Peanut Butter Alternatives

Peanut butter is a staple in many households. In fact, according to Peanut Butter Lovers, over 75% of American households have peanut butter on hand. However, some people have peanut allergies that prevent them from eating peanut butter. Other people can't eat peanut butter because of its high fat and calorie content. There are alternatives to peanut butter for both of these groups.

Peanut Butter
Nutritional Information (1 tbsp):
Calories: 94
Fat: 7.9g
Saturated Fat: 1.6g

If you have a peanut allergy, there are several spreads that can give you the same taste as peanut butter. All nutritional information is the amount in 1 tbsp.

Soy Nut Butter
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 85
Fat: 5.5g
Saturated Fat: 0.75g

Because soy is not a tree nut like peanuts, soy nut butter is perfect for those with tree nut allergies. It tastes very similar to peanut butter.

Sunflower Seed Butter
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 93
Fat: 7.6g
Saturated Fat: 0.8g

Sunflower seed butter, like soy, is not a tree nut. It doesn't match the taste of peanut butter; it's bland. You can easily mask it's lack of flavor with a jelly or jam.

Macadamia Nut Butter
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 115
Fat: 12g
Saturated Fat: 2.0g

Macadamia tastes very similar to peanut butter, so it's easy to switch from peanut butter to macadamia nut butter without missing any flavor.

Walnut Butter
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 100
Fat: 10.0g
Saturated Fat: 1.0g

Walnut butter is richer and sweeter than regular peanut butter, so you won't need to use as much to get the nutty flavor.

Hazelnut Butter
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 90
Fat: 8.5g
Saturated Fat: 0.5g

Hazelnut butter is an extremely sweet nut butter to replace peanut butter with. Don't use hazelnut if you have an allergy to all tree nuts, since it is in the tree nut family.

Hemp Seed Butter
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 80
Fat: 4.9g
Saturated Fat: 0.35g

Hemp seed butter has a very nutty taste, making it a good choice for peanut butter replacement.

Golden Peabutter
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 80
Fat: 5.0g
Saturated Fat: 0.0g

Golden peabutter and hemp seed butter taste the same. The only difference between the two is golden peabutter has a little less saturated fat and a little more total fat than hemp seed.

Cashew Nut Butter
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 94
Fat: 7.9g
Saturated Fat: 1.6g

Cashew is a tree nut that tastes very similar to peanuts. It is in the tree nut family, so avoid it if you have an allergy to all tree nuts.

Almond Butter
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 101
Fat: 9.5g
Saturated Fat: 0.9g

Almond butter has a great nutty flavor like peanut butter. Keep in mind that almonds are tree nuts like peanuts, so you should not eat it if you have allergies to all tree nuts.

If you're looking for a low-calorie peanut butter substitution, try one of these alternatives.

Hummus
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 23
Fat: 1.3g
Saturated Fat: 0.2g

Hummus is a paste made from chickpeas and sesame seed butter. There are a variety of flavors of hummus from mild to spicy.

Cream Cheese
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 35
Fat: 3.5g
Saturated Fat: 2.2g

Cream cheese has the same texture as peanut butter, and goes great with jellies and jams as a replacement. It has far less calories and saturated fat than peanut butter does, making it a healthy alternative.

Guacamole
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 25
Fat: 2.25g
Saturated Fat: 1.6g

Made from avocados, guacamole is a mild spread. It has far fewer calories than peanut butter, but it does contain the same amount of saturated fat.

Bean Dip
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 17.5
Fat: 0.5g
Saturated Fat: 0.0g

Bean dip is a low-calorie alternative for peanut butter spread. Add some cheese on top of bean dip on bread for a tasty sandwich.