Is Peanut Butter Vegan?

Is peanut butter vegan? Are there vegan peanut butter brands to buy? In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to know…

Don’t have time to read? Here’s a quick summary of the products we recommend.

Here’s all the great stuff you’ll find:

• The answer to: Is peanut butter  vegan? 
• The vegan status of the most popular vegan peanut butter brands– along with different types of peanut butter (no oil, no sugar, non-gmo, no salt etc).
• Other commonly asked questions about peanut butter.

Is Peanut Butter Vegan?

Most of the time, peanut butter is vegan, but there are a few exceptions. This is especially true if you’re buying natural peanut butter where the only ingredients are peanuts and salt – these are always vegan. Some larger commercial peanut butter brands may not be vegan if they contain honey, but this is usually displayed directly on the front of the package.

Keep reading to see which products from the top peanut butter brands are vegan and which ones are not.

Vegan Peanut Butter Brands

If you’re in a rush, here’s a list of my favorite vegan peanut butter brands…

I prefer the products without anything added.

• Smucker’s Natural Cream Peanut Butter
• PB2 Natural Peanut Butter Powder
• Pic’s Peanut Butter

If you’d like to go in-depth and learn more about peanut butter brands, keep reading.

To make things super simple, we’ve taken some of the most popular commercial peanut butter brands below and classified their products into two categories: Vegan or Not Vegan. Again, most of these are going to be fully plant-based, unless of course they have honey or some other unusual hidden animal-based ingredient.

All assessments were made from the respective manufacturer websites at the time of writing this article. Please note that ingredient statements do change, although we will try our best to keep everything up to date.

We didn’t use “potentially” non-vegan trace ingredients in our final assessment of vegan or non-vegan.

If you’re looking for healthy peanut butters, be sure to pick up the “natural” variety which only contain one or two ingredients (peanuts with or without salt). Be careful of added sugars and hydrogenated oils which can be found in many commercial peanut butters, even if they are vegan. They aren’t the greatest from a health perspective.

Is Jif Peanut Butter Vegan?

Jif Peanut Butter has several products which are vegan and several which are not. Taking the information from Jif’s website, we’ve gone ahead and created a table which classifies their products into vegan or not vegan. (1)

Is Skippy Peanut Butter Vegan?

Similar to Jif, Skippy is another super large brand which has several vegan and non-vegan peanut butters. Their main offending ingredient is honey which can be found in a few of their spreads. Use the chart below to navigate which Skippy peanut butter products are vegan and which ones are not. (2)

Is Smuckers Peanut Butter Vegan?

Besides for their peanut butter with honey, all of the Smuckers peanut butters we found were vegan!

Perhaps best known for their glass jar, Smuckers makes a wide range of peanut butter products. Unlike the previous two brands, their natural peanut butters have a much cleaner ingredient statement with no oils or added sugar. They also make a bunch of peanut butter and jelly blends (known as Goober’s) which we’ve also included in the chart below. (3)

Is PB2 Peanut Butter Powder Vegan?

Yes! We’ve found that PB2 Peanut Butter Powder was vegan. Even their different flavors didn’t have any animal products.

While it’s not exactly peanut butter, Bell Plantation’s Peanut Butter Powders are taking the world by storm. You can actually add liquid to the powders to make them into a spread with less calories than regular peanut butter. The company achieves this by roasting the peanuts then pressing them which removes much of their fat content. While we think it’s typically better to consume plant foods in their whole form, PB2 powder could be a great way to reduce your caloric intake if you’re going for more aggressive weight loss. (4)

Is Peanut Butter & Co Vegan?

Known for their sandwich shop in NYC, Peanut Butter & Co has a wide variety of unique and delicious peanut butter flavors. The majority of their peanut butter products are vegan friendly, which is also awesome! See the chart below for more details. (5)(6)

Is Justins Peanut Butter Butter?

Justin’s has recently become a popular nut butter brand, carrying all sorts of different varieties in their product line. They only have two peanut butters, one vegan and one non-vegan. As usual, the culprit ingredient is honey. (7)

Is Naturally More Peanut Butter Vegan?

Naturally More is best known for their peanut butter blends rather than straight up peanut butter. The company combines peanut butter with items such as flaxseeds and plant proteins to create their spreads. To our delight, we haven’t found a spread of theirs that wasn’t vegan! (8)

Is MaraNatha Peanut Butter Vegan?

Marantha has all sorts of different peanut butters all of which are 100% vegan. The company specializes in making peanut butter all sorts of different ways: smooth, creamy, chunky, stir, no stir, etc. Most of their products are also organic.

(9)

Is Earth Balance Peanut Butter Vegan?

Yes! All of the peanut butters we foud from Earth Balance were vegan.

Earth Balance is best known for their popular vegan butter replacements found in the refrigerated aisle. However, they do have an entire line of vegan peanut butters as well. (10)

Is Peter Pan Peanut Butter Vegan?

Yes! Most of the peanut butter products from Peter Pan are vegan (aside from a few with honey).

