller pressed palm oil, organic cane sugar, and sea salt. A 16-ounce jar cost $4.69.

The look: Before mixing, the top resembles more of a peanut butter soup with sporadic floating bits. Then, even after a couple of good churns, it's still boggy and thin enough to pour rather than slather.

The taste: Like powdered peanut butter that's been mixed with too much water. At the same time, it suctions to every corner of your mouth, making the simple act of swallowing seem like a chore. The nut pieces themselves are tolerable and present in a manageable amount. I think they contribute to the product's strange bitter aftertaste.

Santa Cruz Organic Creamy Dark Roasted Peanut Butter Spread

Santa Cruz is another of my Whole Foods finds, and its fancy glass jar was a telling sign that I was in for a steep price tag, which turned out to be correct. The organic creamy peanut butter rang up at a stupefying $6.79. I took advantage of a sale to receive about $1.50 off. It's a lot to pay for a pile of pulverized nuts.

The look: This peanut butter is the only one that specifies that it's made from dark-roasted peanuts, and it shows. The viscous, no-stirring-required spread sports a deeper, caramel-colored shade, easily distinguishable from other brands.

The taste: Unfortunately, the dark roasting process leaves this PB tasting boldly earthy and, dare I say, burnt. Neither salt nor sweet notes jump in to offset this overpowering flavor either. And, to top it off, each spoonful lacks moisture. The glossy, velvety texture is pleasing to the eye and the perfect consistency for spreading. Once it touches your lips, it's all downhill.

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Jif Natural Crunchy Peanut Butter Spread

As mentioned, Jif was highly revered in my household growing up. A red-capped jar of the creamy variety was never missing from our cupboards, and it's a brand I have stuck with. As a creature of habit, I have never ventured from this core creamy offering. So, I decided to change that by reaching for a crunchy jar that falls into the brand's Natural category, breaking my habits in a big way. The 16-ounce helping cost $3.19.

The look: Dense and jam-packed with peanuts. Some are as big as half pieces while others are much more miniscule. I did find that the volume thins out closer to the bottom of the jar. But, man, is it a rocky start.

The taste: It comes with a trifecta of sugar, molasses, and salt. But if you told me there were just nuts and more nuts in the jar, I would have believed you. Nuttiness is the only thing I detected, making each lick (or bite) taste like I was crunching on dusty peanuts at the baseball stadium, shell and all. I think my family picked right all those years ago. And I'll be sticking with tried-and-true creamy Jif going forward.

Justin's Classic Peanut Butter Spread

Justin's Classic Peanut Butter Spread claims to be "naturally delicious." As I picked up the $5.79 16-ounce jar, I couldn't yet confirm the delicious part. It is natural, containing dry-roasted peanuts and palm oil. In addition to peanut butter, you can also find almond butter, nut butter cups, and chocolate candy pieces under Justin's sweet and salty umbrella.

The look: A very light film of peanut oil sits at the top of the container—what the PB companies call "natural separation." It's also filled with a bunch of itty-bitty peanut fragments. Looking back at the label, I realized it's not technically classified as "creamy." But that's what I had been expecting.

The taste: Both natural and neutral. I can tell it is high quality and devoid of excess sugars or sodium. This means what you see is what you get, and the substance tastes like a clump of goobers pounded into a paste. The flavor itself is neither good nor bad. My only grievance revolves around the PB's gritty, almost sand-like texture.

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Peter Pan Creamy Peanut Butter

As far as peanut butter brands go, Peter Pan is about as nostalgic as they come. It was the first branded peanut butter in the U.S., flying onto shelves nationwide starting in 1928. Today, six product versions exist: creamy, crunchy, honey roast creamy, honey roast crunchy, natural creamy, and natural honey roast creamy. Almond butter variations have been discontinued. I returned to the basics with no added frills, picking up a 28-ounce jar of the original creamy butter for $4.99.

The look: Smooth and satisfying with natural brown specks throughout. As with most creamy offerings, I was reluctant to disturb the flawless peanut butter landscape at the top of the jar.

