Who makes the best peanut butter in the UK?

How the best smooth peanut butters taste test worked

Four members of the olive team conducted a blind taste test to find the best smooth peanut butter, awarding gold, silver and bronze awards to the ones we were most impressed with.

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The results for the best smooth peanut butters taste test

Joint gold: Meridian organic smooth peanut butter, £8.70, 1kg, Amazon

Comments: 100% peanuts, roasted with their skins on, give this smooth peanut butter a natural flavour. A great artisan purchase if you’re after a pure nut butter to dip apple slices in, drizzle over pancakes or add to a curry.

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Joint gold: Marks and Spencer smooth peanut butter, £1.30, 340g, Marks and Spencer

Comments: A mixture of peanuts (90%) with sunflower oil, palm oil, cane sugar and sea salt gives this nut butter a gentle sweetness and salty kick. With a dark roast and creamy texture, it’s the one to slather on toast.

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Silver: ASDA smooth peanut butter, £1.50, 280g, Asda

Comments: Like monkey nuts? Then this nut butter (made from 100% peanuts), with its raw flavour profile, is the one to go for. With a lighter roast, it’s got distinctly different flavour notes to others on the market.

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Bronze: Sun-Pat original smooth peanut spread, £3, 400g, Tesco

Comments: The addition of cane sugar to this peanut butter makes it a great buy for those that have a sweet tooth. With a thicker consistency, it’s ideal for topping a cake with.

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Other smooth peanut butters we tried

Lidl smooth peanut butter, 99p/340g; Lidl. Buy now

Skippy smooth peanut butter, £2.40/340g; ocado.com. Buy now

Pip and Nut smooth peanut butter, £3.50/400g; Amazon. Buy now

Whole Earth organic smooth peanut butter, £3/340g; ocado.com. Buy now

Yumello Wild Atlas peanut butter, £2.75/170g; ocado.com. Buy now

Biona organic peanut butter smooth, £7.99/1kg; ocado.com. Buy now

Essential Waitrose smooth peanut butter, £1.55/340g; Waitrose. Buy now

ManiLife original roast smooth peanut butter, £3.99/295g; ocado.com. Buy now

Duchy Organic smooth and spreadable peanut butter, £1.89/340g; Waitrose. Buy now

In the past we've also judged other types of peanut butter, here are the results...

Best crunchy peanut butter: Biona organic crunchy peanut butter, £14.98, 1kg, Amazon

Comments: Perhaps it’s the fact that Biona doesn’t use any additives (such as palm fat and emulsifiers) that makes this peanut butter special. Rich, salty and definitely the crunchiest of the bunch, we’d love it on our toast any day of the week. It’s also got a refreshingly short ingredients list.

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Best palm oil-free peanut butter: Meridian natural crunchy peanut butter, £8.29, 1 kg, Amazon

Palm oil is a controversial issue, and as such products that exclude it are on the rise. We tasted five palm oil-free butters, all of which had separated slightly due to the lack of oil. Just give them a stir before eating.

Meridian’s crunchy peanut butter was our favourite – they’re one of the few producers that leave the peanut skins on for roasting. It’s made from peanuts and nothing else (not even salt), which accounts for the clean and wholesome flavour. Honestly, it made us feel good inside.

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Best supermarket peanut butter: Lidl’s McEnnedy ‘American Way’ smooth peanut butter

We loved it in the ‘smooth’ category, and we picked it out again in the ‘supermarket’ line-up. A real winner.

Taste test conducted and written by Ellie Edwards