The food filter: who makes the best crunchy peanut butter?

I came late to the peanut butter party, and my mum remains convinced that it’s extremely unhealthy stuff, which, to be fair to her, is probably true of the sugary versions of my childhood. In the past few years, however, peanut butter has gone back to its health-food roots. It is now championed for its protein and monounsaturated fat content, as brands stripped of their sweeteners and emulsifiers have occupied the premium end of the market. Given that these new-wave natural peanut butters tend to contain nothing but peanuts – give or take the odd pinch of salt – the difference between supermarket own-label and luxury jars tends to be slight. The biggest variations are largely in the sourcing and quality of the peanuts themselves.

This means that peanut butter is a handy thing to have in the cupboard at all times. Personally, I prefer a loose, crunchy consistency; for all the claims about sustainable palm oil, there’s simply no need for it in peanut butter, which, like tahini, separates naturally over time and is just as easily stirred back together. To slow the separation, simply beat the oil back in, then store the jar upside down in the fridge – assuming it lasts that long.

Best all-rounder

M&S 100% crunchy peanut butter

_{£2 for 340g at Ocado}
★★★★☆

The jar proudly boasts that these aren’t just any nuts, but high-oleic acid peanuts that are “high in monounsaturated fat” – in other words, the better sort for your heart. It’s quite sweet and packed full of said nuts. If only there were also a pinch of salt, this would be perfect.

Best bargain

Grandessa 100% crunchy peanut butter

_{£1.09 for 340g at Aldi}
★★★☆☆

Though, again, this is just a jar full of skin-on peanuts, to me it tastes sweeter than the others, with a fuller, more complex flavour. Slightly more butter and less nut than some, which on the plus side makes it easier to spread. A good one for those straddling the Rubicon between smooth and crunchy.

Best splurge

Manilife original roast crunchy peanut butter

_{£3 for 275g at Ocado
£3 for 275g at Amazon}
★★★★★

Confession time: this is the brand I buy. A golden, creamy, spreadable butter with large, lightly roasted and coarsely chopped high oleic-acid nuts, with a judicious amount of salt to bring out their rich flavour. Not as jam-packed with solid pieces of nut as some other brands, but still definitely crunchy.

And the rest …

Pip & Nut crunchy peanut butter

_{£3.25 for 300g at Sainsbury’s
£6.89 for 1kg at Amazon}
★★★★☆

More high-oleic peanuts, this time in a generous rubble of different-sized pieces, and lightly roasted, this has a subtle, but very moreish flavour. My only complaint is that, once the oil has been stirred back in, it is so runny that it drips through the holes in my toast (though that would also make it perfect for baking).

Meridian crunchy peanut butter

_{£2 for 280g at Waitrose
£2.80 for 280g at Sainsbury’s}
★★★☆☆

Great texture – a jumble of nut shards barely held together by a loose butter – but with noticeably more flecks of skin than other brands, this tastes a bit too much like a health food for my liking, with a bitter, almost grassy edge.

Sainsbury’s 100% crunchy peanut butter

_{£1.80 for 340g at Sainsbury’s}
★★★☆☆

Being 100% peanuts, this has a loose texture, and is naturally subtly sweet, but also a bit muted and one-dimensional – to my mind, peanuts always benefit from a bit of salt. Like all the unflavoured peanut butters, it would be better for cooking than on toast.

Tesco classic crunchy peanut butter

_{£1.09 for 340g at Tesco}
★★☆☆☆

Solid, thanks to the palm oil (which, quite aside from issues around sustainability, is totally unnecessary), this tastes like the peanut butter of my childhood, thanks to the added salt and sugar (though it’s not strikingly sweet, like many American brands). Plastic jar, but widely recycled. Nostalgically enjoyable, but loses points for the palm oil.

Morrisons 100% crunchy peanut butter

_{£1.80 for 340g at Morrisons}
★★☆☆☆

Another one that’s 100% nuts, though slightly less tasty than some. Perhaps that’s down to the larger flecks of skin visible in the jar: these are often removed, because they’re bitter, but they’re also full of fibre and other good things. It’s fine, and properly crunchy, but I’d add salt. Plastic jar, widely recycled.

Waitrose Essential wholenut peanut butter

_{£1.80 for 340g at Waitrose}
★☆☆☆☆

Another palm oil-stabilised example, but this one has the claggy consistency of wading through clay soil; it’s also quite light on nut pieces. The generous sprinkling of peanut skin gives it a bitter, almost tannic finish, but, on the plus side, it does have the perfect level of salt.

Whole Earth crunchy peanut butter

_{£4.50 for 454g at Sainsbury’s
£6.90 for 1kg at Amazon}
★☆☆☆☆

Before the peanut butter revolution, this was my brand of choice, but although I still enjoy its salty flavour, the solid, palm oil-stabilised texture now feels weirdly dry and crumbly to me. Ditching the palm oil would be a big improvement.