Best cashew butter taste test

If you are looking for ideas on how to use cashew butter for more than just toast, try our prawn and red cabbage summer rolls with a cashew butter dipping sauce. Cashew butter works in everything, from salad dressings and curries, to recipes that traditionally use peanut butter.

Best cashew butters at a glance

• Best for baking: Zeina cashew nut butter, £12.75
• Best for dressings: Nutural World cashew butter, £16.12
• Best for porridge: Prime Earth smooth cashew nut butter, £8.49
• Best thick cashew butter: Biona cashew butter, £3.80
• Best for cookies: Kape pure cashew butter, £6.99
• Best for breakfast foods: Daylesford Organic cashew butter, £8.99
• Best with chocolate: Meridian smooth cashew butter, £3.85

The results of the best cashew butters 2022

Zeina cashew nut butter, £12.75

Score: 9/10

Best for baking

This cashew nut butter has a premium taste and texture. It's glossy, smooth, rich and creamy, with a dark tan colour that proves the deep roast of the nuts. The toasted nut flavour really comes through, and the butter doesn't taste oily at all. It would work well swirled through brownie batter or used in a vegan fudge.

Available from:

Amazon (£12.75)

Nutural World cashew nut butter, £16.12

Score: 9/10

Best for dressings

This cashew butter has a thin, runny texture that's similar in consistency to tahini. It has a buttery, more neutral cashew flavour (due to less roasting time) with a hint of almost caramel-like sweetness, making it ideal for salad dressings or dipping sauces.

Available from:

Amazon (£16.12)
Nutural World (£4.20)

Prime Earth smooth cashew nut butter, £8.49

Score: 9/10

Best for toast

For a peanut butter alternative, this cashew butter hits the mark. It has a grainy quality and clean roasted taste that's similar to peanut butter. It's rich and has a deeply savoury and salty flavour, despite being salt-free.

Available from:

Amazon (£8.49)

Biona Organic cashew nut butter, £4.80

Score: 8/10

Best thick nut butter

This cashew nut butter has quite a bit of separation on opening (which is normal), with a neutral, nutty taste. In terms of texture, there's a slight graininess, but it's very thick and fudge-like.

Available from:

Ocado (£4.80)
Abel & Cole (£4.95)
Amazon (£8.48)

Kape pure cashew butter, £6.29

Score: 6/10

Best for cookies

Almost like hummus, this cashew butter has a mousse-like, whipped texture. You can taste the tang of raw cashews. It would work well in baked oats or simply as a butter alternative.

Available from:

Amazon (£6.29)
Kape (£5.75)

Daylesford Organic cashew butter, £8.99

Score: 6/10

Best for breakfast foods

Daylesford's cashew butter has a well-roasted, rounded flavour that's a bit like a slightly spiced butter. It's not suitable for drizzling, but not too thick either, with a slight grain. It would work well blitzed into smoothies, dolloped into porridge or stirred into granola.

Available from:

Selfridges (£8.99)
Ocado (£7.15)
Daylesford (£7.99)

Meridian smooth cashew butter, £3.85

Score: 6/10

Best with chocolate

This is the darkest cashew butter of the test, with a deep, almost cocoa-like flavour. It could be mistaken for a smooth almond butter, and it's clear the cashew nuts have been roasted for a long time – there are some pleasant burnt notes.

How we tested

We looked for the overall taste of the cashew butter: we wanted the cashew nut to stand out and be the main flavour, rather than any oil. We noticed how roasted the cashew butters were and how that would affect the way we would use that particular brand. Overall, we looked for a creamy and smooth texture, and considered how the nut butter separated or how grainy it was. All the cashew butters we tasted were labeled smooth, palm oil-free and vegan-friendly.

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If you have any questions, suggestions for future reviews or spot anything that has changed in price or availability, please get in touch at oliveweb@immediate.co.uk.