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Home » School Lunch Ideas » Sandwiches

Top Kid-Approved Peanut Butter Alternatives for School

By Laura Fuentes Updated Jan 7, 2025

5 from 2 votes

We spread it onto sandwiches, mix it into recipes, and eat it by the spoonful, but for anyone who has a nut allergy or parents with kids in a nut-free school, peanut butter, and nut butter can be a problem.

Below, you’ll learn the top peanut butter alternatives that passed the test and became kid approved!

collage of peanut butter alternatives

What is the Closest Non-Nut Butter to Peanut Butter?

Most kids agree that soy butter tastes the closest to peanut butter and don’t mind the swap in their sandwiches, toasts, and treats. It’s perfect for lunches because it spreads smoothly on sandwiches, can be sealed in a DIY uncrustable, and holds no-bake treats like energy bites very well!

Best Nut-free Peanut Butter Alternatives:

Now, we’re at the most important part of the whole post. The review! I bet you are wondering “how do they taste?”, “where can I get them?”

I’ve got all the answers right below, so let’s begin:

small container of wowbutter soy butter
Top Pick: Soy Butter
The #1 ranked PB alternative is easy to find and is kid approved!
Get it here
small container of nut-free sunflower butter
Soy Alternative: Sunflower Seed Butter
This seed butter is a terrific performer for kids who can't have soy products!
Get it here
small container of chickpea butter
Extra Protein: Chickpea butter
This spreadable option is made with chickpeas and sunflower seeds and has 5g of protein per tablespoon!
Get it here
container of five seed butter
Most Nutritious: 5 seed butter
A combination of sesame, flax, pumpkin, chia, and sunflower seeds, this option packs loads of nutrition per serving.
Get it here

Make your own: Cinnamon Pumpkin Seed Butter

small container of nut-free granola butter
Made with Oats: Granola butter
This is both a soy and seed-free option and tastes just like granola and spreads great!
Get it here
small container of biscoff spread
A Treat: Biscoff Spread
This original cookie spread is great on toast, sandwiches and more. Kids love it but it's not the healthiest option.
Get it here
small glass container of sesame butter
Best on Toast: Sesame butter
Made with roasted sesame seeds, it's a bit milder than traditional tahini. The least kid-favorite, but it's an option.
Get it here
red and blue jar of voyage peanut butter alternative
Voyage (2-pack)
Made with roasted seeds it tastes pretty good! You'll find it in smooth, chocolate, and chunky.
Get it here
small jar of nut free butter
Pea-Not (3-Pack)
This peanut butter alternative is spreadable, affordable and made with chickpea flour.
Get it here

Peanut Butter Alternatives for School

Sunflower butter is the most popular peanut butter alternative for school lunches because it spreads easily, has milder taste kids enjoy, and is available at most local grocery stores.

Whether you use it to make a quick peanut butter sandwich, pack it in a bento lunch to dip apples, or for a snack, ultimately, the best option is one your child enjoys.

Nut Butter Substitutions Video

Watch the video to see why these made my choice for the top peanut butter alternatives!

Peanut Butter Alternatives Using Tree Nuts 

Other peanut butter alternatives that are peanut free but are made with tree nuts include almond butter, cashew butter, walnut butter, and pecan butter.

Top tree-nut butters to try:

  • Nut-zo butters: made tree nuts and seeds they are super nutritious and delicious.
  • Almond butter: few can resist it’s delicious taste and if you love it, buy it big!
  • Cashew butter: smooth taste, pairs great with everything, and tastes luxurious.
by Laura Fuentes
onApril 26, 2019

If you enjoyed the article, please share it with others. Thank you!

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  1. Melissa says

    January 05, 2024 at 1:04 am

    5 stars
    My 10-year-old is NOT allergic to peanut butter, but I am. When she was 5, I had a terrible experience when we went to Steak ‘n Shake and the cook in the back didn’t clean the milkshake mixer at all when he made mine after he’d made my husbands and the kids’ drinks. Well, I had an orange-cream shake and the kids (as well as the hubby) had ones with peanut butter cups and Reese’s in it. Cross-contamination happened and I ended up in the ER with a serious allergic reaction. It scared my daughter so much that she now refuses to eat anything with peanut butter in it when she’s home. She’ll def eat it when she’s at her dad’s or grandmas, however. (There hasn’t, luckily, been any other incidents other than that one time. It had been almost 15 years since my last allergic reaction, so this isn’t a common occurrence. She is scared of something happening to mommy, so that’s why she’s so adamant about not eating PB when she’s home.)

    With that being said, I keep peanut butter for my son and husband, but I also have nut butter alternatives for myself and my daughter. I used to get Wowbutter from Walmart, but I haven’t seen it in stock in ages. Last month I purchased Almond butter, but she wasn’t a big fan of the taste. I loved it, but with the cost of the nut butter alternatives, I can’t exactly purchase multiple ones every month. I am looking for a nut butter alternative that would work well in recipes like no-bake cookies/energy balls, and for our apple sammy’s (apple rounds spread with nut butter, topped with granola, and then finished off with another apple round. They’re delish!), but I’m struggling to find one that is similar to Wowbutter and will hold up well in these recipes.

