Nutella Vs. Peanut Butter (Which is Better?)

Nutella and Peanut butter are store cupboard staples that are both nut-based, but they’re also nutritionally different.

If you’re a fan of both kinds of spread, but you’re not sure which is better for you or your family, fear not, because, in this article, I’m going to take things back to basics and compare every element of Nutella against peanut butter to find out which is best.

Read on to find out the differences between ingredients and nutrition for each product; also, you can vote in our poll to find out which is the public favorite when it comes to flavor.

Ingredients Comparision

A good way to see the true difference between food products is to compare the ingredients of the two. The main ingredient of Nutella is Sugar, compared to peanut butter, whose main ingredient is roasted peanuts, with sugar being the next ingredient.

Both spreads contain oil which in Nutella is palm oil, which is often the same case for peanut butter, although some brands use other kinds of vegetable oil. The nuts in Nutella are hazelnuts, and it also has added milk products and cocoa powder, neither of which are found in peanut butter.

Peanut butter is a much simpler product when it comes to ingredients, although in most cases, it has added salt for flavor, which Nutella does not.

The table below shows the actual ingredients of Nutella brand spread, whereas the peanut butter ingredients are typical of most brands, but they can vary slightly.

Nutella Ingredients	Peanut Butter (Typical) Ingredients
Sugar, Palm Oil, Hazelnuts, Cocoa, Skim Milk, Whey (Milk), Lecithin as Emulsifier (Soy), Vanillin (artificial flavor)	Roasted Peanuts, Sugar, Oil & Salt

Nutella Vs.Peanut Butter Nutritional Comparison

Moving onto the nutritional comparison, and to confirm, I’m comparing Nutella Chocolate Hazelnut Spread against generic peanut butter using data from the UDSA FoodData Central.

The comparison will be weight-for-weight based on 100g of each product and an individual serving of 15g, which is around a tablespoon of spread.

Best for Calorie Content

Weight-for-weight Nutella and peanut butter are both high-calorie products, thanks to the nuts, oil, and sugar they contain.

Of the two, peanut butter is typically higher in calories than Nutella, and it contains 9kcal more per 15g of spread.

Spread Type	Calories Per 100g	Calories Per 15g Serving
Nutella Chocolate Hazlenut Spread	539kcal	81kcal
Peanut Butter	597kcal	90kcal

Best for Carbohydrate Content

There’s a big difference between the carbohydrate content of Nutella compared to peanut butter with peanut butter containing 3.3g of carbs per 15g compared to Nutella, which contains nearly three times the amount of carbs per serving at 9.4g.

Spread Type	Carbohydrates Per 100g	Carbohydrates Per 15g Serving
Nutella Chocolate Hazlenut Spread	62.4g	9.4g
Peanut Butter	22.3g	3.3g

Best for Sugar Content

When it comes to sugar content, Nutella is much higher in sugar than Peanut butter per serving with 8g per 15g compared to peanut butter which contains 1.6g.

This means that Nutella is over 50% sugar per serving, so of the two in this category, peanut butter is the better option.

Spread Type	Sugars Per 100g	Sugars Per 15g Serving
Nutella Chocolate Hazlenut Spread	54g	8g
Peanut Butter	10.5g	1.6g

Best for Protein Content

Peanut butter also comes out best for protein content because it contains 2.6g more protein per 15g serving than Nutella.

Spread Type	Protein Per 100g	Protein Per 15g Serving
Nutella Chocolate Hazlenut Spread	5.41g	0.8g
Peanut Butter	22.5g	3.4g

Best for Fat Content

When comparing the fat content of Nutella and peanut butter, it looks like Nutella is the clear winner; however, when you dig deeper into the types of fat, things aren’t that simple.

The majority of the fat in Nutella is saturated fat, compared to peanut butter fat which is mainly made up of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat, which are deemed as healthier fats that can actually lower cholesterol.

So based on the saturated fat content of each product, peanut butter is the better option of the two, although both are high in fat.

Per 100g

Spread Type	Fat Per 100g	Saturated Fat per 100g
Nutella Chocolate Hazlenut Spread	29.7g	28.4g
Peanut Butter	51.1g	10.1g

Per Recommended Serving

Spread Type	Fat Per 15g Serving	Saturated Fat per 15g Serving
Nutella Chocolate Hazlenut Spread	4.5g	4.3g
Peanut Butter	7.7g	1.5g

Best for Fiber Content

Neither Nutella nor peanut butter is particularly high in dietary fiber, but of the two in this comparison, Nutella is slightly higher per serving, although it’s a nominal amount.

Spread Type	Dietary Fibre Per 100g	Dietary Fibre per 15g Serving
Nutella Chocolate Hazlenut Spread	5.4g	0.8g
Peanut Butter	4.8g	0.7g

Best for Sodium/Salt Content

Most kinds of peanut butter are high in sodium and have added salt, although there are some reduced-salt alternatives.

When comparing salt content between Nutella and peanut butter, Nutella is much lower in sodium per serving.

Spread Type	Sodium/Salt Per 100g	Sodium/Salt per 15g Serving
Nutella Chocolate Hazlenut Spread	41mg	6mg
Peanut Butter	429mg	64mg

Best for Vitamins/Minerals

Both Nutella and peanut butter contain a variety of vitamins and minerals which come from the nuts and natural products they contain.

When comparing the two kinds of spread, peanut butter contains higher levels of vitamins and minerals in most nutritional categories when compared to Nutella.

Vitamin/Mineral Type	Nutella – Amount Per 100g	Peanut Butter – Amount Per 100g
Vitamin D	–	–
Calcium	108mg	49mg
Iron	4.38mg	1.73mg
Phosphorus	152mg	339mg
Potassium	407mg	564mg
Magnesium	64mg	169mg
Thiamin	0.085mg	0.138mg
Riboflavin	0.17mg	0.191mg
Vitamin B6	0.082mg	0.444mg
Vitamin C	–	–
Vitamin A	1mcg	–
Vitamin B12	–	–
Niacin	0.427mg	13.3mg
Folic Acid	–	–
Zinc	1.06mg	2.54mg

*mcg = microgram (1000th of a milligram) / mg = milligram (1000th of a gram)

Best for Flavor/Texture

It’s not easy to come up with a winner for the best for flavor between Nutella and peanut butter because they both taste very different, so it all depends on personal preference.

Please help us get a wider opinion by participating in our voting poll to tell us which you like best. Once you vote, the results so far will be revealed (no personal information is required to take part).

Overall Winner

All nutritional categories have now been compared, and the spread that’s come out best in the most categories between Nutella and peanut butter – peanut butter!

Peanut butter is lower in carbs, sugar, protein, and saturated fat and is higher in vitamins and minerals than Nutella, so if you need to choose the healthier of the two, it’s peanut butter.

Of course, it all comes down to personal preference, but hopefully, the data comparison in this article can help you decide which is best for you.

Comparison Category	Winner (Nutella or Peanut Butter)
Best for Calorie Content	Nutella
Best for Carbohydrate Content	Peanut Butter
Best for Sugar Content	Peanut Butter
Best for Protein Content	Peanut Butter
Best for Fat Content	Peanut Butter
Best for Fiber Content	Nutella
Best for Sodium Content	Nutella
Best for Vitamins/Minerals	Peanut Butter
Overall Winner	Peanut Butter