Butter has a quiet kind of magic. A little melts into warm toast, another spoonful disappears into mashed potatoes, and suddenly an ordinary meal feels like something worth slowing down for. But does a familiar brand name guarantee better butter? Not according to one surprising taste test.
In a 2026 blind tasting, Southern Living editors sampled 12 salted butters, including eight store brands. Each was evaluated for taste, texture, and overall enjoyment on a scale of 1 to 5. The winner wasn’t an expensive specialty label. It was Trader Joe’s regular Salted Butter, with Publix and Walmart’s Great Value earning runner-up honors.
But other reviewers reached very different conclusions about certain store brands. Here are nine worth knowing about, including one Aldi option tested separately, and what the results reveal about choosing butter for your kitchen.
Trader Joe’s Salted Butter: The Unexpected Winner
Sometimes the best surprise comes from the most ordinary-looking package.
Trader Joe’s regular Salted Butter took first place in Southern Living’s 12-brand blind tasting.
Editors praised its soft, smooth texture, creamy flavor, and pleasantly balanced saltiness. Some thought it would work beautifully on toast, while others suggested using it in baking or browned-butter recipes.
But here’s an important distinction. Trader Joe’s sells several different butters.
In a separate Allrecipes tasting, the store’s Salted Organic Butter finished 14th among 15 products, while its Cultured Salted Butter placed fifth.
The winner was the regular salted version, not either alternative.
Publix Sweet Cream Salted Butter: A Quiet Runner-Up
Some butters make an impression with bold flavor. Others win people over by knowing exactly when to hold back.
Publix Sweet Cream Salted Butter earned runner-up recognition in Southern Living’s blind tasting.
Editors particularly appreciated its balanced saltiness, mild dairy flavor, and creamy texture that remained pleasantly firm.
Nothing about it overwhelmed the palate, making it an appealing option for buttered bread and everyday cooking.
Southern Living named two runners-up without publishing which finished second or third, so Publix doesn’t have a verified position above Great Value.
Still, its performance demonstrates that an understated butter can impress without demanding attention.
Great Value Sweet Cream Salted Butter: The Most Divisive Surprise
Walmart’s Great Value butter offers a fascinating reminder that even experienced reviewers don’t always agree.
Southern Living named Great Value Sweet Cream Salted Butter its other runner-up, praising its fresh dairy flavor, moderate saltiness, and pleasant balance. But Chelsea Falin reached a very different conclusion in Daily Meal’s September 2026 tasting.
She ranked Great Value Salted Butter Sticks 11th among 12 products, criticizing their dense texture and salt-forward taste. She also noticed an artificial-tasting note.
That description was her sensory impression, not evidence of an unusual ingredient. The package listed pasteurized cream and salt.
Two separate tastings, two very different experiences. Sometimes the only way to settle a butter debate is with your own toast.
Member’s Mark Butter: A Pleasantly Nutty Discovery
Sam’s Club’s Member’s Mark Butter received a warm reception in Southern Living’s tasting, even though it didn’t earn a published numerical ranking. Editors described the butter as creamy, lightly salty, and pleasantly nutty.
They also liked how smoothly it melted on the tongue, giving it more character than a completely neutral butter.
Several suggested it would be suitable for baking, although the published test involved tasting butter rather than preparing baked goods. That’s an important distinction when choosing an ingredient for cookies or cakes.
Member’s Mark wasn’t declared the winner, but its favorable reception makes it another store-brand option worth considering.
Kirkland Salted Butter: Costco’s Creamy Contender
Costco’s Kirkland Salted Butter also made a favorable impression during Southern Living’s blind tasting. Editors noticed a gentle salty flavor, creamy texture, and subtle nutty notes.
Some suggested it could work well in baked recipes or preparations using browned butter. The combination sounds appealing, especially when butter plays a noticeable role in the finished dish.
However, Southern Living didn’t publish Kirkland’s exact ranking, and the tasting didn’t include a separate baking experiment.
Another detail matters: Costco sells different butter varieties, and the tested product was identified simply as Kirkland salted butter.
The positive verdict shouldn’t automatically be applied to the retailer’s other butter products.
Whole Foods 365 Salted Butter: A Difference of Opinion
Whole Foods’ 365 Salted Butter earned a reasonably favorable assessment from Southern Living.
Editors found it creamy, fairly straightforward, and balanced, although some noticed a slightly stronger salt presence. But in Allrecipes’ 15-brand salted-butter tasting, writer Ashia Aubourg ranked it 13th.
She appreciated its creaminess but found the saltiness too pronounced compared with her preferred alternatives.
Interestingly, Whole Foods 365 Unsalted Butter performed differently in a separate baking test, finishing sixth among 13 brands.
Those results underline an important lesson: salted and unsalted butter aren’t interchangeable subjects when comparing taste-test verdicts.
Good & Gather Salted Butter: A Tale of Two Reviews
Target’s Good & Gather butter drew some of the sharpest disagreement among reviewers. Southern Living’s editors described its salted version as firm, milky, and reasonably balanced.
But Aubourg placed Good & Gather Salted Butter last among 15 contenders in her Allrecipes tasting. She criticized its excessive saltiness, limited aroma, and pasty mouthfeel.
In a separate shortbread test, she also found Target’s unsalted butter disappointing. That later baking experience concerned a different formulation, so it shouldn’t be treated as another test of the salted product.
For shoppers, the contrasting judgments offer a useful reminder that the same butter can leave very different impressions on different palates.
Simply Nature Organic Salted Butter: Aldi’s Controversial Choice
Aldi’s Simply Nature butter created another interesting divide.
Southern Living’s editors enjoyed the Simply Nature butter they tested, describing a smooth, creamy texture with balanced salty and nutty flavors.
But in Daily Meal’s September 2026 comparison, Chelsea Falin ranked Simply Nature Organic Salted Butter last among 12 products.
She found the saltiness harsh, the flavor somewhat metallic, and the texture greasy rather than creamy.
The reports don’t establish that both outlets tested identical packages, so their experiences shouldn’t automatically be treated as a controlled comparison.
Still, the difference is striking. What impressed one tasting panel failed to satisfy another reviewer.
Countryside Creamery Salted Sweet Cream Butter: Another Aldi Option
Aldi has another store-brand butter worth considering: Countryside Creamery Salted Sweet Cream Butter.
Unlike the previous eight profiles, this product wasn’t part of Southern Living’s 12-brand comparison.
Instead, it appeared in Daily Meal’s September 2026 tasting, where Chelsea Falin ranked it sixth among 12 salted butters.
She appreciated its creamy texture and found it less greasy than the Bowl & Basket butter ranked immediately below it.
However, its flavor struck her as relatively simple, without the nutty, tangy, or other distinctive notes she appreciated in higher-ranked options.
It wasn’t her favorite, but it performed considerably better than the Simply Nature Organic Salted Butter she tested.
What These Butter Taste Tests Really Tell Us
The most interesting lesson isn’t that one grocery store always sells better butter than another.
Southern Living’s blind tasting of 12 brands favored Trader Joe’s regular Salted Butter, while two independent reviews reached conflicting conclusions about Great Value and other private-label options.
And there’s another limitation worth remembering: Southern Living published a winner and two runners-up, not a complete nine-place store-brand ranking.
What matters most is the butter you’re buying and how you plan to use it.
A brand that pleases one reviewer on plain bread may perform differently in a baking recipe, while salted, unsalted, organic, and cultured varieties can offer noticeably different experiences.
So the next time you’re standing in front of the butter case, don’t assume the familiar name or expensive-looking wrapper tells the whole story. Sometimes the most delicious discovery is waiting behind a simple store label.
