I asked chefs what the best supermarket butter is — they both said the same thing
Butter makes a delicious addition to pretty much anything - but it's better when you know what to buy.
Butter is a kitchen cupboard staple. From baking to sauteeing or just spreading on toast, it’s an everyday luxury. But if you want to make sure you’re choosing the right butter for your needs, then it can be tricky.
Not all butters are created equal, as I found out when I tasted seven of them in one sitting, and it turns out that if you want the best butter, you need to keep one thing in mind. Two chefs spoke to Express.co.uk about how they select their butter. Both said they want butter with simple ingredients for that rich, velvety dairy taste.
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Eleni Louca, the head chef at Hello Halloumi, a specialty bakery in the West Village in NYC, said she tends to buy butters with as high dairy content as possible. Before her move to the US, Eleni owned and ran her own bakery in Cyprus, which means she regularly worked with European and UK-style bulk butters - so she knows a thing or two about what’s on the shelves across the UK.
She said: "For baking, I look for higher butterfat and cultured or European style butter. From Waitrose, their own brand British and French-style butter blocks are excellent for baking due to their consistency and clean dairy flavour. Marks & Spencer is another standout, especially their cultured and West Country style butters, which offer deeper flavour and perform beautifully in pastries.
“For everyday spreading, a sweet cream butter with a clean finish works best. Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference butter and Tesco Finest butter blocks are reliable options that balance softness and flavour well. Cultured butters bring more depth and a slight tang, which I prefer for baking, while sweet cream butters are more neutral and ideal for daily use.
“My rule of thumb is simple: if the butter tastes good on its own, it will bake beautifully!"
Jessica Randhawa, the head chef and writer behind The Forked Spoon says she loves butter and puts it on everything. For her, there is only one kind of butter to buy.
She said: “I always buy salted butter. The key to using salted butter regularly is to know you may need to lower the amount of salt added in a given recipe. Salt brings out the flavour of butter, especially when it is used on simple dishes like buttered bread or eggs. “
According to Jessica, salted butter has more depth of flavour than oil - but if you’re using it to cook with, it’s important to remember that butter has a lower smoke point.
She said: “It's best not to cook with it at high temperatures. I tend to cook with butter in dishes when I plan to use lower heat and cook for longer, like sauteed zucchini or asparagus.”
When she’s browsing the shelves at the supermarket, Jessica keeps an eye out for local and organic butters as they support local businesses and are better for the environment.
She said: “Butter should only have two ingredients: cream and salt.
“Right now, in both of my test kitchen refrigerators, you will find Clover Sonoma Pasture Raised Organic Sweet Cream butter, which is made near me in Northern California and is high quality. But if I were across the country or in another country, I would opt for something more local.”
