Butter is one of my life’s greatest passions. No, I don’t make butter (yet), but boy do I love eating it. I always have three different bars of butter in my refrigerator: for cooking, baking and just for slathering on a piece of batard or sourdough.
Over the past few years, I’ve tasted literally every bar of butter you can find on any grocery shelf. I even hunted down a bar of Le Beurre Bordier—allegedly the best butter in the world—just to see what all the hype was about (which is another story in itself).
After years of putting my cholesterol levels on the line, here’s how I rank all the notable brands of butter found in grocery stores.
7. Anchor (P145 – P189)
A bar of Anchor butter is a staple in most households (including mine). It has a nice golden sheen when you open the pack, and it goes well in desserts, sauces, pasta and mains. All in all, it’s a versatile, good quality butter, but there’s nothing extra special about it.
6. Magnolia Gold (P135 – P145)
Magnolia Gold is one of my favorite butters to bake with. It’s a versatile butter that gives baked goods a lot of flavor. It’s a little too rich for me to slather on my toast by itself, but it performs excellently in sweets. We may not be known for our creameries, but I think Magnolia Gold can hold its own.
5. Emborg (P149 – P155.75)
If you’ve ordered a bagel at a coffee shop, this is usually the butter that comes with it. One of my favorite things about this butter is that it’s not too rich. It has a mild flavor that doesn’t leave a film in your mouth once you eat it, so it’s great for toast. It might be too mild though if you’re planning on cooking with it.
4. Lurpak (P189.75 – P221)
Ah yes, another coffee shop and airplane butter staple. Lurpak tastes like the quintessential butter. It’s rich, creamy and still delivers a delicious butter flavor that’s good by itself or incorporated into dishes. It’s lighter than most butters because it’s made with fresh cream and nothing else (unless you bought the salted version). No post-butter film here either, which is a personal benchmark I set for notable edible gold bars. Overall, an above average bar of butter.
3. Queensland (P99.75 – P354.75)
Queensland butter is criminally underrated in my opinion. Just because it comes in a can, doesn’t mean it isn’t any better than the butters wrapped in gold foil. It has a richer flavor than the previously mentioned butters—without tasting artificial—and you can opt to store it unrefrigerated in a cool, dry place (which is highly convenient if you’re craving toast at 2 a.m.).
2. Kerrygold (P200 – P220)
If you haven’t tried a bar of Kerrygold butter yet, I can confidently say you’re missing out. The minute you open it, you’d see that the bar is a slightly bright yellow—which comes from the fresh cream produced by cows that eat actual grass. Kerrygold’s flavor profile is creamy with a hint of sweetness that isn’t overpowering.
The texture is rich and silky without being greasy, which is always preferred. It gives off a nutty flavor when you brown it for baking or cooking, which is another benchmark for good butter, and it just tastes absolutely delicious.
1. Elle et Vire (P200 – P210)
Taking the top spot on the list of grocery store butter is my all time favorite (bar Le Beurre Bordier, of course), Elle et Vire. Many of you might be unfamiliar with the brand, but I would swear by this butter with my life. The French creamery’s butter is made in the traditional European style of slow churning (which takes longer, but tastes much better).
The minute you open the golden package it’s wrapped in, you’re greeted with a golden sheen and a mild aroma that smells like the butter of your dreams. It’s decadently creamy, silky smooth and spreads like a dream if you’re patient enough to wait for it to get to room temperature. Elle et Vire’s butter is a little more on the sweet side, but its sweetness doesn’t come out to play when you’re cooking your dinner.
Out of all the kinds of butter I’ve baked and cooked with, this is by far the best. It adds an extra layer of richness to baked goods and deepens the flavor of savory dishes. It’s the best widely available butter at the grocery store and it firmly deserves its place as #1—in my opinion, at least.