We Tasted and Ranked the Best Butter From the Grocery Store

Butter is one of life’s greatest pleasures. It makes a piece of bread even better, renders a steak more succulent, adds flavor and flakiness to pastries and perfectly complements seafood. I have no shame about simply eating a spoon of it in a restaurant, and a lot of the InsideHook crew feels the same way. So we decided to take our love of the stuff and make it work for you.

I set up a blind butter tasting with the brands below. Everything was presented on plain white paper plates, and each was ranked on a scale of one to five, with one being the worst and five being the best. To keep things consistent, I purchased higher-end butters that you can still find in your local grocery store — so no Land O’Lakes but also not impossibly hard-to-find, only available in specialty markets butters. My local grocery store is a little bit expensive, probably 15% higher than most chains. The prices listed under each butter reflect what I paid. We tasted all salted butters for the purpose of eating with bread.

There were some surprises and also some old favorites that made it to the top of our picks. The next time you’re pacing the dairy aisle trying to decide the best butter to buy, let this ranking be your guide.

12. Échiré Salted Butter (14.5 points)

Price: $9.99

For such an expensive butter, Échiré totally missed the mark. Our panel thought it had a meaty flavor and said it’s “kinda gamey” and “tastes like lamb.” Multiple tasters said it’s “oily,” and one even commented that it has “an unsettling tang.”

11. Vermont Creamery Cultured Butter With Sea Salt (16.5 points)

Price: $5.49

I’m a huge fan of Vermont Creamery cheeses, so I was really surprised the butter didn’t live up to the dairy’s high standards. But it landed at the bottom of our list. Four different editors said it “tastes like a fridge,” like it was “left in there for too long.” One even commented it “tastes more like vegetable shortening with butter flavor mixed in.”

10. Tipperary Pure Salted Irish Butter (20.5 points)

Price: $4.99

One of the most common comments about Tipperary was that it’s “boring.” A couple people said it was “fine,” but others were “disappointed” in the flavor. Two people even said it’s “sour,” and one mentioned “it seems to have an identity crisis — is it butter or is it vinegar?”

9. Président Salted Butter (23 points)

Price: $4.49

People had a lot of feelings about Président. Two people compared it to the flavor of noodle dishes (cacio e pepe and Kraft Mac & Cheese), two thought it was “oily” and a whopping four editors said it’s way too salty. One person who said the latter did think “it would work well with veggies or meats because the flavors would balance out well,” so maybe this is a good one for cooking if you love salt.

8. Vital Farms Pasture-Raised Salted Butter (26 points)

Price: $6.49

Vital Farms had pretty mixed reviews, but after comparing all of them, it seems like a solid choice for baking or cooking. A few people said it had a “pleasant, creamy texture,” but others thought the flavor was lacking, with one taster calling it “plain Jane.” Two editors mentioned it has an “olive oil taste,” especially on the finish.

7. Kate’s Salted Butter (28 points)

Price: $4.99

Kate’s Butter landed right in the middle of our list, and the comments back up its ranking. Three people dubbed it “regular butter,” and another said it’s what “grocery store butter should taste like.” Another noted it has a “pleasant saltiness.”

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6. Finlandia Salted Butter (29.5 points)

Price: $5.19

Another “middle of the road” butter with the comments to match. Some editor notes that stood out were “not bad but unremarkable,” “not too distinct — fine” and “nice and soft, not too salty.” All that said, Finlandia is good enough to serve with bread but also not so fancy that you won’t feel bad cooking with it.

5. Lurpak Salted Butter (35 points)

Price: $7.99

Lurpak is one of the pricier on this list, but according to editor comments, it’s worth every penny. Three people said it “tastes fancy” with adjectives like “creamy,” “fluffy” and “pleasant aftertaste” used to describe it. I had never tasted this butter before, and now it’s in my regular rotation.

4. Westgold Salted Butter (36.5 points)

Price: $4.99

“Creamy” was the biggest unanimous comment for Westgold — it has a gorgeous texture and balanced flavor that everyone liked. A couple people said “it has just the right amount of salt,” and two others noted it “tastes like popcorn butter.” Two tasters even agreed they “would put this on a baguette at a pretty nice French restaurant.”

3. Kerrygold Irish Salted Butter (37 points)

Price: $6.29

Here comes old faithful. Multiple editors in the office stated that Kerrygold was their favorite before the tasting, and it landed very high on our list in third place. Tasters thought it was “balanced” and had a “nice salt ratio.” One person on our panel even said “I would eat a lot of bread with that butter.”

2. Plugrà European-Style Salted Butter (37.5 points)

Price: $4.89

In terms of price and taste, Plugrà is the best value on this list. Our tasters said it was “fresh and intense” with a “concentrated, salty flavor.” Most of our panel loved how “light and airy” it is, and another said it’s “the perfect butter.” One commented “it’s what I want to eat with clams and crab legs.” Summer can’t come soon enough!

1. Isigny Ste Mère Salted Butter (38 points)

Price: $8.49

This butter is my personal favorite, but of course no one knew that because this was a blind tasting. But Isigny Ste Mère came out on top — what can I say, the IH crew has really good taste. The thing that makes it stand out from the rest are the salt crystals that give it some texture and crunch. They were too much for one taster, who thought its “very salty” flavor was “too much.” But most of the panel liked its “intense flavor” and “great texture,” saying they “love the salt crystals.” Another even compared it to “eating some fine aged cheese.”