9 Trader Joe's Nut Butters, Ranked Worst To Best

Of all the inventions to come out of the United States, few project the soft diplomatic power of nut butter. When I lived abroad, the only thing I missed more than nut butter was my favorite purveyor of the rich, nutty, calorie-dense paste: Trader Joe's. The California-based grocer is chock full of rave-worthy deals on everything from cheese to wine to a range of delicious dips. And, if you love nut butters, there are few better places to pick up a jar than your local TJ's.

If you've wandered down the store's aisles, you've probably noticed a surprisingly wide spectrum of nut butters. Maybe you like your peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a classic crunchy salted peanut butter, but maybe you prefer something a bit more exotic, like sunflower seed or almond butter. Whatever your nutty notions of what makes the best nostalgic sandwich, you'll want to know that the nut butters at Trader Joe's were not created equal. Some hit your taste buds right where they're supposed to, while others fail to deliver on the promise of their delightfully designed packaging. For this ranking, I picked up every nut butter that my local branch of Trader Joe's offers and tasted each one to determine which reigns supreme.

It is, of course, convenient not to have to stir your peanut butter. Likewise, the comparatively solid natural state of this product makes it easier to use in sandwiches. But, what you gain in convenience you lose in flavor. In this case, the flavor in question is robbed by the overwhelming presence of powdered sugar. I suppose there is overlap between people who have a sweet tooth and those who like no-stir peanut butter because, in my own experience, these convenient concoctions are almost always too sugary.

The spreadable texture is achieved through the use of palm oil, and while this addition has a neutral taste that doesn't contribute to the flavor very much, I find the essence of peanuts to be a bit diluted by its presence. This nut butter is pretty comparable to Jif, and it delivers much the same classic comfort as white bread, with which it is undoubtedly often paired. While there's something nostalgic about the spreadable iteration of this nut butter, I found that pairing it with honey or jam rendered it a sugar bomb entirely too sweet for my taste buds. If you're looking for a more manageable sandwich without the extra sugar, try making a mess-free peanut butter and jelly sandwich by spreading the nut butter on both pieces of bread before adding the preserves. 

Unlike the other nut butters on this list, I had never tasted sunflower seed butter until I found myself ferrying a piece of bread slathered with this product from a plate to my mouth. As a snack, sunflower seeds are often eaten straight from the shell, forcing snackers to enjoy the earthy, slightly bitter taste in small increments. Eaten in its spreadable form, this bitterness can be overwhelming, and, while it's counterbalanced by the inclusion of powdered sugar, the sweet and ascerbic flavors taste dissonant somehow, as though they have nothing to do with one another.

I found more success with this product when I slathered it on whole wheat bread and topped it with a generous layer of raspberry jam. Likewise, I imagine plenty of other recipes would taste delicious with the inclusion of this silky spread. While it was a bit thicker at the bottom than at the top, the texture was more consistent than the average natural peanut butter, though it was markedly runnier than the no-stir varieties. Despite its flaws, this spread is still a viable option for those with allergies to conventional nut butters made from peanuts and almonds.

Not only is this premium peanut butter organic, but it features a distinct type of peanut. The Valencia peanut is prized for its gentle, sweet taste, but in this instance, it failed to really shine. It's not that the peanut butter contained in this attractively designed jar is bad, but it fails to surpass the brand's standard version, which is cheaper.

There's a perfectly acceptable rich creaminess provided by this smooth, oily concoction. It separates due to the natural properties of peanut butter and requires a good stir before it's ready to eat, but it's easier to stir than the regular PB for some reason. And, while the flavor is creamy and roasty, there is something that tastes just a touch stale about the contents of this jar. If you're somebody who believes in the totemic power of organic food, then it's a perfectly acceptable option, and it will probably still be cheaper than the average organic peanut butter at comparable grocery stores. If you're just here for flavor, however, I would stick to the standard version.

Trader Joe's is known for being at the cutting edge of food innovation. Some of the best Trader Joe's snacks combine familiar flavors to create a product that you sometimes can't believe hasn't been invented before. Such is the case with this peanut butter and honey concoction. While I prefer the unadulterated version of any sort of nut butter, I found the touch of honey added to this product perfectly palatable. Unlike the addition of sugar, honey provided a more nuanced, less aggressive sweetness. The gentle floral notes complemented the toasty warmth of the peanuts, and it was balanced out by a touch of salt that gave the mixture a welcome depth.

While it doesn't contain palm oil, like a no-stir variety, I found the texture more manageable than the regular peanut butter, with a separation between liquid and solid that was markedly less pronounced. I'd still advise giving the product a vigorous stir with a spoon or butter knife before digging in, but the process doesn't require quite the same level of elbow grease. The only drawback about having a nut butter pre-loaded with additional flavor is that you have less latitude to mix and match other sweet condiments, like jellies, without the flavors clashing. That said, if you want to save yourself the trouble of adding your own honey to sweeten your sandwich, this may be the product for you.

I gravitate toward the simple things in life. A good book, a sunny afternoon, and peanut butter made without additives are high on my list of things that bring me pleasure. It's no surprise, then, that this smooth, salty peanut butter ranks highly on my list of Trader Joe's nut butters. While I confess I'm inclined to seek a crunch in my PB and J, there are times when smooth peanut butter is called for. And, if you must answer the call, I recommend doing it with exactly this peanut butter.

