Peanut butter is known throughout the United States as a food staple that has a great shelf life and doesn’t generally require refrigeration. It can be used as a spread on breads or a dip for your favorite vegetables and fruits. But is peanut butter vegan? Follow along and we’ll show you what to look for.
What is Peanut Butter?
Peanut butter is a spread that’s made from ground dry roasted peanuts.
It can be used as a spread or dip, and generally contains additional ingredients to modify the flavor or texture.
Peanut Butter Ingredients
Peanut butter ingredients vary from brand to brand and by variety to variety. Natural peanut butter naturally contains roasted peanuts and salt, but some brands go beyond that.
How will you know that peanut butter is vegan? Here are some lists to help you determine whether peanut butter is vegan when shopping grocery aisles.
Vegan Ingredients
Here’s a list of vegan ingredients that are used to make up peanut butter.
Peanuts
Oil
Salt
The key answer for how to choose plant-based peanut butter is to avoid products that use non-vegan ingredients. We’ve listed them below.
Non-Vegan Ingredients
Here’s a list of non-vegan ingredients that are particularly found in some varieties of peanut butter.
Sugar
Honey
Fish Oil, Palm Oil, Omega 3s
If you’re committed to a vegan-friendly diet, you’ll want to avoid eating peanut butter that contains these ingredients.
Is Peanut Butter Vegan or Does it Contain Animal Products?
Most peanut butter is vegan. However, there are some varieties that contain honey, palm oil, or sugar that’s not vegan-friendly.
The best way to determine whether your peanut butter is vegan is to read the ingredient label thoroughly.
Get Acquainted With Food Labels
Getting acquainted with food labels and becoming a good study of particular foods to avoid is often helpful for being your own best advocate when it comes to dieting.
Knowing which foods you can eat and which ones to avoid is beneficial.
Make Your Own Peanut Butter
If you can’t find peanut butter that meets your standards, another way to get around this is to make your own homemade version. Then you’ll know what’s in it. Use our basic recipe below.
What About Other Nut Butters?
It all depends on the ingredients used in those other nut butters as to whether they’ll be vegan-friendly.
Watch for the same or similar ingredients that we’ve listed here in this post that regularly show up in non-vegan nut butters.
Do Vegans Eat Peanut Butter?
The simple answer is yes, vegans do and can eat peanut butter. There are several varieties that fit the criteria needed to be appropriate for a vegan-friendly diet.
What About Jif and Skippy?
In the US, Jif and Skippy tend to be popular brands and are widely known. Do they provide vegan friendly products? Here’s what we found out.
Is Jif Peanut Butter Vegan?
Many varieties of Jif peanut butter are vegan. And we always recommend you read the ingredient labels to be sure. The varieties of Jif peanut butter you’ll want to avoid are:
Natural Jif with Honey
Jif Peanut Butter with Omega-3s, contains fish oils
Both varieties contain animal products.
Is Skippy Peanut Butter Vegan?
Most varieties of Skippy are vegan friendly, except:
Skippy Natural Peanut Butter Spread with honey
Roasted honey nut Skippy peanut butter
Both varieties contain honey, which is considered an animal product.
Vegan Brands to Try
What peanut butter is vegan? Here are some popular vegan peanut butter brands that you might like to try.
Spread the Love Natural Peanut Butter Naked
Peanut Butter and Co
365 Everyday Value Creamy Peanut Butter
Justin’s Classic Peanut Butter Spread Pic’s Peanut Butter
White Sugar-Free Peanut Butter
Following are some brands of peanut butter that are white sugar free.
Earth Balance sweetens their peanut butter with agave syrup
MaraNatha contains two simple ingredients: peanuts and salt
Justin’s Natural Peanut Butter
Smucker’s Natural Peanut Butter
Some Non-Vegan Peanut Butter Examples
There are brands that are vegan-friendly and some brands that you’ll want to steer clear of when following a vegan diet. Here are some non-peanut butter examples.
Smucker’s
Jif, contains omega 3s
Peter Pan, peanut butter and honey flavor is non-vegan
Skippy, peanut butter and honey is non-vegan
Homemade Peanut Butter Recipe
To make homemade peanut butter, you’ll need the following ingredients.
Ingredients
Peanuts
Cooking oil
Salt
Instructions
Begin by roasting peanuts until they’re crunchy, about 10 minutes.
Transfer the nuts to a blender and blend until smooth. Add salt to taste.
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for use.
Is Sugar Okay?
The type of sugar that’s used will define whether it’s vegan friendly.
For example, refined sugar can be processed with bone char to whiten it which makes it so it’s not vegan friendly.
Is Palm Oil Okay?
In its raw form palm oil is technically vegan friendly.
However, the use of palm oil is controversial in the vegan world because there are animals that face extinction as a result of its production.
Veganism – A Cruel-Free Eating Style to Animals
Health Effects of Being a Vegan
Some folks choose a vegan friendly diet because they believe it provides health benefits. While others follow a standard of eating to protect animals. Here are some of the health benefits.
Clean And Balanced Diet
Eating vegan foods can provide a clean and balanced diet such as:
boosting health
enhancing immune system
improving circulatory health
providing assistance to digestive system
gets rid of toxins
Mental Health Cleanse
Some follow a vegan diet for a mental health cleanse. But this also includes a caution:
relax and calm down
but increased risk for depression
Which Parts Don’t Meet Strict Vegan Standards?
There are some ingredients that are present in peanut butter from time to time that don’t meet strict vegan standards. Here are peanut butter ingredients to watch out for.
Sugar. Sugar that’s processed with bone char is not vegan friendly.
Oil, palm oil, omega 3 fatty acids. These particular oils either come from animal byproducts or affect animal environments and are not conducive to a strict vegan friendly diet.
Cross Contamination. Another thing that vegan eaters watch for is cross contamination of products that are vegan friendly with those that aren’t.
Tips for Finding Vegan Peanut Butters
Here are our top tips for finding vegan peanut butters on your local grocery store shelves.
Read ingredients. Become a thorough student of reading ingredient labels and know which ingredients to avoid.
Buy 100% peanut butter. When looking for vegan peanut butter, your best bet is to peanut butter that’s not processed and doesn’t have any add-ins or artificial ingredients.
Look for certified vegan. The easiest way to find vegan peanut butter is to look for packaging that includes certified vegan labels. Then you’ll know without a doubt that it’s compliant to a vegan-friendly diet.
Contact the manufacturer for clarification. If you’re still not sure, you’ll want to contact the manufacturer for clarification as to whether the product is vegan friendly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Following are frequently asked questions that relate to is peanut butter vegan. If you have a question that’s not answered here, feel free to drop it to us in the comments box below and we’ll be happy to answer it.
Why is Jif peanut butter not vegan?
There are some varieties that can be eaten by vegans. However, those that are not vegan-friendly include products from animal origin such as honey, which would eliminate them from a strict vegan diet.
Can vegans eat Skippy peanut butter?
Yes, there are many varieties of Skippy peanut butter that fit the bill. Just read the label to be sure.
Why are salted peanuts not vegan?
If the two simple ingredients included in salted peanuts are peanuts and salt, then the fact of the matter would likely be that those salted peanuts are vegan.
However, salted peanuts sometimes contain corn syrup, maltodextrin, and gelatin. If your salted peanuts include these ingredients, then they would not be considered vegan friendly.
What peanut butter is vegan UK?
Look for brands in the UK such as Whole Earth, Meridian, Morrisons, and Sun Pat.
Can vegans eat peanuts?
Yes, peanuts are a great vegetarian source of protein.
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