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Making up lunches for the kids to take to school? You might turn to these fun recipes. If you’re in a real hurry though, you might send tho...

We Found the Best Grape Jelly for Your PB&J

Making up lunches for the kids to take to school? You might turn to these fun recipes. If you’re in a real hurry though, you might send those kiddos (and yourself) off for the day with a classic PB&J. It’s simple, but the pairing of peanut butter and grape jelly is always satisfying—even as a grown-up.

When it comes to this combo, most folks have a preferred peanut butter—Taste of Home staffers certainly do! But what about the grape jelly? Do you go for the big names? Do you grab what seems fancy? Do you choose organic? Do you think they all taste the same?

Of course, we had to settle this debate with a blind tasting of every grape jelly we found at the grocery store. We tried five brands, and two stood out. Check out our favorites as chosen by our staff.

Runner-Up: Smucker’s

Score: 7/10

You know the slogan: “With a name like Smucker’s, it has to be good.” This catchphrase certainly rang true with our taste testers. Smucker’s grape jelly tasted familiar and comforting. It’s the jelly many of us remembered from our own childhood—be it used in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or spread across toast at our favorite local diner.

This jelly was sweet but not over the top, tasted strongly of grape and was easy to spread. And the price tag is budget-friendly (it’s only $2.34 on Amazon!). What more could you ask for?

Best in Show: ShurFine

Score: 8.2/10

Smucker’s was a tough jelly to beat, but ShurFine—a generic brand available at independent grocers—managed to do it. ShurFine grape jelly tasted strongly of Concord grapes, and while it was sweet, the flavor wasn’t overpowering. This jelly had a hint of tartness to help balance out the flavor, which made all the difference in this test. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, though. A little bit of tartness, like the squeeze of lime juice in this grape and apple fruit salad, can help you appreciate the sweetness even more.

The Bottom Line

Some taste tests really run the gamut from no thanks to more please! This grape jelly test was a bit different. We definitely found some great jellies for these PB&J-inspired recipes, but we also found out that the very best in grape jelly isn’t too far off from our lower-ranking brands. In total, there were less than three points separating the jellies from top to bottom.

If you ask me, that’s just fine. I’ll grab what’s on sale knowing that these chili-jelly meatballs will always be a great potluck treat.

Try Making Your Own Jellies at Home
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Notes:

  • This blind taste test was performed by our staff and was not part of a sponsorship. All opinions shared are our own and have not been influenced by advertisers.
  • Every product is independently selected by our editors. If you buy something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The post We Found the Best Grape Jelly for Your PB&J appeared first on Taste of Home.



Lisa Kaminski