The Peanut Butter Taste Test: We Tried 7 Brands and Ranked Them

Young or old, who can resist peanut butter? When paired with jelly and made into a sandwich, this creamy, nutty spread it takes us back to our childhood. It has a place baked into cookies, stirred into oatmeal, and blended into smoothies. Not to mention eating it straight from the jar. (It’s OK — we do it too!)

We tried seven well-known brands of natural peanut butter and ranked them from our least to most favorite. Want to see how they ranked?

There’s a growing number of variations when it comes to peanut butter. To narrow down the field and keep things consistent, we decided to focus just on natural peanut butter. And then, of course, there’s the great debate over creamy versus chunky. People have strong opinions in this matter.

Ultimately we went with creamy because it felt like more neutral territory, and it was less likely that anyone would be strongly against it.

For this taste test we wanted to find brands that are well known and the most recognizable. We purchased the peanut butters from Fairway, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods and tried to stay away from any locally-produced brands.

We purchased seven brands of creamy natural peanut butter. We assigned each peanut butter a letter, then spooned each one into a clear plastic cup, and lined them up on a table. Tasters had a choice of sampling the peanut butter on baguette slices or using a wooden stick to eat it plain.

We asked everyone in the office to give us their thoughts on all seven spreads and to comment on their favorite, their second favorite, and their least favorite.

Here are the results, from the least favorite to most favorite peanut butter:

This one looked really nutty and natural, which made our testers really want to like it. We had high hopes, but the nut butter and oil separated a lot and it was tough to blend them together, leaving it with a clumpy consistency.

• “This is really, really chunky.”
• “It tastes chalky.”
• “It tastes really natural and nutty, I like it.”

We were super surprised that this peanut butter didn’t stand up to the others. In comparison, the consistency was thick and pasty, with a bland flavor. Maybe it would be stronger paired with jam or sliced banana and honey?

• “I can’t even talk with this in my mouth.”
• “Really thick and it has no flavor.”
• “Hands down my least favorite — tastes like it’s trying to be healthy but ends up just being bland.”
• “I kind of like this one.”

This peanut butter gets points for good consistency; it was really soft and wonderfully spreadable. But it had a very plain, mild flavor that didn’t win the tasters over. One person commented though that they buy this brand regularly and were happy to see it in the lineup.

• “My least favorite. It tastes watery and bland.”
• “This one has a one-tone flavor, and it feels like I’m putting glue in my mouth.”
• “It looks pretty natural.”

Overall this peanut butter had a really great, balanced flavor that everyone loved. Some testers told us they buy this regularly for the taste and good value. The one thing the group didn’t care for was the consistency. It was thin and drippy, which made it hard to spread.

• “Way too liquidy.”
• “The consistency is too thin and it’s kind of salty, but I still like it.”
• “Not too sweet, but salty — good salty, though.”
• “My favorite, it tastes natural and not processed.”

Many of us have been buying Trader Joe’s peanut butter for years, so we weren’t surprised to see it rank near the top of the list. It has a thinner consistency than the top peanut butters on this list, but a well-balanced, super nutty flavor.

• “This one is my favorite — tastes like real nuts.”
• “It tastes kind of sweet.”

You might not associate this brand with “natural” products, so it may be surprising to see it do so well. However, it’s definitely not surprising that many people in the office commented that this peanut butter reminded them of their childhood. For many people, this is the kind of subtly sweet flavor we’re programmed to like.

• “This tastes like Jif and it’s my favorite.”
• “Definitely my least favorite.”
• “Mmmm, this tastes like my childhood.”
• “It’s kind of sweet.”
• “Disgusting.”

This peanut butter was neck-and-neck with Skippy, but ultimately edged it out by just a tiny bit for the overall win. It hits all the high notes: very balanced flavor, with a hint of salt so it’s not too bland. And great consistency, not too liquidy, and definitely not clumpy.

• “This one is my favorite. It’s just a little bit salty and has a good consistency.”
• “I like salt, but this one is too salty for me. I like how roasty it tastes, though.”
• “This is my favorite, good consistency and salt level, and overall good flavor.”

Have you ever done a peanut butter taste test? Do you have a favorite that we didn’t mention here?