Peanut butter is often incorporated into low-carb diets such as keto because it’s high in fat and, in most cases, fairly low in carbs. However, there are some peanut butter products out there with additional ingredients that can catch people out.
For this article, I’ve researched and collected data from mainstream peanut butter brands and products to help you find out which are the best low-carb choices and which should be avoided.
So, read on to see my full peanut butter carb comparison of all your favorites and learn how to pick the lowest carb and healthiest products.
Topics in this article
In a hurry or looking for something specific? Use the links below to jump to the relevant section:
Lowest To Highest Carb Peanut Butter
Below are the lowest to highest carb mainstream peanut butter brands and products that are available in most USA grocery stores.
If you’re looking for low-carb UK peanut butter brands, click the link below:
Lowest Carb Peanut Butter (UK Brands)
Please note that these products are all ready-to-eat peanut butter and not the powdered version, which can also be a low-carb option.
For this article, all servings are the same and based on a two tablespoon or 32g portion, which is the recommended amount.
Lowest Carb Peanut Butter
Starting with the lowest carb peanut butter products and the best ready-made peanut butter I found is MaraNatha Creamy, which contains 100% peanuts (not to be confused with their no-stir version). This product contains 4g of carbs per serving and has no added sugar.
The peanut butter products in the table below are the lower carb options, which all contain 4-6g of carbs per serving.
All peanut butter contains one or two grams of naturally occurring sugar found in peanuts; however, if you’re on a low-carb diet, the best choices are those with no added sugar. These products normally contain 100% peanuts or a high peanut content with just a little added salt.
It’s important to be aware that some lower-carb peanut butter products can contain 2-3g of added sugar, so it’s a good idea to check the label if you’re trying to avoid sugar.
| Peanut Butter Brand & Product | Carbs Per 2tbsp Serving | Sugars Per Serving |
| MaraNatha – Creamy (100% peanuts) | 4g | 1g (no added sugar) |
| Crazy Richards – Creamy & Chunky | 5g | 2g (no added sugar) |
| Santa Cruz – Creamy Dark or Light Roasted | 5g | 1g (no added sugar) |
| Natural Way – Light Crunch | 5g | 2g (no added sugar) |
| MaraNatha – Creamy (No-Stir) | 5g | 3g (1g added sugar) |
| Santa Cruz – Crunchy Dark or Light Roasted | 6g | 1g (no added sugar) |
| Spread the Love – Naked & Naked Crunch | 6g | 1g (no added sugar) |
| Justin’s Classic | 6g | 2g (no added sugar) |
| Skippy Protein – Creamy & Chunky | 6g | 3g (2g added sugar) |
| Skippy – Creamy & Chunky | 6g | 3g (2g added sugar) |
| Skippy – Natural Creamy | 6g | 3g (2g added sugar) |
| Skippy – Roasted Honey Nut Creamy | 6g | 3g (2g added sugar) |
| Skippy – Natural Chunky | 6g | 3g (2g added sugar) |
| Peter Pan – Creamy Plus | 6g | 3g (2g added sugar) |
| Justin’s Honey | 6g | 4g (3g added sugar) |
Mid-Range Carb Content
Moving onto peanut butter which has a mid-range carb content of 7-8g, which is still not a huge amount of carbs per serving if you’re looking to cut down.
There is some excellent 100% (or almost 100% if salt is added) peanut butter in this category, and many that contain 7g of carbs don’t have any added sugar and only contain 1-2g of natural sugars.
