In February 2020, our panel of taste testers rated Lurpak, Anchor, Country Life and Yeo Valley alongside eight supermarket own label spreadable butters including Tesco, Co-op and Morrisons.
Our two Best Buys are sure to brighten up breakfast time with their lovely, buttery taste and creamy texture. But we found some bland flavoured and greasy spreadable butters that left our tasters disappointed.
Best spreadable butter
Only logged-in Which? members can view the results of our taste test below and the overall score as a percentage given to each brand. If you're not yet a member, you'll see an alphabetically ordered list of the spreadable butter on test.
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All spreadable butter prices correct as of March 2020. Please note availability and supply will be changeable while supermarkets concentrate on maintaining essential stocks.
Aldi Norpak Spreadable Slightly Salted
36p per 100g
Aldi’s spreadable butter is one of the cheapest we tested. Find out whether it tastes good enough to deserve a space in your shopping trolley.
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Anchor Spreadable
70p per 100g
Anchor has been making butter since 1886. How did it fare against rival brands Lurpak and Country Life?
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Asda Slightly Salted Spreadable with Real Butter
40p per 100g
Asda’s spreadable butter contains more saturated fat than other brands we tested. But how does it compare on taste?
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Co-op Slightly Salted speadable
48p per 100g
It's one of the most expensive supermarket own label spreadable butters we tested per 100g, so should Co-op shoppers favour it over the big brands?
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Country Life Spreadable
50p per 100g
Country Life spreadable has slightly more salt per 100g than most other spreadable butters we tested. Does this make it a tastier option?
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Lidl Danpak Spreadable Slightly Salted
36p per 100g
As one of the cheapest spreadable butters we tested, we’d certainly agree it’s ‘Lidl on price’. But does it deliver against Lidl’s ‘Big on quality’ promise?
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Lurpak Spreadable Slightly Salted
55p per 100g
Danish brand Lurpak have been making butter for more than one hundred years. Could its spreadable butter make the perfect accompaniment to your morning toast?
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Marks & Spencer Slightly Salted Spreadable
74p per 100g
Marks & Spencer’s spreadable butter contains a higher ratio of butter to oil than other brands in our test. Does it make for a mouth-watering buttery taste?
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Morrisons Spreadable Made With Real Butter
45p per 100g
Our panel rated the taste, texture, aroma and appearance of this Morrisons spreadable butter. Find out whether it deserves a place on your breakfast table.
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Sainsburys Buttersoft Slightly Salted
41p per 100g
Sainsbury’s spreadable butter contains the lowest calories of those we tasted, so you might be considering it if you’re looking for a healthier option. But how does it fare on taste?
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Tesco Butterpak Spreadable Sightly Salted
44p per 100g
Does Tesco’s spreadable butter make for tasty toast at breakfast time?
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Yeo Valley Organic Buttery & Spreadable
66p per 100g
If you like to buy organic, you might be considering Yeo Valley spreadable butter, which contains organic butter and organic rapeseed oil. Did it impress our tasting panel?
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Can you cook with spreadable butter?
Depending on the amount of fat they contain, some spreadable butters will be suitable for cooking, while others won’t. The label will usually state whether it can be used in cooking.
Pure butter is a better option than spreadable butter for baking, as it gives cakes, cookies and pastries a richer flavour. If you’re using spreadable butter, look for a fat content greater than 75% to ensure your bake has a good texture. Spreadable butters containing less fat could result in a dry, tough bake.
Is spreadable butter healthier than butter?
Shefalee Loth, Which? food researcher said: ‘Butter is high in saturated fat, too much of which can lead to high cholesterol and is linked to an increased risk of heart disease.
‘These spreads are a mix of butter and rapeseed oil. Rapeseed oil is low in saturated fat so the mix brings down the saturated fat content of spread. But the total fat content still remains high and so butter and butter spreads should be used sparingly.
‘Adults are advised to limit their intake of saturated fat to a maximum of 30g a day.'
What's the healthiest spreadable butter?
The fat and calorie content of the spreadable butters we tested varied widely. Marks & Spencer, which contains the most butter, has 725 calories and 80g fat per 100g.
At the other end of the spectrum, Sainsburys has nearly half the calories (385 per 100g) and just 60g fat per 100g. It also has a lower saturated fat content than the other spreadable butters we tested.
How we tested
The products were assessed by a large panel of consumers who regularly buy and consume spreadable butter.
The make-up of the panel broadly represents the demographic profile of adults in the UK.
Each spreadable butter was assessed by 64 people.
The panellists rated the taste, texture, aroma and appearance of each product and told us what they liked and disliked about each one.
The taste test was blind, so the panellists didn’t know which brand they were trying. The order they sampled the spreadable butter was fully rotated to avoid any bias.
Each panellist had a private booth so they couldn’t discuss what they were tasting or be influenced by others.
The overall score is based on:
- 50% taste
- 25% texture
- 15% appearance
- 10% aroma