Peter Pan isn’t just the popular Disney character that we all loved growing up. It’s also the name of a popular brand of peanut butter. Their peanut butter is relatively popular and can often be spotted next to the big names such as Jif and Skippy. The vegan status of their products can be seen in the chart below:

Please note that their website doesn’t list the ingredients so we snooped around the web and tried to find the most up to date ones. As always, double check before buying. (11)

Is Peanut Butter Raw? Raw Peanut Butter Brands

Because raw peanuts are toxic, there’s no such thing as raw peanut butter on the market. However, are plenty of other nut butters that are raw such as almond butter.

Low Calorie Peanut Butter Brands

Here are a few brands of low calorie peanut butter brands. They’re all powdered because that’s really the only way to reduce the calories of peanut butter. Simply mix with water and it’s just like normal…

Low Calorie Peanut Butter

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• Naked PB Powder
• Chocolate PB Fit
• PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter
• Hoosier Hill Farm Peanut Butter Powder
• Crazy Richard’s Peanut Powder

Peanut Butter Brands Without Sugar and Palm Oil

Here are a list of our favorite peanut butter brands who make products without added sugar or palm oil…

Peanut Butter Without Palm Oil Or Sugar

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• Crazy Richard’s Creamy Peanut Butter
• Skippy Natural Creamy Peanut Butter
• Laura Scudder’s Old Fashioned Natural Nutty Peanut Butter
• Teddy Natural Peanut Butter
• Adams 100% Natural  Crunchy Peanut Butter

Non GMO Peanut Butters

Here are a few peanut butter brands that are specifically labeled non-GMO…

Non Gmo Peanut Butter

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• Spread The Love NAKED Organic Peanut Butter
• Classic Peanut Butter by Justin’s
• Teddie All Natural Peanut Butter, Super Chunky
• Jason Scott’s All Natural Peanut Butter with Sea Salt
• Peanut Butter & Co Smooth Operator

Peanut Butter Brands with Low Salt

They’re pretty rare, but here are a few peanut butter brands with no added salt…

No Salt Peanut Butter

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• Picot Productions – All Natural Crunchy Peanut Butter
• Adams 100% Natural CREAMY UNSALTED Peanut Butter
• Once Again Organic No Salt Crunchy Peanut Butter

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Peanut Butter Ever Contain Dairy?

Peanut butter typically does not contain dairy or any form of lactose (hence it being vegan). However, there are some niche brands of peanut butter-like products (like Nutella) which do have dairy. If it’s chocolate-style peanut butter, it’s best to double check the label.

Is Skippy Natural Peanut Butter Healthy?

I wouldn’t consider Skippy Natural Peanut Butter healthy because it contains extra oils in the form of palm oils. The healthiest foods are whole plant foods that aren’t processed. You’re better off getting peanut butter that’s 100% ground peanuts without any added oil.

Is PB&J Vegan?

Yes! Peanut butter and jelly (pb&j) is a great snack for vegans. Although it looks like it has gelatin, jelly and jam don’t actually have any animal products.

Who Makes Skippy Peanut Butter?

Skippy Peanut Butter is currently made by the parent company Hormel Foods.

What’s the Best Way to Stir Peanut Butter?

The best way to stir peanut butter when it has oil is to use a knife. First, empty out a little bit of the oil so it doesn’t still everywhere.

Then use a knife to thoroughly mix the contents of the jar. You can also use a hand-blender if the head is small enough.

What is Peanut Butter Made Of?

Peanut butter is traditionally made with 100% peanuts that are ground into a paste. However, companies started adding extras such as oils, sweeteners and flavorings to create different varieties and textures.

If you want “real” peanut butter, look for a label that says “Natural Peanut Butter” and also has oil floating on the top.

Peanut Butter vs. Peanut Butter Spread

In order to be labeled as peanut butter, a product must have 95% peanuts by weight. If something is classified as a peanut butter spread, then it contains a lesser amount of peanuts than regular peanut butter.

Please note, that a product can still be considered peanut butter even if it has added oils and sweeteners as long as it has enough peanuts.

Is Peanut Butter Vegetarian?

Since it’s vegan, peanut butter is by default vegetarian. All vegetarian products are vegan, but not necessarily the other way around. Some of the products on here with honey would technically be vegetarian-friendly as well.

Want a hassle-free way to shop for vegan groceries?

Click here to grab the ThriveCuisine Vegan Grocery List

It’ll help save you time, money and spark new ideas!

References

1. http://www.jif.com/products
2. http://www.peanutbutter.com/products
3. https://www.smuckers.com/products/peanut-butter
4. http://www.bellplantation.com/products/pb2-powdered-peanut-butter/
5. https://ilovepeanutbutter.com/
6. https://ilovepeanutbutter.com/collections/peanut-butter
7. http://shop.justins.com/
8. https://naturallymore.com/our-products/
9. http://www.maranathafoods.com/products/peanut-butters/
10. https://earthbalancenatural.com/product/creamy-peanut
11. http://www.peterpanpb.com/regular-peanut-butter

Joey Bruno

Hey, I’m Joey. I’ve been cooking since I was a little kid and love everything about it. You can find my writing about food, kitchen appliances (such as blenders) and much more. Thanks for stopping by!