For years, many of us have enjoyed peanut butter on toast for breakfast. It is a rather universal favorite choice of spread that has withstood the test of time. Unless you have a nut allergy, peanut butter is something that is almost considered a staple in many households. If you’re late and rushing off to work, you can spread yourself a slice of peanut butter bread and be out the door in a minute – it’s fuss-free and delicious.

These days, people are increasingly more health conscious and have become extra particular about what goes into their body. While peanut butter remains a front-runner in choices of spread, it begs the question “What’s inside a jar of peanut butter?”

Let’s compare two popular off the shelf peanut butter brands, Pic’s and Skippy.

Ingredients List

When it comes to peanut butter, the shorter the ingredients list, the better.

It’s clear to see that Pic’s Peanut Butter has a much shorter ingredients list as compared to Skippy Peanut Butter. Pic’s only has 2 ingredients – peanuts and sea salt. Skippy has roasted peanuts, sugar, peanut oil, vegetable oil (rapeseed, cottonseed and soya beans), and salt.

Nutritional Value

Since the serving size is different for Pic’s (20g) and Skippy (36g), let’s look at the difference in quantity per 100g instead. Both brands use separate units for measuring calories (one in kilojoules and the other in kilocalories).

After converting kilojoules to kilocalories, Pic’s stands at roughly 590kcal/100g as compared to Skippy’s 623kcal/100g. In short, you consume fewer calories per 100g when you consume Pic’s Peanut Butter instead of Skippy’s.

Pic’s Peanut Butter is higher in protein and dietary fibre whereas Skippy’s Peanut Butter is higher in saturated fat, trans fat, carbohydrate and sodium. In a nutshell, Skippy’s Peanut Butter contains more of the stuff you would generally want to consume less of for health reasons.

Taste

I’ll be honest with you, growing up my father would always buy Skippy’s peanut butter for us. To me, it has that familiar taste of my childhood. That is a fond memory that will never change. It has a nice balance of sweet and savory although the rather thick gooey texture does leave a very “sticky salty” taste in the mouth. In comparison, Pic’s peanut butter is more inconsistent with the texture. It requires a lot of mixing so that it does not get too runny when spread on toast. It does still taste like a delicious jar of peanut butter but I’m more of a fan of their crunchy peanut butter over their smooth peanut butter.

Price

Which peanut butter gives you more bang for your buck? The price may differ at different retailers but at NTUC, Skippy’s creamy peanut butter spread (500g) currently retails at SGD$6.75 whereas Pic’s smooth peanut butter spread (380g) is sold at SGD$7.95. In terms of quantity and value, you’re getting more peanut butter for a cheaper price if you go with Skippy.

Conclusion

So which is the “better” peanut butter? Disclaimer: this is not a sponsored post. It is just what I came to after researching and trying both brands of peanut butter. The winner (to me) is… Pic’s Peanut Butter! Skippy is a strong contender (especially in terms of taste and price) but it lost out to Pic’s in the “nutrition department”. I’m in love with Pic’s, it’s just a great jar of no nonsense peanut butter. There are no unnecessary additional ingredients, purely peanuts and salt. It’s a healthier option (even earned a 5 star rating on the health star rating system).

You may prefer a different brand of peanut butter and that’s your choice, we all have our favourites. What’s most important is remembering that no matter how good something is said/proven to be, the key is to always eat in moderation.