    Any suggestions? Thanks in advance, and thank you for your amazing recipes! I turn to them a lot when I’m preparing our monthly meals/snacks. I try to get everything I need for the month and then make what I can ahead of time, or I’ll make the weekly ones on Sunday evenings for the week ahead. I homeschool for now, too, so having both of my kiddos home, and my son being almost 13, I try to find recipes that will give him energy, yet fill him up enough to last through mid-afternoon between lunch and dinner. So far, your recipes have helped with him not eating us out of house and home! I forgot what it was like to be a “starving” teenager lol Unfortunately, this is a stage that we’ll be in for a while.

    Thanks again!

    Reply
    • Laura Fuentes says

      January 09, 2024 at 5:17 pm

      5 stars
      Thank you for continuing to use my recipes for your family! I completly understand what it’s like to have bottom-less pits teenagers! Funny that you asked about the wowbutter. I recently had to go to two local grocery stores searching for it -I needed to test some recipes- and they’ve been out! I ended up ordering them online and thanks to you, I realized that the link had changed. I updated the link on Amazon, where it’s now available. My second choice is sunflower seed butter, which relatively easy to find (it’s a hit or miss at Walmart) and there are several varieties/brands online. This also performs just as well to make no-bake bites and more. Chickpea butter tastes good but it’s a bit expensive so I use it mostly on toast. I hope this helps!

      Reply
  2. Myrna Smith says

    August 10, 2021 at 2:38 am

    I really like your review. For my child, texture is as much of importance as flavor. Your presentation was helpful. Thanks for doing it.
    Now that Soy is frowned upon by many nutritionist, it’s not so easily accessible as it once was. My son has Milk AND Nut allergies, so the trendy Cashew & Almond milk alternatives are not an option for him. I’d really like to find a soy whipping cream or ready-made whipped cream, just something that’s neither nut or milk based. Any ideas?
    Thanks,

    Reply
    • MOMables-Laura says

      August 25, 2021 at 1:13 pm

      Possibly soy whipped cream or coconut whipped cream?

      Reply
    • Huong Nguyen says

      March 05, 2022 at 6:39 pm

      reddiwhip makes a vegan whipped cream made from coconut !!

      Reply
      • Christina says

        March 25, 2022 at 3:56 pm

        It’s really good too!

        Reply
  3. tara says

    February 14, 2021 at 8:30 pm

    sunbutter is gross. is wow butter that much better?? i miss PB

    Reply
    • MOMables-Laura says

      February 19, 2021 at 1:17 pm

      My family and others that have tried it are pleasantly impressed with WOW butter. It’s not exactly like peanut butter but a similar taste and texture.

      Reply
    • Lori says

      May 11, 2021 at 5:00 pm

      I enjoy wow butter it what we use as our house is peanut free now. I have baked with it as a peanut butter substitute also.

      Reply
    • Sandy Buchart says

      December 13, 2021 at 9:23 pm

      I missed Pb for many years and then I found wow butter ! It tastes so much like Pb that I eat my first jar by the spoon ful try it you will like it !

      Reply
  4. WINKS says

    January 25, 2021 at 10:09 am

    Good alternatives for nut allergies but a PEANUT IS NOT A NUT. It is a LEGUME. You can have an allergy to peanuts but not be allergic to nuts. I did not develop a peanut allergy until I was in my 50’s but eat nuts almost daily. Putting peanuts in the nut catergory is misleading.

    Reply
    • MOMables-Laura says

      January 25, 2021 at 2:49 pm

      Hi Winks, I realize peanuts are a legume but most people reading this post, are looking for peanut butter alternatives for basic lunch recipes, therefore tagging it in the nut category makes it easier for them to find.

      Reply
  5. Judith Parker says

    September 17, 2020 at 4:23 pm

    I mix Wow utter and Sun Butter to a consistency and taste that’s not as good as my beloved Jiff, but closer than anything else I’ve tried.

    Reply
    • MOMables - Laura says

      September 22, 2020 at 9:13 pm

      Brilliant mix!

      Reply
  6. Jenna says

    February 13, 2020 at 8:20 am

    I bought the granola butter and the seed butter and they were great! Thanks for the recommendation!

    Reply
    • MOMables - Laura says

      February 13, 2020 at 1:58 pm

      The sesame seed butter way my favorite. So glad you liked them!

      Reply
laura fuentes momables holding a lunch bag and lunch boxes

My name is Laura Fuentes
I’m here to help you simplify school lunches with fresh ideas your kids will actually eat.

Mom of 3. Certified in Integrative Nutrition. 5x Cookbook Author.

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