The taste: A strong salty-like sweetness hits your tongue first, making a great impression. But, from there, the glob mellows out considerably, slowly but surely leading me to the words "boring" and "bland." It's certainly not the least appetizing peanut butter I've ever had. So, I wouldn't place it in my Never-Never Land category of brands I wouldn't touch again. But it's not as magical as I hoped.

Smucker's Creamy Natural Peanut Butter

Health nuts will rejoice that Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter is another wholesome choice, made from peanuts and 1% or less of salt. Paired with one of the brand's Simply Fruit or Natural fruit spreads, it makes for a sandwich any parent, kid, or PB&J-loving adult could get behind. I bought a 16-ounce glass glass jar of the spread for $4.39.

The look: A murky mess before giving it a whirl, like a shallow river with tiny pebbles underneath. After stirring, it still appears exceptionally liquidy but comes out thicker on your spoon—a strange phenomenon.

The taste: It lands somewhere between crunchy and smooth with a granular texture that's quite pleasing. The salt adds character and depth to an otherwise monotone product in most samples. But, in others, it's overbearing and sits at the back of your throat until a swig of water or other substance washes it away. Overall, I would agree with the company's longstanding slogan: "with a name like Smuckers, it has to be good." Trouble is, it's not great.

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Good & Gather Creamy Peanut Butter

Target gets into the peanut butter game with products under the Good & Gather label. The collection is impressive, reaching beyond the obligatory creamy or crunchy with organic, natural, stir, and no-stir spinoffs. For research purposes, I bypassed these more elaborate offerings and stuck with a classic 16-ounce creamy container for an affordable store-bought price of $1.79.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

The look: Suspiciously smooth. There are no peanut bits or pieces—just glossy, undisturbed butter.

The taste: It's incredibly thick, but not in a way that gums up your mouth. Instead, it covers your tongue in a cozy layer of creamy goodness. It's noticeably more sugary than some of the more natural offerings. I counted this as a bonus. I could see how the extra blanket of sweetness could be too much, especially when paired with jelly or another buddy like Nutella.

Skippy Super Chunk Peanut Butter

I never questioned whether or not I would include Skippy in my taste test. That was always a given. I just wasn't sure which variety I would pick. Then, as I was scanning the brand's grocery store selection, the answer became clear: It was Super Chunk or nothing. This name was audacious enough to stick out from a crowd and silly enough to make me chuckle in the peanut butter aisle. It immediately went into my cart. The 16.3-ounce jar containing all those supposed chunks cost me $3.49.

The look: The spread's amusing name immediately made more sense as I unscrewed the lid. Not only are there peanut hunks covering every square inch of the container—even towards the bottom—but each one is also quite large, with plenty of half peanuts to be found.

The taste: Not surprisingly, this one hits you with a bold peanut flavor from the jump. But, as I continued to munch through it, I tasted more and more glimpses of the butter underneath all those morsels. It's rich and sweet but not too sweet. Plus, it leaves you with a consistently pleasant mouthfeel. It's safe to say that I could eat this one as a snack all by itself, and as a bonus, I would probably be full and satisfied after just a few spoonfuls. This is not a brand you want to skip.

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Kroger Crunchy Peanut Butter

Kroger often saves the day with low-price versions of all your food and household necessities—an unsung hero of the grocery world. One area where the store brand shines is with condiments and other accompaniments. Since peanut butter can technically be grouped into this category, I had high hopes for this crunchy variety that I snagged. The 16-ounce jar costs $2.19, making it one of the most economical choices, second only to Good & Gather.

The look: Glistening from the top in a promising shade. The peanut bits hiding underneath are similar in size to what you would sprinkle over a sundae.

The taste: A perfect ratio of butter to nuts combined with a balanced level of sweet and salty. It's one of the creamiest crunchy peanut butter brands I've had—which seems like an oxymoron, but it'll make sense when you try it. Kroger pulled through with this pure peanut butter bliss. I couldn't stop scooping it, and I'm happy to ignore its dash of hydrogenated oils.