The Grocery Store Butter Brand That Left A Bad Taste In Our Mouth

Butter is a culinary staple that can add a simple yet divine richness to essentially anything you put it on. But not all butters are created equal, and it can be confusing to navigate the prices, marketing, and ingredients of all the brands in your local grocery store. Tasting Table tested and ranked 12 popular grocery store butter brands to determine which was the best. Out of the dozen we tried, Lucerne's salted sweet cream butter fell short.

While this butter came in last on our rankings, it was by no means bad. This butter had a smooth texture and tasty sweet cream flavor, but there was an odd, tangy aftertaste described as a "dead ringer for SweetTARTS candy" that we found off-putting. There was also an unpleasant "chalky" flavor that, all together, just didn't make us want to reach for this butter again. There's no reason to assume this butter wouldn't do well in a browned butter, creamy sauce, or baking recipes, though. We determined it would work best as a cooking butter rather than for slathering on pancakes or bread. Lucerne is on the more affordable end of the spectrum, too, making this a decent purchase for cooking. But, if you're looking for an out-of-this-world butter experience, try Kerrygold, which fittingly took home the gold in our rankings.

While we won't be repurchasing Lucerne salted sweet cream butter anytime soon, online reviews may sway us to try it again one day. We certainly didn't think this butter was the worst to ever exist, but that aftertaste was hard to get over. Online reviewers don't seem to feel the same way, with many noting the excellent value and great taste. When it comes to price, the least expensive butter we tried for our rankings was actually the Challenge brand, and that came in fourth place overall. We really enjoyed the flavor of the Challenge butter and would happily choose it as a budget-friendly option over Lucerne any day. 

If you already stocked up on Lucerne but also find the flavor lacking when spread on bread, we have some solutions for you. Like said earlier, browning the butter should eliminate that aftertaste. Brown butter is great for all kinds of recipes and infuses a toasty, salty, umami flavor wherever it's incorporated. You could also use any overstocked Lucerne for baking old-fashioned butter cookies, or go the savory route with a creamy hollandaise. As long as you're not just spreading it on bread or making it the star of a viral butter board, the Lucerne won't give you too much trouble. Next time you're shopping, though, we'd recommend you skip the Lucerne and snag the Challenge brand instead. Or treat yourself to some Kerrygold and experience exactly why it's so beloved.