The Best Apple Butter, Just in Time for Fall

The best apple butter is sweet, fruity, and reminds you of fall. It can be slathered onto toast or worked into a delicious autumn dessert. And while it contains 0% actual butter, store bought apple butter should have a dreamy, smooth texture like butter.

We ordered as much store bought apple butter as we could find. Our requirement is that it’s nationally available year-round for your spreading pleasure. Most store bought apple butter is actually pretty good, but we’ve rounded up the absolute best apple butter you can buy. Buy it ASAP and get ready for fall!


best apple butter

Best Budget

Signature Select Apple Butter

Signature Select (sold at Albertsons-owned grocery stores) has lots of great products, and they make some of the best apple butter, too. It’s a wonderful version of this iconic seasonal product. The ingredient list and flavor are both simple. It has a strong apple flavor and is very lightly spiced. And the best part? It’s super cheap! If you’re looking for an affordable apple-lovers apple butter, this is a great option for you!

Credit: Merc / Vons

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

best store bought apple butter

Best Spiced

Green Jay Gourmet Apple Butter

Green Jay Gourmet apple butter is heavily spiced without being spicy or overpowering. You get tons of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. This is the best store bought apple butter for the people who wait all year for the pumpkin spice latte to arrive at Starbucks. This is creamy, but also has more of an applesauce texture that really makes it feel like it’s made from fresh apples. This apple butter screams fall and it will have you doing the same.

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

best store bought apple butter

Best No Sugar Added

Manischewitz Apple Butter

Manischewitz ranked high here at Sporked in our matzo taste test and they’re also ranking high in this taste test. Their apple butter is my personal favorite we tried. It’s so tart and tangy, like apple juice. It’s not particularly sweet. This stuff would be so wonderful with latkes and sour cream. Bookmark this for your Hanukkah menu!

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

9.5/10

Sporks

best apple butter

Best Spread

Mrs. Miller’s Homemade Apple Butter

If you’re mostly using apple butter on toast, Mrs. Miller’s makes the best apple butter for you. It has a jelly-like texture that makes it so perfect for spreading and the lightly spiced, apple-y flavor you know and love. A wonderful autumn lunch would be a peanut butter and apple butter sandwich made with this stuff. If spreading is the game, Mrs. Miller’s store bought apple butter is the name.

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

9.5/10

Sporks

best apple butter

Best of the Best

Braswell’s Select Apple Butter

The best apple butter we tried in our taste test is Braswell’s, hands down. My only notes on it from this taste test: “It’s just perfect in every way.” And I mean it! This apple butter is perfect in taste, texture, and aroma. It’s spiced without being too spiced. Its texture sits in this perfect place between thick and thin. It smells like a candle in the best way possible. I brought this jar home after this taste test and have been enjoying it ever since because it is truly the best store bought apple butter.

Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Other Products We Tried: Musselman’s, Amish Valley, Fischer & Wieser, Kroger


About the Author

Jordan Myrick

Jordan is an L.A.-based writer and comedian who believes all food should come with extra sauce. When they're not writing for Sporked, Jordan is at the movies or sharing an order of french fries with their elderly chihuahua.

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  • Amana Colonies apple butter, hands down the best I’ve ever tasted.

    Reply