If you’re looking to reduce carbs, the best options in the table below is peanut butter without any added sugar. Most of the peanut butter towards the bottom of the table and those containing 8g of carbs have 2-4g of added sugar.
| Peanut Butter Brand & Product | Carbs Per 2tbsp Serving | Sugar Per Serving |
| Wild Friends | 7g | 1g (no added sugar) |
| Great Value – Organic Creamy & Crunchy | 7g | 2g (no added sugar) |
| Peanut Butter & Co – Smooth & Crunchy | 7g | 2g (no added sugar) |
| Adams – 100% Creamy & Chunky | 7g | 2g (no added sugar) |
| Adams – No-Stir Creamy | 7g | 2g (no added sugar) |
| Adams – 100% Creamy Natural Unsalted | 7g | 2g (no added sugar) |
| Smuckers – Natural Creamy & Chunky | 7g | 2g (no added sugar) |
| Teddie – Creamy & Chunky | 7g | 2g (no added sugar) |
| Peanut Butter & Co – Old Fashioned | 7g | 2g (no added sugar) |
| Good & Gather – Organic Creamy & Crunchy | 7g | 2g (no added sugar) |
| Good & Gather – Organic No-Stir Crunchy | 7g | 2g (1g added sugar) |
| Jif – Simply | 7g | 2g (1g added sugar) |
| Great Value – Regular Creamy & Crunchy | 7g | 3g (2g added sugar) |
| Reeces – Creamy | 7g | 3g (2g added sugar) |
| Peter Pan – Creamy & Chunky | 7g | 3g (2g added sugar) |
| MaraNatha – Regular Chunky | 8g | 2g (no added sugar) |
| Great Value – Creamy Naural | 8g | 3g (2g added sugar) |
| Jif – Regular Creamy & Chunky | 8g | 3g (2g added sugar) |
| Winstone Farms | 8g | 4g (2g added sugar) |
Highest Carb Peanut Butter
Below are the highest-carb peanut butter products that I could find; there aren’t that many, but if you’re trying to reduce carbs and cut out added sugar, these kinds of products should be avoided.
Although it tastes good, honey-roasted peanut butter is generally the highest in carbs because it’s also the highest in sugar. It’s also a good idea to avoid reduced-fat products which, although lower in fat, they’re higher in carbs.
The highest carb peanut butter that I found in this comparison was Skippy Reduced-Fat Peanut Butter which contains 14g of carbs per serving.
Peanut butter that doesn’t have added oil, such as palm oil, is packed with good fats, which are found naturally in peanuts, so reduced fat isn’t always a good thing.
| Peanut Butter Brand & Product | Carbs Per 2tbsp Serving | Sugar Per Serving |
| Skippy – Natural Creamy & Chunky | 9g | 5g (4g added sugar) |
| Great Value – Honey Roast Creamy | 10g | 8g (7g added sugar) |
| Peter Pan – Honey Roast Creamy | 11g | 8g (7g added sugar) |
| Skippy – Reduced-Fat | 14g | 4g |
How To Choose A Low Carb Peanut Butter
From the data collected for this article, it’s clear that there’s a direct correlation between peanut butter with a high peanut content and carb content.
Peanut butter containing 100% peanuts or just peanuts and a little salt, has the least carbs with an average of 6-7g of carbs per two tablespoon serving. So, it’s a good idea to check the peanut content and to make sure there’s no added sugar.
Peanut butter which is marketed as ‘no-stir’ often has added ingredients such as oil and sugar which helps to prevent the peanut butter from splitting. People often avoid peanut butter that looks split, however this happens naturally when a peanut butter doesn’t have added ingredients, so this kind of product is actually the healthiest.
Other products to be cautious of are those marketed as ‘natural’ because although it sounds healthy, they often have added sugar and are higher in carbs.
Finally, if you’re looking to cut down on carbs, avoid honey roasted and low-fat products.
FAQs
Choosing 100% peanut butter helps to ensure a low-carb, high natural fat content without added sugar or oil. A good example of this is MaraNatha 100% creamy peanut butter which contains 4g of carbs and 17g of fat per two tablespoon serving.
In most cases, peanut butter brands that produce both creamy and chunky products have the same amount of carbs in either product.
Related Articles
I hope this article has helped you to find the information you were looking for; you might also find the following articles helpful too: