Best crunchy peanut butter taste test

We opted to test crunchy rather than smooth peanut butter – just lightly roasted peanuts blended with a pinch of salt, and free from added sugar. We did allow any peanut butters stating they were using sustainable palm oil. These criteria gave us the clearest indicators of the best quality peanut butters.

How we tasted

We tried each peanut butter on its own and then on a small piece of toasted sourdough. We looked for a sweet, nicely seasoned, deep peanut flavour that wasn’t too salty. Texture-wise we wanted chunky peanut pieces well distributed through a smooth, creamy butter.

The results of the best crunchy peanut butter taste test

Winner: Manilife Original Roast Crunchy, £4 (295g), Ocado

Score: 9/10

Incredibly smooth and creamy peanut butter with big chunky bits of peanut throughout. Nice balanced sweetness and plenty of salt – any more and it would be too much but it’s just enough to make the butter taste amazing and give a deep flavour and length on the palate.

Pip & Nut Classic Roast Crunchy Peanut Butter, £3 (300g), Sainsburys

Score: 9/10

Delicious and a very close second. A really well-balanced peanut butter. Perfectly sweet, salty, crunchy and creamy all at once. The texture is perfect, too – once the oil had been mixed back in it was the perfect consistency for spreading on toast.

Yumello Crunchy Peanut Butter, £2.50 (250g), Ocado

Score: 8/10

A really good peanut butter. Deep, nutty flavour with just the right amount of sweetness and saltiness. It is made with cold- pressed argan oil, which you don’t notice as a flavour but does add to its creamy texture.

Biona Organic Crunchy Salted Peanut Butter, £3.25 (250g), Ocado

Score: 7/10

Nice peanut flavour and well seasoned. Quite small on the chunkiness but this allows for plenty of creaminess. It gives a long peanut aftertaste. Not as sweet and salty as the others, which meant that it lacked a bit of flavour in comparison.

Meridian Crunchy Peanut Butter, £2.50 (250g), Waitrose

One for the purists. A very, very crunchy peanut butter without much creaminess. A deep peanut flavour – almost like eating them straight from the shell. It’s made without salt so it lacks some depth and length of flavour. Good if you like a strong peanut flavour or you’re watching your salt intake.

Score: 7/10

Whole Earth Crunchy Peanut Butter, £3 (340g)

A nicely consistent peanut butter, thanks to added sustainable palm oil. But this meant it was more set and lacked some of the runny creaminess of the others. A really deep peanut flavour with a good ratio of chunks to smooth butter. Maybe a touch too salty – but this did make it really delicious.

Score: 7/10

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