The best butter to buy at the grocery store, according to experts

HuffPost ^ | Apr 25, 2026 | The best butter to buy at the grocery store, according to experts

[where's_the_Outrage?]

Butter is having a moment. No longer just a bit player in baking or a back-of-fridge standby, it’s taking center stage — whipped into sculptural boards, swirled into pastas, slathered generously on crusty bread. And yet, most of us still toss the same familiar yellow box into our grocery carts week after week. What actually makes a butter “better,” and which store-bought slabs are worth the splurge?

To find out, we talked to chefs, cheesemongers and cookbook authors obsessed with butter — not just for the flavor, but for the science and soul behind it. We asked about butter for cooking, baking, and simply slathering on a piece of toast. What we discovered: Great butter isn’t about branding. It’s about butterfat, culture (literally) and how it performs on your toast and in your pan.

First, let’s break down the basics: Most American butter is made from sweet cream, which means it’s churned from pasteurized fresh cream and tastes clean and mild. Cultured butter, on the other hand, is made by fermenting cream with lactic acid bacteria before churning. The result? A richer texture and a slightly tangy, more complex flavor — like the difference between milk and crème fraîche.

“Cultured butter has a much more pronounced buttery flavor than sweet cream butter,” said John Montez, a certified cheese professional through the American Cheese Society and training manager at Murray’s Cheese. “It has a slight tang … and when butter is the star of the show [like spread on a crusty baguette], for me it has to be cultured.”.......

Butterfat is the creamy good stuff that gives butter its richness and spreadability........

“Kerrygold can’t be beat for grass-fed Irish butter,” Montez said. “Vermont Creamery also makes an excellent salted cultured butter, and I always go for local if I can,” .

[JayGalt]

Those sliders sound great.

[Responsibility2nd]

I just bought butter yesterday. I noticed again how the Native American girl on Land O Lakes was cancelled

Yet the blue eyed blond girl on Blue Bonnet Butter is still there.

Just goes to show how stupid the woke crowd is. In their stupid effort to dignify the Indians, they actually race preferred the pretty white blond girl.

[Silentgypsy]

Thanks for posting.

[FreedomPoster]

I use King’s Hawaiian rolls and Costco thick sliced bacon (which I oven roast) and turkey breast, which I slice up.

[DAC21]

Kerrygold is good but if on sale I think Plugra is real close and a better value. (In spite of its name it is USA made)

[where's_the_Outrage?]

I’ve been trying to find the best taste, but I’m a lowlife that doesn’t have the pallet. Even Kerrygold does not seem superior to me. So I’ll stick with Wesley Farms.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“Even Kerrygold does not seem superior to me.”

I’m with you. It tastes the same to me.

[flaglady47]

“Kerrygold and Arethusa for me, even though I stop at the Cabot supplier farm for the cheese all the time.”

Cabot Vermont Sharp Cheddar is delicious. Creamy in texture. I’m hooked on it. (It’s a white cheddar)

[Grammy]

As a child I visited my great aunt and uncle on their dairy farm. My aunt would take the fresh cream from the morning’s milking and let it clabber on the back of her stove. That made the best butter I had ever tasted.

Forward a hundred years (I may exaggerate a bit) and I taught baking at a place that had a sponsorship from Kerrygold. I used Kerrygold for a while, and it was delicious, but I noticed at certain times of the year it would taste “grassy”. I have settled on Plugra as a nice consistent cultured butter.

[US_MilitaryRules]

I tried that and the wife said don’t buy the kirkland brand any more. Oh well. It Was fine with me but she could taste the difference.

[Domestic Church]

I am not a fan of grass fed beef.

[Domestic Church]

I am not a fan of grass fed beef.