Love Kerrygold Butter? 12 Cheaper Alternatives To Try

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Kerrygold is the "gold" standard in the butter kingdom, and not just for that golden foil wrapping. This Irish-born butter has earned its parade of loyal fans, with the signature butter coming from grass-fed cow's milk sourced from at least 14,000 small family farms in Ireland. Pasture feeding, slow churning, and a lack of artificial ingredients create a butter with a rich, smooth, creamy taste and brilliant golden hue.

The only downside, often echoed by consumers, is a higher price point, at least when compared to standard butters sold in the United States. Fortunately, dairy producers have taken notice of the demand for higher quality and richer, premium butters, resulting in several competing European-style brands, often with lower prices. Kerrygold's price can range widely depending on store location, specialty retailers, and temporary discounts, but recent listings for an 8-ounce package of Kerrygold butter generally run between $5 to $6 at major supermarkets. 

We found 12 less-expensive alternatives, evaluating each product on an 8-ounce basis. For the best comparisons, these brands include Irish or domestic grass-fed origins, and European-style production methods, which generally result in butters with a higher 82% milk fat content  compared to the 80% typical of standard American butters. Here's a look at those pocketbook-savers for buttering up your baked goods, biscuits, mashed potatoes, pancakes, popcorn, and more. 

Prices are as of the date of publication and may vary based on region.

The Countryside Creamery Pure Irish Butter available at Aldi is a well-known substitute for Kerrygold when it comes to flavor — and also gets a big nod for affordability. Similar to Kerrygold butter, it's imported from Ireland and made with milk from grass-fed cows. Ingredients in the salted version are simply pasteurized cream and salt. An 8-ounce package currently lists for $4.39 at Aldi. 

Plugrà European Style Butter gets slow-churned from American milk and created with 82% butterfat, giving it the higher-fat, lower-moisture profile associated with European-style butter. It uses no artificial ingredients or added hormones, though the company doesn't specifically market the butter as grass-fed. Retailers in varying regions currently offer Plugrà at around $4.29 for an 8-ounce container. 

Lidl Preferred Selection Irish Butter is a product of Ireland, made with milk from grass-fed cows, making it a useful comparison to Kerrygold at a considerably lower price point. It's currently listed at $3.79 for 8 ounces in participating American Lidl stores. As noted in Tasting Table's 11 facts about Irish butter, Ireland follows the European standard of minimum 82% milk fat in butter. However, there's an exception for salted versus unsalted butters: Salted versions, including Kerrygold, can go as low as 80% milk fat. 

Kirkland Signature Grass-Fed Butter from Costco is produced by Westland Milk Products in Hokitika, New Zealand, using milk from 400 local farms, with the cows following a diet of at least 95% grass. The cream gets churned in the traditional European Fritz churn method, giving this store-brand butter another similarity to premium European products. The four-pack contains 32 ounces total and typically costs about $11.07, equivalent to roughly $2.75 per 8 ounces.

Land O Lakes Extra Creamy European Style Butter is an American-made alternative from the Land O Lakes farmer-cooperative. It's designed to mimic the richer characteristics of European butters, made with sweet cream and salt at 82% milk fat for that desirable lower moisture and creamier texture. Some retailers currently list the larger 16-ounce carton for $6.79, equivalent to about $3.40 per 8 ounces. 

Cabot Extra Creamy Premium Butter comes from another American farmer-owned cooperative, producing a butter with 83% butterfat, which actually surpasses the minimum European-style benchmark. Cabot credits the longer churning process for removing more buttermilk and water for a richer, creamier butter. It's one of the pricier options in this list, at about $4.95 per 8 ounces — yet still competitively priced compared to Kerrygold. 

Whole Foods Market European Style Salted Butter is imported from Denmark and contains 82% butterfat, with ingredients listed as pasteurized cream, salt, and cultures. That cultured component helps distinguish it from many ordinary American sweet-cream butters. The package is slightly larger than Kerrygold at 8.8 ounces and about $4.49, which works out to about $4.08 for an 8-ounce equivalent.

Danish Creamery European Style Butter is, despite the name, an American cooperative butter producer, founded by Danish immigrant families. The butter is still made with cream from California cows raised on family farms and pastured in open spaces. Its European Style Butter is slow-churned to an unusually high 85% butterfat, the highest verified percentage on this list. Recent non-discounted prices hover around $4.99.

Challenge European Style Butter comes from a company launched in 1911, founded in California and now part of an American co-op with 300 family-owned dairies. Its sea-salted European-style butter, like others on this list, reaches the European standard of 82% milk fat. Pricing for this product tends to range between roughly $4 and $4.50 in mainstream supermarkets.

Sunnyside Farms European Style Butter With Sea Salt is widely available across the West Coast as a private-label brand distributed through regional grocery chains, including Save Mart, Lucky Supermarkets, Raley's, and Bel Air. Available production information is scarce, but it does meet the European butterfat requirement, and the packaging notes that it's made with "real California milk." Prices land at $4 or slightly more per package. 

Kroger's Private Selection Grass Fed Butter is a grass-fed option imported from New Zealand, giving shoppers a premium-style option that's widely available from a national grocery chain. Though made in New Zealand, this butter still bears the highest-level quality rating of Wisconsin AA butter, meaning that it excels in areas such as flavor, color, texture, aroma, and more. It's an affordable alternative to Kerrygold at a typically lower price of about $4. 

Tillamook's Sea Salted Extra Creamy Butter comes from the Coastal Oregon-rooted, farmer-owned Tillamook County Creamery Association, which dates back to 1909. The butter contains 81% butterfat, slightly more than standard U.S. butter but a little less than most European-style brands. When sold in a 16-ounce package for about $6.50, it's one of the least expensive options, equating to about $3.25 for 8 ounces.  

While customers generally agree that Kerrygold butter is definitely worth the price, it's nice to know that comparable, more affordable options do exist.