Velvety is the word that came to mind when I plunged my butter knife into the nutty, light brown liquid. I do not use the word liquid lightly: Even for a peanut butter that requires a good stir, this one remains remarkably molten. While the flavor is a perfect mix of roasted nuttiness and a perfect touch of salt, the texture makes this nut butter particularly challenging to handle. If you packed a peanut butter sandwich in a plastic bag, for instance, the inside of the bag would resemble a messy, nutty massacre. Even so, this nut butter is good enough to be worth the mess.

While it's often debated whether peanuts or almonds are more nutritious, each one has merits when it comes to flavor. Though many people are used to the smoky depth of roasted almonds, the nuts in their raw form offer a more delicate flavor profile. And, in this case, the nuanced, flowery notes of the raw almond are conveniently available in a jarred, spreadable form. Unlike some of the other nut butters at Trader Joe's, this product is only available in its smooth, creamy form, lacking the crunchy traction that some of its cousins possess.

Even so, the texture has a bit of graininess to it, and while this product requires a thorough stir, the solid and liquid components don't separate as much as they do in some of the other nut butters. Trader Joe's doesn't carry a salted version, either. That said, for those of you who prefer a saltier, crunchier experience, chop up a handful of raw almonds and throw them in, and add salt to your liking. I found that the floral notes in this nut butter paired particularly well with honey, and in the absence of the toasty intensity of roasted almond butter, I was able to taste the sweetener's more delicate flavors.

As you may have noticed, when it comes to nut butter, I live for the crunch. There's something about my teeth grinding up those nutty chunks that makes me feel like I'm really participating in the process of feeding myself. So, when I tasted this smooth almond butter, I was expecting to be a little disappointed. Though I wouldn't call myself a convert, this product was by far my favorite creamy of the crop, as it were.

When ground, almonds provide a slightly more gritty texture than peanuts, so the lack of chunks doesn't mean that the textural interest is gone entirely, rather just a bit more muted. And, the roasted flavor of almond came through beautifully, complementing the silky texture with its earthy aroma. The smoothness makes this ideal for certain desserts that demand a uniform texture, like almond butter cookies, or in savory applications, like a vinaigrette to drizzle over bitter greens.

If you like the flowery, toasty taste of roasted almonds and the texture of crunchy peanut butter, this may be the nut butter for you. I was delighted to discover the generous amount of almond chunks floating that greeted me after I twisted the cap off. It's a natural product, containing just almonds and sea salt, and, like its peanuty cousin, it separates into its constituent liquid and solid parts, though to a lesser extent. Even so, it takes a bit of muscle to stir the contents together to form a paste with a workable consistency. But, once you eat this almond butter spread on a piece of toast, you'll see that the extra effort was worth it.

Roasting the almonds complements their naturally vanilla-like quality, giving this product a well-balanced flavor profile that's made deep and savory with the addition of sea salt. While I found it a bit saltier than I expected, it's not overwhelming. And, when paired with a sweet jelly or a honey, the salt balances the sugar, resulting in a more complex, elevated version of your classic PB and J. This product is significantly pricier than the chain's peanut butter, but is still much more affordable than most almond butter brands sold at other grocery stores.

Before I begin, I'll admit that this is my go-to nut butter, and, as such, I have a bias for its classic crunch and savory flavor. That said, even for the uninitiated, there's no denying that this crunchy, salted peanut butter delivers on its promise. This peanut butter has only two ingredients: Peanuts and salt. As such, the jar's contents undergo a natural separation, and you'll have to put in a bit of extra labor giving them a stir before the nut butter reaches a spreadable consistency. But, you'll find this product is worth the extra effort.

This peanut butter boasts generous pieces of the titular nut speckled throughout the gooey, liquefied body of the product; each bite yields the satisfying crunch advertised on the label. It's generously salted, giving the peanut butter a depth that cuts through the natural fattiness. It also makes it a perfect pairing for jams, jellies, and honey. And, if you're looking for a sweet sandwich recipe farther afield, this product is a perfect jumping off point to explore the best twists on peanut butter sandwiches. Since it is quite loose, it does tend to be a bit unruly on a piece of bread, oozing toward the edges and threatening to drip off. Even still, the combination of crunch, salt, and nutty fat makes this my favorite nut butter in this list.

Ranking nine nut butters from Trader Joe's in rapid succession is not a task to be taken lightly. It requires patience, bread, and a few tall glasses of milk (in my case soy milk). I purchased all the variations of nut butter on offer at my local Trader Joe's, and, one by one, I ranked them based on how well they delivered on the promise of the nuttiness advertised on each of their labels. Almond butter should be rich, flowery, and complex, while a standard peanut butter should be toasty, oily, and deliver a helping of nostalgic comfort.

In the first round, I tasted each one alone and unadulterated from a spoon, followed by a second round of tastings in which a small amount of each nut butter was spread on a piece of white bread. A few hours later, I executed a third round in which I paired each nut butter with a small dollop of honey to get a sense of how it played with a sweeter element (with which it is often paired). Given these varied contexts, I ended up deeply confident in my assessments, though some may still call them nutty.